Dog Days of Summer (26 page)

With a heavy sigh, Jackie said,
“Joci said she just couldn’t tolerate LuAnn’s bullshit anymore. Period. She said she feels broken.” Jeremiah hissed out a breath.

“
You’d better get that bitch under control or you’re going to lose the best thing that ever happened in your life, Jeremiah,” Jackie said in a serious voice.

He nodded at her and swallowed the lump in his throat.

After they ate dinner, they decided to head back to the hotel and sit by the pool. The boys entertained them most of the evening by playing a mean game of water volleyball and then acting silly when a group of hot babes started paying attention to them.

The Rolling Thunder group headed home late Monday morning. The weekend had been a turning point in their relationship. Which way the turns went, Joci wasn
’t sure.

“
I love you, Jeremiah, but we have to do something about this. I know some of my frustration with this situation is from my past. That said, I also know it isn’t healthy for you to feel this ‘responsibility’ to LuAnn, when all she wants is what’s best for her, not you.”

Jeremiah pulled Joci in for a hug and kneaded his fingers into her tense shoulders. He felt her moan vibrate through his chest and continued massaging her shoulders, neck, and back. As it always happened, when Jeremiah touched Joci, a different part of his body became tense. Joci smiled to herself as she felt his length grow hard against her belly.

For the first time in two days, Joci let Jeremiah kiss her. God, she missed his touch, his lips, his warmth. She couldn’t help the tears that leaked out of her eyes. She hoped this was the last time she had to spend time away from this man, emotionally and physically.

“
My bike isn’t running right, Jeremiah. It was sputtering a lot yesterday. Do you think Gunnar can take a look at it? Probably the plugs, but I’m not sure. Since we won’t be riding this weekend because of the staff party, this will be a good week to have it at the shop. Do you mind?” Joci said.

“
Of course, I don’t mind. One of the perks of owning a bike shop is you can have your bike worked on anytime you want.”

Joci chucked,
“I don’t own a bike shop; I just sleep with a guy who does.”

“
Once we’re married, you’ll be part owner of a bike shop.”

Joci leaned back and looked at Jeremiah with her brows furrowed.
“Jeremiah, I don’t want to take anything away from JT and Ryder.  They are the rightful owners after you.”

“
It’s my business. They’re fine. But, while we’re on the subject, what do you think of my adopting Gunnar? He would legally be my son. He could change his name if he wanted, and for all intents and purposes, be entitled to anything JT and Ryder were entitled to. I want us all to be a family, with the same last name. What do you think?”

Joci was speechless. Adopt Gunnar? She had never thought about it. Can you adopt an adult?

“I think it’s amazing and fantastic and awesome. I don’t know what he’ll say. You’ll have to ask him. But, since he called you ‘Dad,’ I would bet he’ll jump at the chance.” Joci wrapped her arms around Jeremiah’s shoulders. “Thank you, Jeremiah.”

Jeremiah squeezed Joci tight.
“No need to thank me. I’ve been thinking about it for a while, but the other night, when he called me ‘Dad,’ it cemented the whole idea.”

The remainder of the week was a whirlwind of activity around the upcoming
staff party. Joci wanted to run through the video one more time before she showed it to Jeremiah and the employees. She was really happy with it.

The two songs she chose to add to the slide show were
Roll Me Away
by Bob Seger and
Let’s Ride
by Kid Rock. Her slide show was amazing. Joci had tried to get pictures of everyone who had participated in the Veteran’s Ride, especially the men and women who worked at Rolling Thunder. She was stunned at the number of pictures of her and Jeremiah. She wasn’t even aware of the photographers around them. There were a few pictures of LuAnn, most of them crude, with her sticking her tongue out or holding up her breasts or pulling her shirt down to show maximum cleavage. She really had zero class.

Nevertheless
, there were two pictures of LuAnn had been taken when she wasn’t aware of the photographer and they were actually nice photos of her, so Joci used them. One of the two was a picture of LuAnn looking over the crowd at Jeremiah with longing in her eyes. Joci cropped out Jeremiah and just showed LuAnn looking off into space over the crowd. She didn’t want Jeremiah and LuAnn in the same picture if she could help it. Yes, it was immature, but so what?

There were great pictures of the boys and Jeremiah
’s family. There was a cool picture of all of them standing at Rolling Thunder together before the ride. Her favorite picture, though, was the one she used to end the video. It was of Joci leaning against a wall at The Barn. Jeremiah had his left forearm leaning against the wall above Joci’s head. His right hand was on Joci’s chin, holding her chin up to look at him and they were staring into each other’s eyes. Both had a soft smiles on their faces. It was a beautiful, sweet picture of them. When she looked back at it now, she could see that she had love in her eyes for him, and Jeremiah’s for her. She couldn’t wait for him to see it.

