Page 61 of Moving to Love
She leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “Thanks, honey. You doing okay?”
He smirked. “Yeah. You?”
She looked toward the door to the store. Absently, she responded, “Yeah. I’m good. Talk to you later, okay?”
She walked toward the store, her stomach a little queasy. The door from the garage into the shop opened directly to the parts counter, and just beyond that were the parts shelves. To the left was the sales floor, and to the right, the clothing section. There were several customers milling about. JT was helping a customer at a desk on the sales floor. Janice was speaking to a customer in clothing. LuAnn was speaking to a tall brunette with short spiky hair and a protruding baby bump. When she saw Joci, she nodded her head toward Joci, and the brunette turned and smiled at her, then quickly turned to LuAnn. They whispered to each other, and as Joci walked past them, they giggled loudly.
Heaving out a breath to keep herself calm, she refused to look at them again. Climbing the stairs was difficult as her knees felt weak. Today was weird—she’d like a do-over.
Jeremiah’s door was open, and he sat staring out the window that looked out over the parking lot. He looked sad. Lost in thought. But he was still the sexiest man she’d ever known. His broad shoulders seemed to slump forward, and his hands were balled into fists at his sides.
“You look pensive.”
He swung around, his eyes large and shocked. It took him a moment to compose himself, but she saw the shutter close in his eyes. He cleared his throat, but when he spoke, his voice was gravelly. “Hey. What brings you here?”
Joci’s brows furrowed. She stepped into his office, and he didn’t move toward her. That was the first time he held himself back. Wait. Nope, it was the second time; the first was this morning when he left. She swallowed the large lump in her throat. Softly she said, “I just had lunch with Sandi, and I wanted to see you. You seemed preoccupied this morning, and I was worried.” She looked into his eyes, noted his jaw clench and tighten, and his hands flexed open then closed again.
“I’m fine, Joci. Just busy.” He walked toward her and kissed the top of her head before he turned and sat at his desk. Tears sprang to her eyes. This was it. She shouldn’t have moved in with him; it was too soon.
Chapter 25
Joci stood in the closet trying to decide what to wear. She was as nervous as a cat tonight. She had gone out plenty of times with Jackie and Sandi to sing Karaoke, but it had always been impromptu. This felt staged and planned, and she had butterflies beyond belief. She had even gotten together with the girls for lunch today to practice. They thought she was being silly, but she didn’t want to embarrass herself or Jeremiah. Now, what to wear?
“There you are. What’s up?”
Joci turned to look at Jeremiah standing in the doorway of the closet. Did he always have to look perfect?
“I don’t know what to wear. I’m nervous,” she said softly.
Jeremiah walked toward her and slid his hand in her hair. As he cupped her head, he leaned down and kissed her softly.
Looking intently into her eyes, he husked out, “You could wear a sack and still look perfect, babe. But maybe I can help.”
He walked past her to the closet and pulled a little package off a top shelf. He handed it to her with a smile on his face.
“I bought this for you.”
She opened the package and pulled out a beautiful gray blouse. Its capped sleeves and crystals decorating the front were beautiful; the crystal buttons ended, creating a low V. The material felt silky and soft in her hands as she slid it through her fingers.
She looked up at Jeremiah and smiled. “Thank you. It’s just beautiful.”
She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. She kissed his lips softly and tenderly, and she shivered when he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close.
“I don’t know when you had time to shop for me; you’ve been preoccupied this week, but thank you.”
He squeezed her one more time and pulled his head back to look into her eyes.
“I think about you all the time, Joci. You’re always in my thoughts. And I’m sorry I’ve been a bit in the clouds this week. Just a lot on my mind.”
She squeezed him again and turned to head toward the bathroom for a shower. She placed her hand over her tummy to quell the fluttering.
At eight-thirty, they were walking into Purcell’s to meet their friends.
Sandi jumped up and hugged Joci when she saw them. Saying hello to Jeremiah, she pulled Joci forward to a group of tables she had pulled together to accommodate their large group. Sandi and Jon, Jackie and David, Gunnar, JT, and Ryder were already there. Joci looked back at Jeremiah and saw his scowl. She followed his line of sight to Connor as he walked in. She tightened her lips as she caught his eye. He sheepishly nodded once and joined her at the table.
A waitress came and took their drink order as the first Karaoke singer went up on stage, and the show started. Joci blew out a long breath and said, “I’m going to need a few drinks before I can get up there.”
“Dog? God, that is you. How are you, darling?” a seductive, smoky voice purred.
