Free Damaged Goods by Lauren Gallagher Page B

Truthfully, I was more interested in him in particular, rather than
    his job in general, but I was too nervous to dive right into asking. Strange as it was,
    though, it was easier to convince myself to ask potentially embarrassing questions
    about his job that it was to ask the most benign questions about himself.
    “Is it true you guys use, you know, pills?” I asked. “For performance?”
    Sabian laughed. “Some do, yes.”
    “Do you?”
    He shook his head. “Tried it before. Stuff makes my heart race and sometimes
    it makes it damn near impossible to come.” Inclining his head slightly, he gave me a
    look that made my knees tremble under the table. “What you get is one hundred
    percent pure Sabian.”
    “Impressive,” was all I could say.
    He chuckled and took another drink.
    I cleared my throat. “So, what kinds of things have you had to do?”
    “Well, no one"s ever asked me to do a donkey show, thank God.”

    42
    Lauren Gallagher

    “Would you if someone asked?”
    “Hell, no.” He swirled his wine. “Honestly, a lot of times, it"s just like this.” He
    gestured around the restaurant with his glass. “A date. A night out. A
    conversation.”
    “So, it"s not just…” I hesitated.
    Lowering his voice, he said, “No, it"s not just sex. Usually it"s sex or something
    close to it, though. One woman paid me two hundred bucks just to make out with
    her in the backseat of her car for an hour. Fully dressed, nothing below the belt, just
    kissing in her car.”
    “Really?”
    He nodded. “I don"t know what her story was. Didn"t ask, and she didn"t say
    much of anything the whole time. That was all she wanted, so that was what I gave
    her.”
    “Funny, I always thought this stuff was straightforward,” I said. “Pay, fuck,
    leave.”
    “It can be.” He ran a finger around the rim of his wineglass. “Just depends on
    what she wants.”
    “And, being out in a car like that, in public…” I raised an eyebrow. “It doesn"t
    bother you?”
    He shrugged. “Why would it?”
    “Cops, for one thing.”
    Sabian made a dismissive gesture. “Oh, I"m not worried about them.”
    “Even though you"re…”
    “A prostitute?”
    I nodded.
    He smiled and shook his head. “The cops don"t bother us. Worst thing they
    ever do is tell us to take it somewhere else.”
    “Seriously?”
    “Yeah. They couldn"t care less about escorts, to be honest, and even if they
    catch us naked in the backseat of a car or something, they rarely suspect we"re
    anything other than a couple of lovers who didn"t feel like going home yet.”
    I played with the leather corner of my unopened menu. “Hmm, now I feel kind
    of stupid for thinking you were a cop when we met.”
    “No, it"s not stupid.” He folded his arms on top of his own menu. “If you"re not
    experienced with these things, it"s something to be concerned about. The truth is,
    though, they"d have to be really, really bored to bother with us. If they"re inclined to
    bother with any of us, they spend their time busting the streetwalkers.”
    “None of the male prostitutes?”
    “Oh, they get busted too.” He idly traced the gold-embossed restaurant logo on
    the menu cover with his fingertip. “But the cops aren"t as concerned with call girls

    Damaged Goods

    43

    and escorts as they are with the streetwalkers. Those are the ones who tend to be
    involved with rather unsavory types. Like pimps and drug dealers.”
    “Not the case with escorts and call girls?”
    “Can be. But there"s usually less trouble with us, so they pretty much leave us
    alone.”
    “So, with that client, being out somewhere in her car,” I said. “It doesn"t bother
    you, riding around with a stranger like that?”
    He shrugged. “It"s no greater risk than going into her home.”
    “Ever had any dangerous situations?”
    “Oh, a few.” He gave a quiet laugh and dropped his gaze, watching his finger
    follow the embossed lines on the menu. “I"ve had three separate clients