by Pj Fiala
“Mom, check it out. Ryder built this fan.” They all looked up, and Joci saw four windshields mounted to a ceiling fan motor, making a very cool fan for a bike shop.
“Turn it on, Ryder,” someone yelled.
Ryder hit the switch, and the fan began rotating, creating a very nice breeze.
Joci started laughing, “That is so cool. Did you think of that on your own? You’re very creative, Ryder.”
Ryder blushed and ducked his head a bit.
“Ryder is the shy one, but he’s creative as hell,” JT stated. “I’m the good-looking one.” His smile was contagious, and Joci grinned at him.
Gunnar snorted, “Since you’re twins, I don’t think there is a ‘good-looking one’ between you two. The good-looking one would be me.”
“You’re so full of shit, Gunnar.” JT punched him in the arm. Ryder smirked and shook his head. Jeremiah walked into the garage at that moment, and Joci’s breath caught. Walking toward them, she could see him fully. She saw the muscles bunch in his thighs as he walked. His broad shoulders and chest stretched the t-shirt he was wearing to its limits. Tall, broad and beautiful, wow. But, clearly a player, not wow.
“What’s so funny?”
The boys relayed the conversation, and Jeremiah smirked. “I see you got it working. Looks great; nice job, son.” Jeremiah wrapped his arm around Ryder’s shoulders and squeezed.
Ryder smiled at his father’s praise. Joci noticed a slight bit of pink tinting his face. She looked over at Jeremiah and caught his stare. She blinked a couple of times and took a step back, “I have to get going. Boss man gave me a lot of work to do.” She smirked as she waved her notebook.
Everyone laughed as LuAnn popped up behind Jeremiah and wrapped her arms around his waist. “What’s so funny?”
Jeremiah squeezed LuAnn’s shoulders once and pulled away. “Nice meeting you, Joci.”
She looked him in the eye, nodded once, and turned to look at Gunnar. “I’ll see you in a couple of days, honey.” Joci hugged Gunnar and turned to leave with a wave at everyone. She got on her bike and headed for home, her thoughts running the gamut from Jeremiah to the logo, back to Jeremiah, to the boys, and to Jeremiah again.
Walking into the garage, Jeremiah saw Joci standing with his boys and Gunnar laughing. Her smile was mesmerizing. It was clear where Gunnar’s dimples came from. Sweet little body, tight little ass, perfect breasts—everything about her called to him. Smart, talented, beautiful—fuck. She said ‘she can’t’ go out with him. He was going to have to find out what that meant.
Watching her walk to her bike, with the little bling on the pockets of her jeans catching the light, his stomach fluttered. She climbed on, started it up, and pulled away. He felt oddly sad. Looking over, he noticed Gunnar watching him. He nodded to Gunnar and turned to trek back to his office. A couple more things to finish up tonight and he could head home.
Jeremiah sat at his desk, looking over the notes from the meeting, but his mind kept wandering back to the beautiful, sandy-haired, gray-eyed woman he had just met. Sleep wasn’t going to come easy tonight.
3
Logo
Joci clapped her hands together in front of her as she stared at the wall. “That looks fantastic!” Four months had passed since she had designed the logo for Rolling Thunder Motorcycles, Inc. The logo was all black, featuring an inferno motorcycle in the middle and flames shooting off the back of the bike. ‘Rolling Thunder’ was in orange and yellow on either side of the motorcycle, and ‘Motorcycles, Inc.’ was painted under the bike. The bold colors and design were stunning.
Jeremiah stood next to her with his arms crossed, staring at it. The painter had just finished an hour ago. Gunnar, JT, Ryder, and the other employees strode in behind them.
“Holy man. That is so fucking cool!” JT exclaimed.
“Very cool. Wow, sexy logo, Mom,” Gunnar said.
Others offered their opinions as they admired the painter’s handiwork. The shop had closed at noon to allow the painter to finish his work. Since it was a Monday—their slowest day—it didn’t matter, and Jeremiah wanted the painter to finish before their meeting tonight.
“Why don’t we pull some tables out of the back room and have our meeting down here tonight so we can admire the new logo?” Jeremiah said.
The employees scampered around, locating tables and chairs to set up in the showroom.
