Chapter 12 #3
“Yeah. Nice to meet you, Joci. Ride safe.”
They turned to leave the little office, and Jeremiah leaned down to Joci’s ear. “The restrooms are right over there. I’ll wait right here at the bar for you.”
She made her way to the restroom and waited in line for a short while. She loved looking at all the women and their clothing and jewelry. She used the toilet and washed her hands. As she walked out of the restroom, she was making her way to where Jeremiah said he would be. Joci froze.
Jeremiah faced her direction. LuAnn stood between his legs with her arms wrapped around his neck, and they were kissing.
Jeremiah looked up and saw Joci staring at them.
She was frozen in place. She and Jeremiah stared at each other for what seemed like forever—though it couldn’t have been more than a few seconds.
Joci two-finger saluted him and weaved her way in and out of people to get out of the bar.
She would not cry, she would not cry, she would not cry.
Tears threatened, but she refused to let them fall.
She’d been down this road before. She could handle it.
Once she got to the door, she took in a deep breath and walked over to lose herself among the cars.
“Hey, what’s up with you?”
Joci turned to see Sandi walking toward her. Joci couldn’t help it— the tears started flowing.
“Oh, Sandi, I don’t know what to do.”
Sandi hugged Joci to her. “Tell me what happened.”
“I walked out of the bathroom and saw Jeremiah and LuAnn kissing. I’m devastated, Sandi. I can’t compete with LuAnn. She has everything a man like him wants. I don’t. What am I going to do now? I’m stuck on the back of his bike until we get back to the shop.”
“It probably wasn’t what you saw, Joci. Did you ask him to explain?”
“No. I didn’t want to cry in front of her. I just turned and walked away as quickly as I could.”
Sandi grabbed Joci’s hand and held it. “Maybe it’s a good thing you have to ride with him.
You’ll have to talk to him. You at least owe him the opportunity to explain what you saw.
And he owes you an explanation. From there, depending on the explanation, what you do will be clear.
I love you no matter what, and I doubt that Jeremiah is interested in that slut.
I would bet she set it up for you to see.
She’s been dogging you guys all day, pardon the pun. ”
Both women giggled.
“Joci?” Jeremiah called. “I’ve been looking all over for you.” She looked over to see him quickly walking toward them.
Sandi squeezed her hand and smiled. “I’m going to find Jon. Call my cell if you need me.”
She kissed Joci on the cheek and began to leave. Sandi looked at Jeremiah with her brows up in the air as she walked away.
Jeremiah sighed loudly. “Joci, baby, I know it looked bad, but it wasn’t what it looked like. I saw you coming out of the bathroom in the mirror behind the bar and turned to face you when LuAnn jumped in front of me and kissed me. I swear to you that’s what you saw.”
Joci was staring at the ground. “Have you slept with her before?”
Jeremiah put his fingers under her chin and turned her head, so she was looking at him.
“No, I haven’t slept with her.”
Joci’s chin trembled as she moved to turn her head. Jeremiah leaned forward and held her face between his hands.
“Joci, I’m not interested in her. I don’t want her. I want you. I’m only interested in you. Just you.”
He moved in to kiss her, but she pulled away.
“No. You smell like her, and you still have her lipstick on your lips.”
She turned away, swiping under her eyes and hoping her makeup wasn’t a mess. Jeremiah rubbed the lipstick from his lips with his fingertips. He pulled his shirt out of his jeans and used the tail of his shirt to wipe his face.
“Joci, please look at me.” He pulled his shirt off and threw it on the ground. He reached over and grabbed Joci, pulling her in for a hug.
“I swear to you, I don’t want her. I’ve never wanted her.”
Joci took a deep breath. “Why do you keep her at the store if she’s like this all the time?
Why would you tolerate this? She doesn’t exactly give your store a great reputation.
She dresses like a pole dancer. You must like it.
And what about her comment that you like a smorgasbord?
I don’t know, Jeremiah. I can’t go through this again. I just can’t.”
She pulled away, planted her hands on her hips, and squared off.
His brows drew together as he searched for the right words. “I can’t explain why I keep her around. Please believe me. She was just being bitchy with her smorgasbord comment.”
They heard the whistle blow, and Joci closed her eyes. “We have to go.”
She started walking toward their bike. She felt numb, not knowing what to think.
He couldn’t explain why he kept LuAnn. She wasn’t exactly the sharpest tool in the shed.
She was loud, obnoxious, and irritating.
The only thing she had going for her was that she was pretty. The guys all said she was hot.
Now, she was going to be a royal pain in Joci’s side, one that Joci wasn’t sure she was willing or able to handle on a daily basis.
Jeremiah started walking with Joci. He grabbed her hand and pulled her over to the chaser truck.
Joci tried pulling away, but he held on tight.
When they got to the truck, he threw his shirt in the back and opened a box, pulled a new shirt out, and put it on.
Once he had the new shirt on, he turned to Joci and grabbed her hard and hugged her tightly.
