Chapter 3
Joci clapped her hands together in front of her as she stared at the wall.
“That looks fantastic!” Four months had passed since she had designed the logo for Rolling Thunder Motorcycles, Inc.
The logo was all black, featuring an inferno motorcycle in the middle and flames shooting off the back of the bike.
‘Rolling Thunder’ was in orange and yellow on either side of the motorcycle, and ‘Motorcycles, Inc.’ was painted under the bike.
The bold colors and design were stunning.
Jeremiah stood next to her with his arms crossed, staring at it. The painter had just finished an hour ago. Gunnar, JT, Ryder, and the other employees strode in behind them.
“Holy man. That is so fucking cool!” JT exclaimed.
“Very cool. Wow, sexy logo, Mom,” Gunnar said.
Others offered their opinions as they admired the painter’s handiwork. The shop had closed at noon to allow the painter to finish his work. Since it was a Monday—their slowest day—it didn’t matter, and Jeremiah wanted the painter to finish before their meeting tonight.
“Why don’t we pull some tables out of the back room and have our meeting down here tonight so we can admire the new logo?” Jeremiah said.
The employees scampered around, locating tables and chairs to set up in the showroom.
“You did a fabulous job with it, Joci. Thank you. This really gets the juices flowing. Know what I mean? Breathes new life into the shop and the ride.”
Joci looked over at Jeremiah. “Ah…thank you. That’s very nice of you to say.” A slight blush tinted her cheeks.
“I mean it. Since you’ve been coming here and helping us organize the ride, everyone has a renewed sense of what we’re doing.
I’m fortunate with all these great employees, but something tells me we were just phoning it in.
Now…well, just look at their faces. Everyone is stoked.
You’ve added organization, purpose, and cohesiveness to this ride and this business. ”
Joci turned to face Jeremiah. “Thank you.” Her voice was soft but sincere.
Jeremiah smiled at her, causing Joci’s heart rate to kick up a few notches. “Have dinner with me.”
Joci blinked. Her tongue felt stuck to the top of her mouth. God, she wanted to go out with him so badly. But she couldn’t. She wasn’t sure what was between Jeremiah and LuAnn, and she simply didn’t want to get her heart broken again.
“Joci?”
Joci shook her head to set her thoughts straight, “I…ah…I can’t, Jeremiah.”
“Get the fuck away from me, bitch.”
Joci looked over to see Gunnar’s face scrunched up, addressing LuAnn.
Joci looked back at Jeremiah. “I don’t think Gunnar likes your girlfriend very much. I hope it doesn’t cause problems between you two.”
Jeremiah opened his mouth to say something, his brow furrowed, and he closed his mouth again. Joci turned and walked over to the tables that had been set up for the meeting. Gunnar pointed to a seat between him and the head of the table, where Jeremiah would sit.
LuAnn watched Joci sit in the chair she wanted to occupy and hissed under her breath, “Bitch, better watch it.”
Joci looked at LuAnn and flicked her gaze to Jeremiah, who was walking toward the table. He sat at the head of the table, brows furrowed, and said, “It’s time to get started.”
The meeting started, though the mood had shifted. Jeremiah was short and edgy. LuAnn was pissy, and any time Joci opened her mouth to contribute, LuAnn scoffed, shut her down, or made a snide comment, so Joci stopped talking altogether. Sensing the mood, everyone else also shut down.
Jeremiah huffed out a gruff, “Let’s call it a night. We’ll meet back here in four weeks. Thanks, everyone.”
* * *
There it was again, `I can’t,’ not ‘I won’t’ or ‘I don’t want to.
’ What the fuck did she mean, she can’t go out with him?
This was frustrating as hell. For the past four months, all he had thought of was Joci.
He didn’t sleep at night. He was in a perpetual state of hardness in his nether regions.
He had gone to The Barn a couple of times, thinking he would pick someone up and get his rocks off, but looking around, no one caught his interest like Joci did.
Then the girlfriend comment. LuAnn wasn’t his girlfriend. What the fuck did that shit mean?
A few days later, Jeremiah was working on a bike in the shop when Gunnar walked in. Gunnar pulled out some tools and walked over to Jeremiah. “What’s up, Dog?”
“Hold that for me, Gunnar. I’m going to pull the back tire off and make some adjustments.” They worked together for a while until Jeremiah couldn’t take it anymore.
“What’s up with your mom, Gunnar? She doesn’t date?”
Gunnar’s brows raised. “You interested in my mom, Dog?”
“I’ve asked her out a couple of times now, but she says she can’t. Not won’t or doesn’t want to. She says she can’t. What the fuck does that mean?”
Gunnar released a loud breath. “Well, my dad really did a number on her. He knocked her up and left. She caught him cheating with her best friend. Later, she found out he had screwed almost everyone she knew, including my mom’s Aunt Susan.
She was devastated. For years, she never even looked at a man.
Then, when I was about thirteen, she started dating again.
Cocksucker cheated on her, too. So, she just doesn’t want to get hurt again. ”
Dog watched Gunnar’s face. His jaw tightened; his brows furrowed. So, he had to be patient. It explained a lot. They kept working on the bike together in silence, each lost in thought.
“Why does she think LuAnn is my girlfriend?”
“Oh, yeah, I forgot. She asked me if you two dated, and I told her no. But she said LuAnn told her to stay away from you. LuAnn made it seem like you two are in a relationship.”
“That explains why she’s been so clingy lately.” Turning a wrench and hitting his knuckles, Jeremiah swore. “Fuck.”
So Jeremiah now had a better idea about what was going on with Joci. He was going to approach her differently from this point forward.