“You did a fabulous job with it, Joci. Thank you. This really gets the juices flowing. Know what I mean? Breathes new life into the shop and the ride.”
Joci looked over at Jeremiah. “Ah…thank you. That’s very nice of you to say.” A slight blush tinted her cheeks.
“I mean it. Since you’ve been coming here and helping us organize the ride, everyone has a renewed sense of what we’re doing. I’m fortunate with all these great employees, but something tells me we were just phoning it in. Now…well, just look at their faces. Everyone is stoked. You’ve added organization, purpose, and cohesiveness to this ride and this business.”
Joci turned to face Jeremiah. “Thank you.” Her voice was soft but sincere.
Jeremiah smiled at her, causing Joci’s heart rate to kick up a few notches. “Have dinner with me.”
Joci blinked. Her tongue felt stuck to the top of her mouth. God, she wanted to go out with him so badly. But she couldn’t. She wasn’t sure what was between Jeremiah and LuAnn and she simply didn’t want to get her heart broken again.
“Joci?”
Joci shook her head to set her thoughts straight, “I…ah…I can’t, Jeremiah.”
“Get the fuck away from me, bitch.”
Joci looked over to see Gunnar’s face scrunched up, addressing LuAnn.
Joci looked back at Jeremiah. “I don’t think Gunnar likes your girlfriend very much. I hope it doesn’t cause problems between you two.”
Jeremiah opened his mouth to say something, his brow furrowed, and he closed his mouth again. Joci turned and walked over to the tables that had been set up for the meeting. Gunnar pointed to a seat between him and the head of the table, where Jeremiah would sit.
LuAnn watched Joci sit in the chair she wanted to occupy and hissed under her breath, “Bitch, better watch it.”
Joci looked at LuAnn and flicked her gaze to Jeremiah, who was walking toward the table. He sat at the head of the table, brows furrowed, and said, “It’s time to get started.”
The meeting started, though the mood had shifted. Jeremiah was short and edgy. LuAnn was pissy, and any time Joci opened her mouth to contribute, LuAnn scoffed, shut her down, or made a snide comment, so Joci stopped talking altogether. Sensing the mood, everyone else also shut down.
Jeremiah huffed out a gruff, “Let’s call it a night. We’ll meet back here in four weeks. Thanks, everyone.”
There it was again, `I can’t,’ not ‘I won’t’ or ‘I don’t want to.’ What the fuck did she mean, she can’t go out with him? This was frustrating as hell. For the past four months, all he had thought of was Joci. He didn’t sleep at night. He was in a perpetual state of hardness in his nether regions. He had gone to The Barn a couple of times thinking he would pick someone up and get his rocks off, but looking around, no one caught his interest like Joci did. Then the girlfriend comment. LuAnn wasn’t his girlfriend. What the fuck did that shit mean?
A few days later, Jeremiah was working on a bike in the shop when Gunnar walked in. Gunnar pulled out some tools and walked over to Jeremiah. “What’s up, Dog?”
“Hold that for me, Gunnar. I’m going to pull the back tire off and make some adjustments.” They worked together a while until Jeremiah couldn’t take it anymore.
“What’s up with your mom, Gunnar? She doesn’t date?”
Gunnar’s brows raised. “You interested in my mom, Dog?”
“I’ve asked her out a couple of times now, but she says she can’t. Not won’t or doesn’t want to. She says she can’t. What the fuck does that mean?”
Gunnar released a loud breath
. “Well, my dad really did a number on her. He knocked her up and left. She caught him cheating with her best friend. Later, she found out he had screwed almost everyone she knew, including my mom’s Aunt Susan. She was devastated. For years, she never even looked at a man. Then, when I was about thirteen, she started dating again. Cocksucker cheated on her, too. So, she just doesn’t want to get hurt again.”
Dog watched Gunnar’s face. His jaw tightened; his brows furrowed. So, he had to be patient. It explained a lot. They kept working on the bike together in silence, each lost in thought.
“Why does she think LuAnn is my girlfriend?”
“Oh, yeah, I forgot. She asked me if you two dated, and I told her no. But she said LuAnn told her to stay away from you. LuAnn made it seem like you two are in a relationship.”
