"You missed it," Rob said, still chuckling under his breath. "Dean was over on cooler dock popping a dock plate while standing on it, and slipped on the ice. Busted his ass good."
Rich erupted into laughter at the supervisor's misfortune and then said, "Ah, damn. I wish I could have seen that."
"It was fucking hilarious."
Rich suddenly pointed at something on a pallet and muttered under his breath, "Western."
Rob pulled his load sheet from his back pocket and made a show of looking it over for the Vice President's benefit. The two friends then split up and did their best to look as if they were on an important mission. As Rob walked down the dock, Mr. Western turned away, apparently satisfied that they were working, and continued his hunt for someone to bitch at.
Disaster averted, Rob decided he'd better knuckle down for a while until the boss wandered back to his office up front. As it turned out, things got hectic and the time flew by until the last truck of the day was closed up and ready to roll.
Having done his clean up in lulls throughout the day, he escaped well ahead of everyone else on his crew. Once out the front door, his eyes homed in on a young blonde he didn't recognize who was talking to a woman from H.R. She had an incredible ass, and when she turned a little, he could see that the rest of her was just as delicious.
As he walked closer, he overheard the young woman say, "Except for being the only girl without flowers on Valentine's Day."
"Don't give up yet. You still have a few days," the older woman suggested as she turned back to the building.
The object of his attention noticed him approaching. Her eyes lit up and she smiled. "Hi."
"Hi," Rob said as he stopped in front of her, getting an even better look at the blonde's beautiful face, and breasts that really filled out her sweater. "New? Haven't seen you before."
"Just started today. Julie."
"Rob," he supplied. "Getting off work?"
"Uh huh. You too?"
"Yeah. Early for once."
May as well go for it,
he thought. "I was going to go grab some Starbucks. Let me buy you one as a reward for surviving your first day?"
She laughed and said, "Sure. I'd like that. The one up the road? Meet you there?"
"Sounds good. See you in a couple of minutes."
She waved and started toward her car. As he watched her walk, there was no doubt that his day had just taken a decisive turn for the better.
****
Rob's phone buzzed in his pocket and he ducked into the nearest hidden spot to check the message. As he'd hoped, it was from Julie.
He'd spent an hour or so chatting with her at the Starbucks, talking about movies, music, and a myriad of other things. He got the feeling shortly on that she was testing him.
If so, he'd passed, because they traded numbers before heading home.
She'd sent him several texts during the day, and the latest asked when he was getting off work. Lamenting the rotten luck, he replied that it would be another couple of hours at least.
A minute later, his phone buzzed again. When he found a safe place to check it, he was greeted by a picture of her with the most adorable pout on her face. He recognized the decor and realized she'd shot the selfie in a mirror of the women's restroom.
The girls had mirrors and hand sanitizer dispensers, while the guys were lucky if the hand dryers even worked.
She looked incredible in her button-down blouse, which showed off her tits even better than the sweater she'd worn the day before. He couldn't believe the stroke of luck that had let him get to her before anybody else.
Her next message arrived while he was still admiring her picture. "Send me a message a little before you get off?"
"Sure. It could be late, though."
"I don't care. I want to hang out."
He gave a fist-pumping victory salute before slipping the phone back in his pocket.
The already long day seemed to drag on even longer with the prospect of seeing Julie waiting for him. Her texts were growing increasingly flirty, pointing toward even better things to come. Since losing his last girlfriend due to the long hours, he'd been in a three-month drought. Porn was a poor substitute, and he was beginning to go a little crazy.
Finally, he could see light at the end of the tunnel and sent her a message that he'd be out in about fifteen minutes.
"I'm craving pizza," her next message read. "Pizza Hut?"
"Perfect. Want to meet there?"
"I'll come meet you at work and we can ride together."
That was a good sign.
The parking lot had cleared out quite a bit by the time his crew finished, leaving Julie a parking spot right next to him. She shut off the car when she saw him and stepped out.
His breath caught in his chest as she closed the door. She was wearing the button-down blouse from her earlier text, but the skirt was far too short to have passed inspection at work. It showed off her legs nearly to the thigh and hugged her tight little ass so well that it might as well have been painted on.
"Hurry and start the car. It's freezing," she said as he approached.
He clicked the button on his key fob twice, and she scurried over to the passenger side. She got in and closed the door before he even got his open.
She was hugging her arms around her and shivering as he sat down. He looked over and said, "The heater works pretty well. Shouldn't take long," while starting the car.
As soon as the automatic headlights clicked on and reflected back off the car in front of him, he could see her nipples poking at her blouse.
Can't be wearing a bra,
he thought as he tore his eyes away from the enticing sight.
Her voice quavering a little as she shivered, she asked, "Do you usually get stuck here this late?"
"Sometimes later. Never really know."
"That sucks. Thank god I'm on a regular schedule."
"It can be a pain sometimes," he said as he put the car in reverse and backed out.
"Oh well. I guess it's good money, anyway."
"Yeah, that's the one consolation prize."
She grinned and twitched her eyebrows. "So, your treat?"
"Yeah, it's on me," he said, and then laughed.
The heater did its work, and they were warm for about five minutes before reaching the restaurant. Then it was time to endure the February night air in the walk across the parking lot. Rob made a mental note to go out and start the car before they left, to make her comfortable, and to have her sit in his car while hers warmed up later.
"Oh, shoot," Julie said as he clicked the button to lock the car. "Can you unlock it for a second? I dropped my phone out of my purse."