She finished the video, saved it onto a thumb drive, and called Sandi.

“Hey, there. I’m leaving for the restaurant now. Do you need directions?”

“
No, I looked it up on the Internet. I’ll be walking out the door in five. See you then.”

When they got to the restaurant, Joci put the thumb drive into the computer they would be using to show the video on a large screen in the back party room.

“I want you to be honest with me, Sandi. I haven’t shown this to anyone yet. I’m so nervous. I want it to be perfect for him.”

“
Okay. Start it up, I’m ready to critique.”

They sat drinking iced tea as the video played. When it was over, Sandi
’s eyes were bright with moisture. “Wow, Joci…that’s beautiful.”

Joci smiled at her and grabbed her hand.

“It’s going to be a surprise for tomorrow night. He doesn’t even know I have the pictures.”

Sandi
’s eyes got big and she raised her eyebrows, “Oh. My. God. I would love to see the look on his face when he sees this. He’s going to flip. It’s really fantastic, Joci. You’re great at all this stuff. Now let’s talk about the wedding.”

They
planned and talked all through lunch. Just four weeks away now. According to the
Farmer’s Almanac
, the trees were going to turn colors early this year because there had been a drought last year. Jackie and Sandi were standing up for Joci, and they were going to need to go dress shopping in the next week or so.

“
After lunch, I’m going shopping for a dress for tomorrow night. Do you want to join me? We can do some preliminary wedding shopping, too.”

Joci found a hot dress to wear and bought Jeremiah a shirt and tie to match her dress. They would look fabulous together.

That evening, Joci and Jeremiah stayed home. During the summer months, they didn’t have the opportunity to stay in very often and they needed to make some arrangements for two family birthday parties next weekend and the wedding.

Lying on the sofa, wrapped up in each other, listening to music, they heard someone in the garage around eight o
’clock, and Jeremiah jumped up. “Stay put until I know what’s going on.”

As he walked into the kitchen, JT, Ryder, and Gunnar strolled in from the garage, laughing and chuckling. Apparently, they had been drinking.

“You boys scared the shit out of us.” He reached out and hugged each of them. “Come on in. Mom’s in the living room.”

They sat around for the remainder of the evening, talking and enjoying each other. Jeremiah and Joci made the boys stay there overnight, because they didn
’t want them driving when they had been drinking.

As Joci slipped into bed, she smiled at Jeremiah,
“You know, they’re all cute together. I can see why the girls were paying attention to them in Milwaukee. What a handsome group of boys we have.”

Jeremiah smiled,
“Yeah. Good boys, too. They work hard, they’re polite, smart, and loving. We’re lucky, yeah?”

“
Yeah.” Joci sighed.

Joci closed her eyes as the warm water caressed her body. A loud moan escaped her lips.

“
I love listening to you moan, babe, but usually, I’m inside of you somewhere.”

Joci opened her eyes and smiled at the beautiful man in front of her.
“I vaguely remember something like that.”

“
Vaguely?” Jeremiah stepped further in the shower and wrapped his hands around Joci’s smaller ones. Slowly, he lifted her hands and kissed the back of each before pulling them up over her head. He pushed his body against hers and backed her up against the shower wall.  He hooked her hands over the ledge in the wall above her head. “Keep your hands up there on the ledge. Don’t let go. OK?”

Looking into those green eyes she loved so much, Joci whispered,
“Yeah.”

Jeremiah bowed his head and lightly pressed his lips to hers. His palms slid down her body, stopping at her breasts. He gently squeezed them, then his hands continued their decent. His palms gliding easily over her wet skin, he cupped her ass and pulled her into his erection.

“You are my everything, Jocelyn James. You are the air I breathe. You’re the food that sustains me. You’re the liquid that quenches me. My heart beats stronger because of you.”

“
Jeremiah.”

Sliding his right palm along her thigh, Jeremiah lifted her leg and pulled it around his waist.

“Don’t let go, baby.” Feather-light kisses rained down across Joci’s forehead, down her cheeks, and across her lips as Jeremiah’s rigid length slid inside of her.

“
Oh.”

Holding her bottom in his hands
, Jeremiah began driving into her.

Joci hung on to the ledge with all her might. She wanted nothing more than to wrap her arms around Jeremiah
’s shoulders and hold him tightly to her. Her orgasm was building like a tsunami, rolling in fast and furious. The leg she was standing on began to shake.

“
Jeremiah…please.”

“
Come for me, Joci. Let go, baby. Jesus, you feel so fucking good. Your tight little pussy feels like heaven.”

Joci cried out his name as her orgasm crashed through her body.

