Page 45 of Moving to Love
“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.
Chapter 18
By Friday afternoon, they had finished moving all of Joci’s clothes and the furniture she was bringing with her into Jeremiah’s house. They had to pack quickly and get to the shop to leave for Lake Pentenwell for the weekend. It was about a two-and-a-half-hour ride. Luckily, Gunnar and JT weren’t moving in for a week or so, so she could get over there and clean next week.
Joci quickly packed and strapped her bag on her bike when Jeremiah came out to the garage carrying his bag and placed it on his bike. He was taking the bike he and his sons had built.
“Do you need to put anything on my bike, babe?”
Joci smiled at him. “No, I think I’ve got it.”
“What are you smiling at?” Jeremiah asked, grinning back at her.
“I love that you call me ‘babe’ and ‘darling’ and ‘sweetheart.’”
He finished strapping his bag on his bike, walked over and hugged her tight. “I’m glad you like it. I don’t plan on stopping.”
He kissed her and hugged her again. Then he teasingly slapped her ass.
“Gotta get going, babe. We’re going to be late.”
He winked at her and went back into the house to check everything over one last time.
Soon, they were on the road heading for the shop. They pulled in around 5 and most of the employees were pulling in at the same time. They had signs up on the doors all week letting customers know that they would be closed this weekend. It was the only weekend of the year the shop was closed.
Together, Jeremiah and Joci walked into the garage, and the employees who were there were standing around talking excitedly. Joci was introduced to Deacon’s wife, Julie. She was sweet. Dark like Deacon and had tattoos all over her body. She was a tattoo artist, which explained why Deacon had so many tattoos.
