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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