Dog Days of Summer (4 page)

Jeremiah broke the kiss and put his forehead against Joci
’s. Their breathing was ragged and raspy. They were both shaking and hanging on to each other.

Jeremiah said,
“Here’s how it’s going to go. We’ll go over things with Ricky and Janice, so tomorrow will run smooth. Then, we’re leaving…together…and tonight we’re going to be together. No more of you avoiding me. I want you, Joci, and you want me.”

Joci was shaking. Jeremiah lifted his head and looked into her eyes. She saw the determination there. Being with him was what she had dreamed of this past year. But, she hated the doubt and fear and horrible memories of finding out she had been cheated by men in her past.

She took a deep breath. “Then what, Jeremiah? We go our separate ways. You fuck me so I’m out of your system and move on? Is that what?”

Jeremiah
’s brows furrowed and his eyes became little slits.

“
What the hell is that supposed to mean? What kind of man do you think I am? I wouldn’t…fuck. Joci, what the hell?”

He took a deep breath to steady himself. He couldn
’t scare her away. He could feel how close he was to getting her to come home with him.

Lowering his voice, he whispered close to her ear.
“I’ve wanted you since the first minute I saw you. I still remember what you were wearing, what you looked like when you walked in that door over there. You were wearing jeans with shiny little things on the back pockets that moved around and sparkled when you walked. You were wearing a gray T-shirt with rhinestone hearts on it. I remembered thinking how the gray in the shirt matched your eyes. God, your eyes. I think about looking into them while I’m fucking you. I think about it over and over. I have feelings for you, Joci. What happens tomorrow is we ride, enjoy the day, meet and greet, and come home.”

Joci took a deep breath.
“I’m sorry, Jeremiah. I’m…I…you…” Joci swallowed. “What I’m trying to say is I didn’t mean to make you mad.”

Joci took another breath and pulled away a little. Her voice was small and shaky.
“I’m scared…,” she managed to squeak out.

It was so soft Jeremiah could barely hear it, but he did. Jeremiah let out a deep breath, not even realizing he had been holding it. He closed his eyes a moment and opened them to see her looking at the ground. He put two fingers under her chin and
gently raised it so he could see her eyes. His breath caught in his throat when he saw the tears.

He placed both of his hands on either side of her face and brushed the tears away with his thumbs. He very gently kissed each tear track on her cheek.

“I know this is hard for you. I won’t hurt you.”

“
Hey, there you guys are. Are you ready?”

Ricky and Janice had just walked in the front door of the store. Ricky worked at Rolling Thunder in parts sales. He was a great guy with short, spiky, blonde hair. He had tattoos on both arms, full sleeves, and a set of red lips tattooed on his neck. His blue eyes sparkled taking in the scene before him.

Jeremiah looked over his shoulder at them. “Yeah, we’ll be right there. Why don’t you make sure the computers are booted up so we can run through the software with Joci?”

Ricky looked at Janice and smirked. They turned and walked over to the computers behind the sales counter.

Jeremiah looked back at Joci. “Are you okay?”

Joci
gave a weak smile and wiped her eyes with her fingers. Jeremiah grabbed her and hugged her tight. He needed the contact with her.
Poor thing, she was scared out of her wits. Those bastards in her past had really done a number on her.

“
All we can do is try, Joci. Not trying is worse than failing. If we don’t try to see if we have something together, we’ll never know.”

He could feel her shaking and tightened his arms around her, holding her in place so she would feel protected. After a few moments, he loosened his hold on her and whispered,
“Ready?”

Joci nodded and Jeremiah stepped back
, but held on to her hand. Together, they walked to the counter, where Ricky and Janice were waiting for them.

The four of them spent the next hour going over how the sign-in process would work most efficiently.

Ricky and Janice said their good-byes and Jeremiah told them to go on out, he would lock up behind them.

Jeremiah locked the door behind Janice and Ricky
, then turned to look at Joci. She looked scared shitless. He didn’t want to scare her; he wanted to make love to her, to hold her, to smell her, to talk to her. He walked over to stand in front of her and watched her fidgeting with the little purse in her hands. Jeremiah could see them trembling and she was biting her bottom lip.

He stepped up to her and looked her in the eye. He placed his thumb on her chin and pulled her bottom lip out of her mouth.