“I’m with you, babe.” Two more thrusts and Jeremiah poured himself into her.

An hour later, Joci walked out of the bedroom and into the living room. Jeremiah was sitting on the sofa. His eyes looked over his laptop. As she entered, he froze. His eyes traveled the length of her body. A low whistle slipped from his lips.

“I say we stay in tonight. I’m not going to be able to think of anything but getting you out of that dress all night.”

Joci smiled. She had found a slinky, red, hi/lo hem dress with a black leather yoke and key holes in the front and back. It hugged her curves perfectly. She finished the outfit off with a pair of black strappy heels that showed off her
ankle tattoo. She thought it was the perfect dress for her. She looked at Jeremiah in his black dress pants, black shirt, and red tie and licked her lips. “I’ll be thinking about taking your clothes off as well. I love what’s underneath more.”

Jeremiah rose off the sofa and wrapped his arms around Joci. He grabbed her hand and placed it on his swollen cock.

“See what you do to me?”

He ground against her as she rubbed up and down. She moved her hand and pressed her pussy against him. Jeremiah groaned and slid his hand down to her ass and held her close. He kissed her temple.

“God, I love you crazy, baby.”

Joci giggled.
“I love you crazy, too.”

A little later, they stood around greeting the employees and their spouses or significant others. Almost everyone was there, except of course, LuAnn and Chase. Joci was a little hopeful that they just wouldn
’t come, but as soon as the thought entered her mind, LuAnn popped through the door. Joci should have known by now that LuAnn liked to make an entrance.

LuAnn looked her nasty self. She was wearing a very tight black dress that barely covered her butt. She had on ridiculously high heels and was even having a hard time walking in them. Her hair was some blonde frenzied, big, wild mess. She actually looked like she was wasted already. She and Chase walked over to Jeremiah and Joci to say hello. LuAnn never looked at Joci. She leaned in to give Jeremiah a kiss on the cheek and of course, to rub her breasts on his arm. He stepped back quickly and put his arm around Joci. Chase looked at Joci with a shrug and hustled LuAnn off quickly. Jeremiah looked down at Joci, and she just shook her head. As long as LuAnn worked there, this behavior was going to continue.

They visited for a while more and then were told they could go into the dining room, where the meal would be served in about half an hour.

Once everyone was seated, Jeremiah stood, said thank you to everyone, and handed out their bonuses. When he was almost finished, Joci stood next to him.

She whispered, “I have a little surprise.”

Jeremiah smiled at her and then announced,
“Joci has a little surprise.” Joci walked over to the computer, started the slide show, and dimmed the lights. As soon as the Rolling Thunder Motorcycle, Inc. logo popped up on the screen, everyone clapped and whistled. They sat in silence listening to the music and watching the video.

Jeremiah leaned forward at one point and whispered in Joci
’s ear, “I love it, Joci. It’s the perfect surprise.”

Joci looked at him and kissed his cheek. A few minutes later, the last picture showed on the screen. Jeremiah did a quick intake of breath. Everyone was quiet in the room and someone got up and turned the lights back up. Joci turned to look at Jeremiah. His eyes were bright with moisture. He reached forward and hugged her tight.

“Thank you, baby. That was perfect, just perfect. I love you.”

Joci smiled at him and the room broke out in applause. Joci blushed and Jeremiah kissed her lips, which brought on a few whistles. The servers brought out the food and everyone started digging in.

LuAnn was sullen after the video had played. She pushed her food around and ordered two drinks from the waitress as she brought food. She looked over at Jeremiah several times, but he wasn’t looking at her. He was talking to Joci and the boys.

After dinner, everyone headed out to the bar to have a couple of drinks. Then, they were on their own. Jeremiah didn
’t want to fill them all up with alcohol, so he wasn’t sponsoring anything like that. He had bought them each three drinks, gave them a big meal and dessert, and that was it.

As they were standing at the bar, Joci excused herself to go to the restroom. She walked quickly to the bathroom and ran to a stall as soon as she was in the room. She threw up once and heard the door open. Joci closed her eyes and waited for the nausea to end. As soon as she was able, she walked out of her stall. LuAnn was sitting on the counter waiting for her. Joci sucked in a deep breath and waited for what LuAnn had to say while she rinsed her mouth and washed her hands.

“You know he’s going to get tired of you, right? I mean, look at you. Sure, you’re kind of pretty, but he likes this.” She gestured at herself and her body. “If you’ve seen Barbara, you would know I’m right. I’ve been giving him some time to get over you, but you’re a pesky little gnat, hanging on so tight. So, I thought I would just let you know that Jeremiah will get married, but it will be to me, not a little plain Jane like you.”