He cupped the back of her head and wrapped his other arm around her waist. She could feel how tense he was, and his breathing was ragged.
“Joci, I need you to believe me. I know you have trust issues, and that sure didn’t help, but I swear to you, I didn’t initiate anything with LuAnn. I’ll tell her to stop this behavior immediately. I don’t want her, Joci—I only want you.”
They stood that way for a few moments, and Thomas and Emily walked over to get into the truck.
“Hey, you two, you’d better get on your bike.”
When Joci looked up, she smiled weakly and nodded. Thomas saw the look on her face and looked at Jeremiah with his brows furrowed. Jeremiah shook his head and pursed his lips. They started walking toward his bike. Silently.
When they got to the bike, people were catcalling and yelling at them.
“’Bout time. Making out in the back?”
Jeremiah climbed on the bike and kicked up the kickstand. He waited for Joci to get on. She leaned back against the backrest, not ready to lean into Jeremiah just yet. Her stomach was rolling and twisting.
* * *
Jeremiah’s gut felt like it was filled with stones.
Fucking LuAnn. He knew Joci was having a hard time with this.
With her trust issues, this was a real blow.
He was going to have another long talk with LuAnn.
He couldn’t chance her pulling shit like this again.
But right now, he had to get Joci to realize he wasn’t cheating on her.
How to do that was a mystery. He had better think quickly since they only had about an hour before returning to Rolling Thunder.
One thing he knew, Joci had the stubbornness of a fucking mule, so he’d better be on his A game.
The last leg of the ride began. He had 40 miles to figure this out and make sure she didn’t get on her bike and ride off. He wasn’t a game player, but he had work to do.
Jeremiah reached to the side and touched her leg. He wrapped his hand around her ankle and squeezed, just trying to keep contact with her.
Finally, they pulled into Rolling Thunder, and Jeremiah rode around to the back of the building. JT, Gunnar, and Ryder were right behind them.
Jeremiah didn’t shut his bike off. He looked at the boys. “We’re going home to get the truck. Be back in a few.” He maneuvered the bike out of the back driveway.
* * *
Joci was surprised at this revelation. As soon as they pulled into his garage, he shut the bike off, closed the garage door, and got off. Before she could climb off, he was standing right there.
“We need to talk, Joci.”
Joci looked at him and sighed. He held his hand out to help her off the bike.
She looked into his eyes; her mouth turned down at the corners, but she took his hand and allowed him to help her off the bike.
He held her hand and led her into the house.
He led them to the sofa, then sat and pulled her down next to him.
He turned to face her. “Tell me what you need. I’m at a loss here. What you saw was not what it looked like.”
Joci stared at him. “I can’t give you the answer you want, Jeremiah. I don’t have it. You know what I’ve been through. I just can’t turn it off.”
Her lip trembled, but she refused to cry.
He leaned forward and lightly touched his lips to hers.
Feathery light. She felt his lips tremble, and she softened, just a bit.
Then it dawned on her that he was so worried, he had brought her home to his place while there were two thousand people at his shop partying and celebrating a great ride, listening to music, and having a few drinks, but he was here with her.
“Jeremiah, I’m sorry. I told you last night you might want to walk away.” Joci took a deep breath and then said, “We should get back to the shop.”
Jeremiah slid his hand behind her head and held her close.
“I’m not leaving here until I know we’re okay. I want to know that tonight, you’re coming home with me, and I’m going to sleep with you in my arms. I need to know that you’re not running from me.”
Gray eyes met green. For several heartbeats, they sat that way.
Joci sighed. “I don’t know, Jeremiah. It’s too much.
My stomach is in knots. I don’t understand your connection with LuAnn, and you don’t seem to want to explain it.
It’s suspicious. I don’t want to venture into this relationship any further to find out you’ve been lying to me. I just can’t go through that again.”
She swallowed the lump in her throat and slowly let out a long breath.
“Joci, LuAnn means nothing to me. I swear it. I owe her brother a favor, so I keep her employed as a way to repay that favor. That’s it. I swear it.”
Jeremiah never looked away from her. She stood and took two steps away, turned, and walked a few steps in the other direction.
Placing her hands on her hips, she looked out the large window to the street and saw a younger couple walking their dog, while their child rode his bicycle in front of them.
The flowers in the neighbor’s yard were blooming, and the brilliance of the new spring grass made her think of fresh starts.
Joci sighed deep and long. She turned to see he had stood up, fingers tucked into his pockets, trying to look casual, but his rigid posture and shallow breathing proved him anything but.
The shit of this whole thing was, she knew he was different than the men in her past, but she reacted badly to situations like the ones LuAnn insisted on throwing her way.
It didn’t absolve LuAnn from her behavior, or Jeremiah for tolerating it, and by ignoring it, allowing her to continue to behave as she had been.
Looking into his eyes, she pursed her lips briefly, then said, “I’m coming home with you tonight.”
He took a step toward her. “But.” He halted. “I will try to monitor my reactions to situations like today’s. However, you also need to work on this. It can’t be one-sided.”