Chapter 13
They pulled into the parking lot and tried to find a place to park the truck.
The place was packed. There were hundreds of cars, so either a lot of the bikers had gone home to get vehicles or more people had decided to come late, listen to music, and eat burgers and brats.
Either way, it was good for the veterans and Rolling Thunder.
Jeremiah drove around to the back and hit the garage door opener, then pulled into the back garage.
There were many perks to owning the business—great parking being just one of them.
He hit the garage door button again, and the door closed, but he made no move to get out of the truck.
Instead, he turned toward Joci. “Listen, I want you to know that I’m sorry about the way things went down today. We had a great day going, and I let it get ruined. I’m sorry, Joci.”
Joci shrugged. “It’s over now, so let’s move on. But think about this. How would you feel if Connor pulled that shit on me? Would you like it if I just shrugged it off, or would you expect me to cut ties and keep him away from me?”
Jeremiah let out a long, slow breath. “I would kick his ass, and there would be nothing left for you to cut ties with.”
“I see, so that’s what you want? You want me to physically kick the shit out of LuAnn?”
They stared each other down, testing, measuring.
Joci knew if she continued to allow Jeremiah to have this kind of relationship with LuAnn, she wouldn’t be able to tolerate it for long.
She would become bitter, angry, and jealous.
She would never be able to trust Jeremiah like she was going to need to if they were to have any kind of relationship.
On top of that, he refused to explain to her why he put up with her flirting, other than a favor he owed her brother.
The only conclusion she could come up with was that he liked it.
* * *
Jeremiah wasn’t sure where to go from here.
On one hand, it was good business, in a sense, to keep LuAnn around.
If she stayed in the back where the bike parts were sold, she flirted with the customers, and they liked it.
Plus, he felt he owed it to LuAnn to give her a job.
What would she do if he fired her? She had no skills; she wasn’t cut out for any work other than what he had for her at the store.
Despite owing Lance—LuAnn’s brother—he wasn’t going to let LuAnn chase Joci away from him. He had never felt like this before in his life, and dammit, he liked how he felt about Joci. It was scary to need someone so badly, but also, the way she made him feel was indescribable.
When she looked at him and smiled, he would do anything for her.
“No, I don’t want you to kick the shit out of her or have to fight with her in any way. She’s really harmless. She’s always been very flirty with everyone. Since you’ve been coming around, she has gotten more…possessive, but I’m in no way interested in her. She works for me, and that’s it.”
Joci let out a determined breath. “Tell her to keep it that way, or you’ll be able to spend ALL of your time with her…I won’t be around.”
Jeremiah leaned in and smiled at Joci. “I think you’re jealous!”
Joci raised her eyebrows. “Perhaps. Wouldn’t you be if the tables were turned?”
“Yes. Don’t talk about that anymore. I hate hearing it.”
Joci smirked. “So, here’s the rub. I have trust issues, and it bothers me to see LuAnn hugging you, kissing you, and paying ‘special’ attention to you. You can’t stand even talking or thinking about me with someone else in the same situation. So, tell me how we deal with this.”
Jeremiah let out a long breath as he held her gaze.
Joci started to scoot over to the other side of the truck to get out, but he grabbed her and held her in place.
He leaned forward and teased her lips with his tongue.
He lightly touched his lips to hers. Her sigh was his cue that she was softening.
His tongue danced along hers. Jeremiah’s hand slid down to Joci’s breast and pinched her nipple.
A rush of air huffed out of her mouth. Yeah, he loved that. Her breasts were simply fantastic.
She reached over and covered his thickening length with her hand, and he involuntarily lifted his hips to add pressure. She fondled him through his jeans, and his breath caught. The constriction was beginning to be too much.
He rasped out, “Jesus, Joci. Look what you’ve done to me.”
Joci smiled against his lips. “You started it.”
She continued to rub him until he pulled away abruptly.
He sat back. “Jesus, these jeans are incredibly tight right now. You’ll cut my circulation off, causing an amputation here.”
Joci pursed her lips. “That would be terrible. I would hate that. But, you do have an amazing tongue.”
Her smile widened, and his mouth dropped open before he slammed it closed.
“You’ll pay for that remark. Later.”
Her smile stretched across her face, which created those sexy dimples in her cheeks. He took in every inch of her face, committing it to memory for the hundredth time since he’d met her.