“It’s going to be fine, Joci. You look like a scared little lamb heading to slaughter.” She nervously let out a little breath and tucked her hair behind her ear.

Her voice was soft and shaky.
“I don’t do casual sex…can’t. With you, I’m afraid it isn’t casual.”

* * * * *

Joci took a deep breath. Geez, this was harder than she thought. She was drawn to him, had been from the first moment she laid on eyes on him. But, with all the women always throwing themselves at him, she was so damned afraid. Her stomach turned over, making it hard to breathe. Here it was, this moment she had imagined. But now that it was here, she felt almost paralyzed with fear.

“
If you hurt me...I just can’t go through that. I know it seems foolish to you to not even try, but I can’t help myself.”

Her eyes became bright with tears. Her stupid emotions were all over the board right now and she knew she was rambling. She was sure she looked sexy as hell with watery eyes, a red nose, and that icky face people make when they
’re crying. He would be crazy not to want her now.

She had thought about Jeremiah for almost a year, dreamed about him, fantasized about him, wanted him, but she held back because of this stupid fear. If they made love tonight, she knew she would fall hard over that cliff. If he walked away after that, she would be devastated. Joci took a step back; this wasn
’t a good idea. She should just go.

In one swift move, Jeremiah grabbed Joci and pulled her tight to him. His breathing was ragged and his heart was beating wildly. Seeing her this way broke his heart. He held her tight, stroking her hair and kissing the top of her head every so often. Oh, he loved the scent of her, her hair, her cologne, the lotion she used on her skin.  She smelled like no one he knew. Soft, powdery with a hint of musk—it was imprinted on his brain.

“When I was younger, casual sex was all I wanted. No ties, no entanglements. But, you’ve been on my mind so much—I haven’t been with anyone. I’ve been waiting for you. It isn’t casual for me, either. I need you, I want you as well, but…God, Joci…”

Joci looked up at him. She wanted to see into his soul like he always seemed to do to her, to see if he was telling her the truth. They stared at each other for a long time, gauging each other, neither one knowing what to do now. Joci wanted to be with him so badly; she had for the past year. Had she been stupid to wait this long? She had no idea he had been waiting for her. Stunned wouldn
’t even come close to what Joci was feeling about this revelation.

Jeremiah leaned down and kissed her gently on the lips. He licked her lips and when she didn
’t open her mouth to allow him access, he nipped her lips.

“
Open up for me, Joci. Let me in.”

She opened with an escaping sigh. Jeremiah caught that sigh in his mouth and groaned. He turned his head to fit his lips perfectly over hers, pulling her body tightly to his. His tongue dipped into her and slowly swirled around. A little mewling sound escaped Joci
’s throat, and he nearly came from the sound of it.

Slowly, Joci slid her arms up Jeremiah
’s chest to his shoulders as she slipped her arms around his neck. Her hand automatically found its way under his hair at the nape and grabbed hold of a handful of it. She had wanted to touch his hair to tug on it, feel it run through her fingers.

God, it was soft and felt so good in her hand. She fisted it and it tightened against his scalp. He groaned and thrust into Joci so she could feel how turned on he was. She felt
his growing length as it pushed against her.

Joci dug her other hand into his hair and held on. His hands were suddenly everywhere on her. One hand
was on her breast, massaging it. He pinched her nipple through her bra. At first, it hurt and she moaned, but instantly it turned to pleasure and shot right down to her lower belly and pooled around, landing in her core.

God, she needed relief, badly. She pulled her mouth away abruptly from Jeremiah
’s mouth, and he instantly loathed the loss of her sweet lips against his.

* * * * *

He looked at her, her eyes half-lidded and sexy as fuck. She was ready for him. This was the moment, the one he had thought of all day. The time when he needed to get her out of here.with him. He needed to be gentle, but firm, without scaring her.

“Ok…God. Joci…gotta get control, or I’ll end up taking you right here with our kids just outside that door…I’ll make sure to file that away for later.” His smile widened.

His breathing was ragged; he couldn
’t remember the last time he had felt this turned on. Even his first time wasn’t this intense. He needed to do this right. Nothing was more important than getting this moment right.

“
You’re shaking Joci. I don’t want you driving like this. I’m going to have the boys bring your bike in the garage and keep it here tonight. You can ride home with me.”