“That explains why she’s been so clingy lately.” Turning a wrench and hitting his knuckles, Jeremiah swore. “Fuck.”
So Jeremiah now had a better idea about what was going on with Joci. He was going to approach her differently from this point forward.
4
Let’s Start Over
“So, I was thinking. If you add this to the Rolling Thunder Motorcycles website, anyone already on the site will be able to click easily on the Veteran’s Ride information. We can capture early sign-ups, which should relieve some congestion on ride day. We can have a separate table set up for those who have pre-registered, where they can get their wristbands and swag before we ride.” Joci smiled at Jeremiah as she explained her marketing strategy.
“This is amazing, Joci. We’ve never had this so organized. How have I been able to pull this off before? When I look back on it, I’m almost embarrassed at the state of organized disorganization I had here.” Jeremiah looked into her eyes and held her gaze.
Joci’s heart was thumping away loudly in her chest. She could hear her heartbeat in her ears, drowning out almost everything else. Everything except Jeremiah’s low, soothing voice as it slid over her. Gawd. Her resolve was waning where he was concerned. He had taken great pains to let her know that he was not with LuAnn over the past three and a half months. At the ride meetings, he always made sure LuAnn sat at the opposite end of the table, while Joci sat next to him.
“This is going to be amazing. I bet we have more riders than ever before,” Ryder stated, smiling at Joci.
“That’s true,” JT chimed in. “You should hear all the comments and compliments from customers on the logo. Every day, someone says something about it.”
“Oh bullshit, JT. I never hear anyone comment on the fucking logo.” LuAnn’s snarl hit an all-time low as she leveled her sights on Joci. “It’s not like she cured cancer or anything. I’m sick of hearing how great it is.” LuAnn jumped up from her seat and walked out.
Ryder smirked as she left and looked at Joci where he smiled brightly. “I think it’s fucking hot!”
Joci smiled at Ryder and nodded once at his compliment. “Thank you, Ryder.”
“Okay, now that we’ll have some peace and quiet, let’s get down to work.” Jeremiah smiled. Chuckles erupted around the room.
Joci lost herself in the meeting. It was enjoyable without LuAnn. She knew she wouldn’t be sniped at every time she said something. The others in the room were in high spirits as they threw ideas around and worked out minor details.
“Gunnar, thanks for figuring that out. The parking has been an issue from the beginning. I don’t know how you got Mrs. Wilkes to agree to let us use her land, but thanks,” Jeremiah said with a smirk on his face.
Gunnar was a nice-looking man, so the women always said. He knew exactly how Gunnar had gotten their neighbor, Mrs. Wilkes, to agree to let them use her land. One big smile from him with those dimples like his mom’s and the old lady probably puddled in her undies. Jeremiah had been trying to get her to let them use her land for years now. He had tried buying it, renting it, borrowing it. Nothing. She wanted nothing to do with him or Rolling Thunder. A couple of visits from Gunnar and suddenly, they could use her land, provided they mowed it, kept it neat, and returned it to her in better condition than they got it to begin with.
“No problem, Dog. So, we need some volunteers to go over and start taking care of it. We’ll need to mow it and plant a barrier of evergreens. They won’t be very big this year, but I thought if we planted them in a row between her house and the field she’s letting us use, it'd give her the privacy she’s concerned with.”
Gunnar’s comments were to the group at large but focused on JT and Ryder.
“I don’t want that old bag watching me plant trees on her property,” JT hissed.
“All she wants is a little eye candy for a day or two. Since when don’t you want a woman to look at you?” Gunnar shot back, smiling broadly.
Deacon laughed. “Besides, you’re in a dry spell right now anyway. Maybe she’ll put out for you, JT.”
“Fuck you, Deacon,” JT snapped.
“Okay, okay.” Jeremiah was laughing at the banter. This was the most enjoyable meeting to date. “April tenth. Let’s plan on being over there at eight o’clock sharp and begin working on Mrs. Wilkes’ property. Gunnar, you and JT want to go over after the meeting and schmooze with her and let her know we’ll have a bunch of shirtless men out on her property beginning then?”
Gunnar smiled at JT and nodded, while JT wrinkled his face.