When she spoke, her voice was low and breathy. “I can’t wait.”
He had never had his heart so completely involved in sex.
Every time he looked at Joci, he wanted to consume her, to be part of every minute of her every day.
He wanted her body in every way he could have her.
He wanted her to want him just as bad. And he wanted her to trust him, love him, and be with him through thick and thin.
* * *
“And for good measure, I’ll show you just how good my tongue is, too.” She winked and raised her eyebrows while staring at him.
Every drop of blood in his body ran screaming to his cock. The swiftness of it made him lightheaded. He blinked a few times as he came back to reality. A lazy, sated smile formed on his lips.
“I don’t know how you did that with just your words, but I want more of it. And, I’m going to hold you to it.”
He leaned forward and kissed her lips and laid his forehead against hers for a few moments.
His heart returned to its normal beat, and he softly said, “While we’re out there talking to people, I want you thinking about how I’m going to lick your sweet little pussy as soon as I get you home.
I’m going to slide my tongue into you. I’m going to lick it and suck your clit.
I’m going to slide my cock inside of you after you come, and I’m going to make you crazy for more. ”
She moaned, and her heartbeat accelerated. “You know we could just go home now. It wouldn’t be fair for me to walk around wet and ready.”
Jeremiah fixed his clothing, adjusted his cock as the swelling started to subside, and got out of the truck. He reached in and pulled her down out of the truck and hugged her for a long moment.
He chuckled. “Just make sure you don’t go to the bathroom and take care of yourself. I promise I’ll make it worth your while.”
He kissed her forehead, took her hand, and headed toward the door. As soon as they stepped out of the garage, they saw JT and Gunnar standing there.
“What took you so long? We were afraid to come in there and get you. We didn’t know what we would see.”
JT smirked; Gunnar did too, sort of. At the look on both Joci and Jeremiah’s faces, they both started laughing.
“Oh, my God, you’re fucking kidding me! Mom!”
Joci opened her mouth to say something, but Sandi and Jon walked up right at that moment. “Hey, what’s going on?”
JT turned to Sandi. “Well…”
“Never mind, JT. Go somewhere…you, too, Gunnar,” Jeremiah chided.
Jeremiah looked down at Joci and squeezed her shoulders.
She was mortified, grunted an unintelligible word, and rubbed her forehead with her fingers.
God, what was she thinking? She knew both their kids were there.
Crap. She assumed their kids would figure out that she and Jeremiah were having sex.
It’s quite another thing to be caught in the act or close to the act.
She liked that he told her what he wanted, but she was acting like a silly teenage girl.
Yesterday, when he told her they were going to be together, she was so turned on she couldn’t concentrate all day.
The boys walked away chuckling. Sandi looked at Joci and raised her eyebrows.
“Never mind…kid stuff.” Jeremiah chuckled.
Sandi smiled at her and looked at Jon, who had a smirk on his face.
“Let’s go get a drink, shall we?” Jeremiah told the group.
He grabbed Joci’s hand and walked toward the drink tent.
As they walked, he leaned down and whispered in her ear, “They assumed anyway, Joci. Don’t let it bother you.”
She looked up at him and frowned. “I should be setting a better example.”
Jeremiah laughed out loud. “Joci, you’re a beautiful woman. Our boys know that, and they know how much I want you. Being boys, I think they have a clue as to how it works.”
Sandi gasped at his words. “Did they just catch you two--?”
“Stop. No. God, Sandi, don’t say it.” Joci’s face stained bright red.
“Oh. My. God. They did catch you!”
Jeremiah and Jon laughed. Joci covered her face with her hands. Jeremiah squeezed her shoulders and kissed the top of her head. “Not really, Sandi. They assumed, and the looks on our faces made them think it was more than it was.”
They got their drinks and turned to listen to the fabulous local band that was playing. Joci was happy for the distraction.
As the night wore on, a steady stream of people came up to Jeremiah to tell him what a great turnout they thought today was and how much they had enjoyed the ride.
The veterans in attendance made sure to come by and thank Jeremiah for all of his help in bringing attention to the plight of so many veterans.
They told him how much it meant to them.
His face was a sight to behold. He looked so happy and proud.
And he should be. What he had created here was amazing.
It tugged at her heart that this day had almost been ruined for him.