Chapter 17
“Sorry I’m late getting home. I was in the middle of a project and lost track of time.”
He stopped what he was doing, turned, and smiled at her.
“You just said you were late getting ‘home.’ You think of this as home.”
He walked toward her. Stalked was more like it, with a smile on his face.
“Move in. Live with me, Joci.”
He watched her reaction and held his breath. Joci saw him come closer and held his gaze. She did feel like this was home now. It was a Freudian slip that she called it home. But that was a sign, wasn’t it? She took a deep breath.
“It’s been four weeks. We’ve been playing this game—you running to your place during the day and coming back here in the evening. You’re practically living here. I want you here. You want to be here, don’t you?”
Joci took a deep breath. “I suppose you have all the logistics worked out in your head?”
“I do.”
She smirked. “Tell me about it.”
Jeremiah smiled and touched her face. He kissed the tip of her nose and then her lips.
“There’s room here for us. Plenty of room.
The spare bedrooms can certainly be rearranged, or the furniture can be removed for any of your furniture that you want here.
One of the rooms can be converted to an office for the time being.
But I have office space at Rolling Thunder, you can use.
That way, you can meet with clients there.
You told me once that sometimes you had to look for a space to have meetings because you were uncomfortable having people at your house during the day when you were there by yourself.
You can use my conference room. You can have the office set up any way you like.
I can see you all day. I can talk to you and be with you. ”
Jeremiah took a deep breath and continued, “If there is furniture here you don’t like or would like to replace with yours, just let me know; we can switch it out.
One of the boys would probably need some of the furniture, too.
It can work, Joci. And, if after all of that, you aren’t happy here, we’ll buy another place.
I don’t care where we live, as long as we’re together. ”
Jeremiah stared at her, willing her to say yes. Joci took a deep breath. This was big.
“Say yes, Joci. You’re here most of the time anyway. Say yes.”
She swallowed. Giving up her home, starting over at another place, and living permanently with Jeremiah. Joci’s voice was soft, barely a whisper. “Yes.”
Jeremiah whooped, lifted her up, and spun her around. When her feet were firmly on the ground, he planted his lips on hers in a toe-curling, consuming kiss that had her light-headed and dizzy.
“I’m so happy, Joci. You won’t regret this. I promise.”
As they finished making supper, they discussed the logistics of making this move.
Joci began. “The first thing I need to do is talk to Gunnar and see if he wants to move into the house. His apartment is small and kind of crappy. Now that he’s been working for a couple of years and making good money, he might want a bigger place.”
“You should sell him the house.”
“Jeremiah, can you slow down? I want to keep it. For a while, anyway. I’ll rent it to cover the mortgage payment. If Gunnar isn’t interested in the house, we can ask JT and Ryder if they might like to rent before I put an ad in the paper.”
“I’m not thrilled that you won’t sell the house. I still feel like I’m pushing a giant boulder uphill with you, Joci.” Joci opened her mouth to argue, but Jeremiah held his hand up.
“I’m trying, babe. I’m trying to be patient. It’s probably the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.”
Joci’s face softened. “I know. Thank you. I really do appreciate it.”
“Okay, so we better get going. We have tonight’s shop ride starting in about twenty minutes, and it’s Gunnar’s turn to lead. A couple of other riders are coming too—not just staff. He’s been skipping around, pumped up all day.” Jeremiah shook his head with a smirk on his face.
“Also, we have our own private Rolling Thunder shop ride this weekend. I found a house for us to rent on Lake Pentenwell. But LuAnn will probably be along. You good?”
Joci rolled her eyes. “I don’t have a choice, do I?”
Jeremiah pulled his hair back into a band at the nape of his neck. He looked at Joci, and she stood with her hands in her jeans pockets, her hip against the kitchen counter.
“Babe…she’s nothing to me. Why can’t you understand that?”
“But you seem to be a lot to her. Does she still touch you every chance she gets? Does she still shove her boobs in your face and show off most of her body to you?”
Jeremiah crossed his arms over his chest. “Me and everyone else. She’s an attention whore. I can’t change that. I don’t want to expend the energy.”
Joci huffed out a deep breath. Fuck.
Walking toward her, Jeremiah gripped her shoulders in his big hands. “I want you to move in with me before this weekend.”
“Jeremiah, that’s only two days away!”
“We’ll get it done. Tomorrow night after work, I’ll get the boys and my brothers over there to load their trucks with what you’re moving here. You can talk to Gunnar tonight. I’m not negotiating on this.”
He grabbed her hand and pulled her to the garage door before she could say anything.