Jeremiah looked around the room at this group of people. He was a very fortunate man. Though he hadn’t enjoyed the company of a good woman as a constant in his life, he had this. Last year, Gunnar joined his shop, and this year, Joci started helping with the ride and marketing. When he first met Gunnar, there was something about him that instantly clicked with Jeremiah. He had hired Gunnar on the spot and had been proven right a number of times. His boys loved Gunnar, and Gunnar loved them back. They went out together, teased, cajoled, and enjoyed each other.
Now he had to get Joci to come completely into the fold. He wanted her to be that constant in his life. He looked forward to days when he would see her. He went to bed most nights thinking of her.
“Okay. Two weeks back here. The ride is less than three months away. Thanks, everyone.”
All the staff members got up and started throwing garbage away and filtering out of the room. “Joci, I’d like a word, please.”
Joci looked at him, and his breath caught. “How can I help?” She had a little smile on her face, which created those irresistible dimples and his cock jerked in his pants.
Jeremiah looked up and noticed everyone else had left the room. “I want to start over.”
Joci’s brows furrowed. “Start over?”
Extending his hand, Jeremiah’s grin spread across his face. “My name is Jeremiah. I’m single with two grown boys. I work hard, and I’m honest. I ride motorcycles and eat hamburgers and brats. I drink beer, and I love my parents. And you are?”
Joci laughed. Start over, okay. She laid her palm against his and looked him in the eye. “Hi. My name is Joci. I’m a single mother with a grown son. I’m a graphic designer and often have my head in my latest project. I’m honest and dependable. I ride motorcycles, eat hamburgers, drink wine coolers, and love my son and my sister. Nice to meet you, Jeremiah.”
With their hands still linked together, Jeremiah’s eyes never left Joci’s. Great start over.
5
So, This Is How It’s Going To Go
Jeremiah burst out laughing.
“That’s not funny,” Joci grumbled.
“Joci, the look on your face is priceless. And, yes, it is funny.” Jeremiah grabbed paper toweling from the counter and handed it to her. She had walked into the break room at Rolling Thunder to grab a bottle of water before the meeting when she interrupted a beer fight between Chase, one of the parts guys, and Deacon. She hadn’t gotten hit with any beer, or very much anyway, but she squealed as she saw the beer flying, causing Jeremiah and the boys to laugh at her.
She grabbed the toweling from Jeremiah as the guys all mutter
ed “Sorry” and started cleaning up the room.
“Do you always squeal like a little girl?” Jeremiah teased.
“What does that mean? I didn’t squeal.” Joci feigned irritation, but the smirk on her face gave her away. As she stood here now, even she realized she did squeal like a little girl.
He stepped close. Very close. “I thought it was cute. Actually, I thought it was sexy.”
Joci’s breath caught in her throat. He thought she was sexy? Gawd, she thought he was sexy. Every time she looked at him, her core tightened and tingled. She grew wet and wanting. The past ten months she’d grown to know him. She liked what she saw, physically and on a deeper level.
She loved watching him with the boys. He was a great boss, a great father and more and more, she saw how he was with Gunnar. It took her breath away.
Her voice breathy, all she could say was, “Jeremiah.”
Jesus. She whispered his name and his dick ached. Ten months. Ten fucking months he had wanted her. Now that he had gotten to know her a little more, he needed her. His body wanted her, but he needed her in his life. She was great with his boys. She laughed and joked with them. Ryder gravitated to her in an inexplicable way. Jeremiah noticed that on meeting nights, Ryder would watch the door for Joci to come in.
He was done waiting. The Veteran’s Ride was tomorrow. They were having an afternoon meeting for the core group and again later that evening with all the volunteers. Then, she was going to be his.
“Here’s how this is gonna go, Joci. We’re going to finish this meeting. Tonight, after we meet with the volunteers, we’re going home together. No more of you avoiding me. I want you, Joci, and you want me. I don’t want to hear ‘you can’t’ because you sure as hell can. We can. We will.”
She looked into his eyes. Her throat was dry, and she didn’t think she could speak. Jeremiah reached up and touched her cheek with the back of his fingers, neither of them breaking eye contact. Neither of them wanting to move.