He had wanted to pick her up tonight and bring her with him, but when Gunnar asked her to ride with him tonight and have dinner, Jeremiah didn
’t want to stand in the way.

Joci opened her mouth to protest but he shook his head no.
“Don’t say anything. I don’t give a fuck what anyone thinks. You’re mine tonight, do you understand? From this point on. You. Are. Mine.”

Joci needed to tell Gunnar she was leaving with Jeremiah, so he wouldn’t worry. Jeremiah was on his phone talking to one of his guys about her bike. She was scared shitless, but also, having him tell her they were going to be together tonight was a major turn-on. She really hoped like hell she didn’t end up with her heart broken again. This would be a loss she didn’t think she would be able to recover from.

Joci took a deep breath as she pulled her phone out of her purse. She swiped her finger across Gunnar
’s picture and tapped the dial icon.

“
Hey, Mom, what’s up?”

“
Gunnar, I’m going home with Jeremiah. I didn’t want you to worry. He’s having the guys bring my bike in the garage for the night.” She said with a quiver in her voice.

“
Okay, thanks for letting me know. I’m glad you’re giving him a chance.”

“
Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow. I love you.”

“I love you, too, Mom. He really is a great guy.”

She smiled,
“Yes, you’ve said that…many times. Oh, please tell Sandi and Jackie so they don’t worry, okay?”

Joci looked up to see Jeremiah watching her and her breath caught.

* * * * *

As Jeremiah watched her talk to her son
, his mind reeled. She really was a beautiful person, inside and out. He had learned so much about her over this past year. She was caring and loving and a great mom. She loved her friends and family, and she would do anything for those she cared about. All she asked in return was honesty and fidelity. She had been lied to during her past two relationships and cheated on. She had major trust issues that lingered with her.

Jeremiah wanted to give her a good life.  He had thought about it a lot over this past year while he was waiting for the right time to make his move. She was the kind of woman he
’d always wanted to be with. His past relationship, with Barbara, his boys’ mother, had been pure hell. Actually, it hadn’t really been a relationship; it was casual sex when either of them needed it, and she had gotten knocked up. She was one of those biker bitches, all the way. Crass, coarse, rough around the edges and too made up, too over the top, too everything. Thinking on it now, he couldn’t see how he was even remotely interested in her to begin with. She was nothing he wanted at all.

Jeremiah finished a text and walked over to Joci.
“Everything ok?”

She put her phone back in her purse,
“Yeah, it’s good. How about with you? Are you sure about…this? Me?”

Jeremiah nodded his head,
“I’m very sure. How many times have I asked you out over these past few months? Did you think I asked you out because I didn’t want to go out with you?”

“
No. I…it’s just, you could have any woman you wanted—except maybe Mrs. Wilkes.” Joci smirked. Getting more serious, she said, “I’m just…nervous, that’s all.”

Stepping closer, Jeremiah reached up and tucked a lock of hair behind Joci
’s ear. Releasing it, he slid his hand to her nape and gently circled his fingers against her neck.

“
Mrs. Wilkes is enamored with Gunnar. I’m enamored with you. Let’s go.”

Joci took a deep breath and looked into his eyes. Before she could answer, he said,
“I just want to spend time with you and get to know you better. I want to share myself with you, and I want you to share yourself with me.”

“
I know. I’m sorry. I can’t change on the drop of a dime. I’ve lived with this fear and these trust issues for so long; I don’t really know anything else.”

Jeremiah
’s green eyes clashed with her gray ones. He wanted to change that for her, for them. He slid his hand to her cheek and rubbed his thumb where a tear had been not long before.

“
I want you to come home with me to my house. Since you’ve eaten dinner already, I thought we could have a glass of wine. We’ll be able to sit and talk uninterrupted there.”

Joci took a deep breath and smiled,
“Okay. I’m…A glass of wine sounds great.”

Jeremiah took her hand in his. He felt a shudder run through her and watched her eyes. She never moved her gaze from his.

“I have my truck out back. Let’s go.”

They walked hand in hand through the store and out to the garage area of the shop. They went out a side door to Jeremiah
’s truck, virtually unseen, even with all of those people milling about. Jeremiah opened the passenger door and motioned for Joci to get in. She looked at him with her head cocked to the side and he smiled at her.

“
Too late to change your mind, Joci. You’ve let fear keep us apart for a long time. Time to live a little.”