Joci smirked at LuAnn. She didn
’t know why she thought that was kind of funny, but she did. Then, she couldn’t help herself, she burst out laughing.

As soon as she composed herself
, Joci said, “I could almost take you seriously except for the fact that you can barely speak because you’re wasted. But also, what you don’t see is, while I might be plain compared to you, I am original. You’re a carbon copy of the loose, classless piece of biker trash who got herself knocked up and took off after having her twins. She rolls through town once a year begging for money and then leaves. Jeremiah doesn’t look for her, wait for her, or in any way want anything to do with her when she comes to town. What you did to yourself was make him steer clear of you because of your silly little-girl imitation of what he doesn’t want.”

With that, Joci turned and walked out the bathroom door with a smile on her face.

Joci walked back to the bar where Jeremiah and the boys were talking. He was watching her the whole time. He saw LuAnn walk in the bathroom after her and wondered if he should go and see what was happening. When Joci was next to him again, he put his arm around her and leaned down to kiss her forehead. He pulled back and looked at her with his brows furrowed.

“
Honey, you’re very warm. Are you okay? Did LuAnn…”

“
I’m okay. I don’t want to cut your night short. If I start feeling really bad, I’ll go take a nap in the truck.”

“
No, you won’t. I did what I needed to do here tonight, Joci. There’s nothing more important than making sure you’re okay. Let’s go.”

They said their good-byes to everyone. Joci hugged the boys. When she hugged Gunnar, he looked at her with alarm in his eyes.

“Mom, you have a fever. Are you okay?”

“
She’s not feeling well, Gunnar. I’m taking her home. We’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

Jeremiah hugged each of the boys and they left.

As soon as they got out to the truck, Joci started shivering. The air outside just felt so cool to her skin.

Jeremiah was as worried as hell about her. He kept looking over at her. She was pale and shivering and sweating at the same time. Joci leaned back against the seat and closed her eyes. Bad idea. The movement from the truck was making her nauseous again.

“Baby, pull over, please. Real fast.”

Jeremiah pulled over to the side of the road and Joci grabbed the door handle and almost fell out of the truck trying to get out in time. She tripped and caught herself
, then kneeled down and emptied anything that may have been left in her stomach. Jeremiah ran around the truck and knelt alongside of her. He rubbed her back and felt powerless to help her in any way. She retched and retched, even though her stomach was already empty. When she finished retching, she started shaking again.

Jeremiah reached into the truck, grabbed a couple of tissues, and handed them to her. After she had finished wiping her mouth, he picked her up and set her down in the truck.

“Joci, I’m taking you to the hospital.”

“
No. I just want to go home. I must have the flu.”

“
Joci, people don’t get the flu in August.”

Joci leaned her head back against the seat. She couldn
’t even argue about this. Jeremiah leaned over and grabbed her hand.

“
Honey. Let me take you to the hospital. I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

“
I’m just tired and need something like tea in my tummy. I’ll be fine tomorrow.”

Jeremiah continued driving. Shit, he was at a complete loss here. He decided to take her home and tuck her into bed and then call his mom. She could tell him what to do. Joci looked so pale and frail. That just wasn
’t Joci. She had been warm all day. He should have made her go to the doctor earlier today. She had slept for a long time that afternoon, which wasn’t like her either. She’d been so tired lately.

Jeremiah carried Joci into the house and laid her on the bed. He gently took her dress and shoes off. He left her underwear on and tucked her under the covers.
“Relax, sweetheart. I’ll make you some tea.” She smiled a weakly and closed her eyes.

Jeremiah called his mom.
“Mom, sorry it’s so late. I don’t know what to do. Joci’s sick. What should I do for her?”

“
Tell me what’s going on with her, son.”

“
She’s been warm all day. She took a two-hour nap this afternoon and then some aspirin before we went to the employee dinner. She threw up while we were there, and again on the way home. She’s hot now and so pale and she’s sweating and shivering at the same time.”

“
Make her some weak tea and bring her some crackers, and I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

Jeremiah did as his mom told him. He took the tea and some crackers into the bedroom.
“Joci, honey, can you sit up?”

Joci nodded and pushed herself up. He pulled one of his t-shirts out of the drawer.
“Mom is coming over to help. Let’s cover you up.”

Joci pulled the t-shirt over her head and leaned back against the headboard. Jeremiah handed her the cup of tea and she put it to her lips and took a little sip. He gave her a cracker and sat alongside of her on the bed. He was rubbing her leg and watching her very closely. She took a couple nibbles of the cracker and leaned her head against the headboard.

They were sitting like that when Emily walked in the bedroom. Jeremiah looked over at his mom and she smiled at the worry on his face.

“
How are you doing, dear?” Emily asked softly.