Chapter 6
Jeremiah woke and rolled over to pull Joci into his arms. Finding her side of the bed empty and cool, he got up and pulled on sweatpants.
As soon as he opened the bedroom door, the aroma of coffee reached him, and he immediately went to the kitchen, as if the aroma carried him.
He poured a cup of coffee, picked up the pot and his cup, and sauntered to the living room, where he found Joci curled up at the end of the sofa, her arms were her pillow, and her big fuzzy blanket covered her.
He stared for a few moments; her peaceful face at rest was as beautiful as when she smiled.
He knew she'd pushed herself this week. It meant so much to her to host Thanksgiving and have a houseful of family.
But she was still recovering from the motorcycle accident, and she was pregnant.
He tried not to nag her to slow down; this was so important to her, but he wanted her to rest, heal, grow their baby, and just be happy.
He poured warm coffee into her cup and moved as soundlessly as he could to the kitchen to put the pot back on the burner.
When he entered the living room again, she stretched, then turned to see him. "Good morning."
Her sleepy smile warmed his heart. "Morning."
"Were you uncomfortable in bed?"
She sat up straight, picked up her coffee cup, and smiled at him. "Thank you." She took a sip. "No, I had to pee. Then I was wide awake and came out here and started the coffee. Then I saw the footprints and got scared. So I curled up here in the corner of the sofa and fell asleep."
His brows furrowed. "What footprints?"
"On the patio. It looks like someone was looking in the patio doors last night."
His heart began beating rapidly, and he hurried to the patio doors.
Staring down at the muddy footprints, his chest tightened.
He removed the stick from the track, then slid the patio door open and stepped around the muddy prints.
He followed the muddy path made by whoever had been so bold as to step onto his property.
The path led to the side of the house where there was a vacant lot next door.
Recent rain had made a muddy mess of the lot.
He'd been trying to buy the lot and clean it up, but so far, the owner had been reluctant to sell.
He quietly went back into the house, pulled his phone from the charger on the nightstand, and went back out to take photos of the footprints.
He sent the photos to Tommy and Detective Jones. "Found these this morning. Someone was bold enough to enter my backyard and step right up to the patio doors and look inside."
Tapping the icon to send the text, he took a couple of deep breaths to calm himself. If this was Mercer, he was escalating quickly.
After stepping into the kitchen and securing the door, he picked up his coffee cup and carried it into the living room. He sat next to Joci on the sofa, and she immediately leaned into him. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and they sat in silence for a few moments.
She moved her hand to her tummy and smiled. Taking his hand from around her neck, she laid it against her belly. He felt the baby move. It was a light flutter, but he could feel it. "She's waking up."
He grinned. "Good morning, little one."
He let his hand rest there even after he or she stopped kicking. He kissed Joci's temple and inhaled her scent. She always smelled so good. Like citrus, cherries, and love.
His phone chimed, and he pulled it from his sweatpants pocket. Tommy had responded.
"I'll stop out in a few minutes on my way to work."
Jeremiah sent a thumbs-up in response. Joci watched him, her brows raised into her bangs.
"I sent pictures of the footprints to Tommy."
He saw her neck move as she swallowed. "Joci, I wasn't going to say anything, but I feel like we need to be extra vigilant right now."
She swallowed again, "Did LuAnn get out of jail?"
"No. It's not LuAnn."
She let out a breath and nodded.
"About ten years ago, I had an employee who got into some trouble. He robbed some convenience stores and was arrested on a battery charge. I was subpoenaed to testify at his trial. He wasn't a model employee, and I was about to fire him when he was arrested. I told the court that."
"You told the truth."
"Yes. I did. He didn't like that. He was released from jail this week.
I think that was his car parked across the street.
Ryder and I saw the same car at Rolling Thunder when we went to get wood the other day.
Then the detective who worked on his case called me yesterday and told me he was out.
It's against his parole to come onto my property.
He isn't supposed to come near me or my family.
But he's also spent ten years wishing me harm and being mad at me, so he might not be thinking straight. "
"Oh, my God, Jeremiah. After LuAnn, I had hoped all of this hatred would be over."
"I know, honey. I asked my brothers not to say anything to you because I don't want your blood pressure to spike. But now I feel like you need to be aware so you'll stay safe."
She took a deep breath and set her coffee cup on the end table. She folded her hands together in front of her belly and swallowed. "What do we do?"
"I sent the pictures to Detective Jones also.
As soon as he responds, we'll be able to set a plan in place.
In the meantime, I'm going to have security cameras set up.
We have the doorbell, but now I want cameras all around the property.
I'll get that taken care of today. Are you staying home today? "
"I was going to, but now I'm scared."
He kissed the top of her head. "Come to Rolling Thunder with me. We have the office set up for both of us to be able to work. Since it's the day before Thanksgiving, it'll be slow and the construction guys won't be in to disturb you."
"I haven't been there all week, so that actually sounds good."
"Great. I'm going to take a shower and get ready."
"Okay." She leaned up and kissed his lips. He'd never tire of kissing her.
He moved to the bedroom and pulled clothing from the closet, then went into the bathroom and started the shower to warm the water.
Stepping under the warm spray of water, he felt his shoulders relax as the warm water splashed onto his body. The shower door opened, and Joci stepped inside. He grinned and pulled her body tightly to his.
"This is a nice surprise."
She chuckled and kissed him again. "I'm glad you think so. The thought of you in here, all wet and soapy, was too much to resist. Plus, it won't be long, and I'll be too big to fit in here with you, so I thought I should take advantage of it."
His hands roamed over her body. When they slid to her belly, he halted there, waiting to see if the baby would move. It didn't. Joci's hands slid down to his cock, and he stopped thinking about the baby and started thinking about Joci.
He grew hard and thick in her hands. The feeling of her wet, soapy hands sliding up his cock and back down was incredible.
Her other hand reached down and massaged his balls, and it didn't take long for them to squeeze up tightly into his body.
Joci's hands moved faster, her heavy breasts moved back and forth with her movements, and he knew she had no idea how sexy she was.
He placed his hands on the shower wall above her head as she worked his cock.
The pressure inside him was almost painful at this point.
Then he felt the release as it shot out.
He watched the opaque ropes splash onto Joci's little baby bump, and his heart swelled so much it was painful.
Her hands slowed their movements as his body relaxed.
He dipped his head to kiss her lips as his fingers slid to her clit and made small circles.
Her hips moved into his fingers, the warmth of the water splashing around them, and the heat of her body surrounded him.
He slipped his forefinger inside her body, and the moan from her nearly made him hard again.
His thumb added pressure, her hands gripped his biceps tightly, and she cried out as her orgasm raced through her.
The pleasure on her face was incredible to witness.
When those smoky eyes opened for him, he stared at her, unable to look away.
Her lips parted into a breathtaking smile. "I like starting the day like this."
He chuckled. "Me too."
He wasn't going to let Mercer take her from him. He wasn't going to let anything ruin their holiday; this one meant so much to Joci. She'd been through so much; she deserved this happy time. Their first holiday together. She was going to have it. No matter what he had to do to make sure of it.