Chapter 8
As Blaze and Johanna walked back toward the main bonfire, Ryan looked up from his folding chair and smirked like a man who had been waiting specifically to annoy somebody.
“Well, look who finally came back.”
Blaze shot him a look. “You ever get tired of talking?”
“No.” Ryan leaned farther back in the chair completely unbothered. “It’s one of my spiritual gifts.”
MacKenzie burst out laughing beside him while Michael nearly choked on his beer.
The bonfire crackled loudly in front of them, flames twisting high into the dark sky while cold February wind swept across the shoreline.
Around the fire pit, firefighters sat in camping chairs swapping stories while music drifted low through portable speakers buried somewhere beneath blankets and coolers.
Everything about the scene felt easy and comfortable in the way Sheraton Beach always managed when people gathered together near water and firelight.
A few months ago, attention like this would have annoyed him. Back then, he'd still been thinking about what came next. About bigger departments and bigger opportunities.
Tonight, he didn’t care who noticed.
Not when Johanna still stood beside him wrapped in his hoodie smelling faintly like vanilla lotion and ocean air.
MacKenzie scooted across the oversized blanket spread near the fire. “Come sit down before y’all freeze.”
Blaze guided Johanna toward the blanket without letting go of her hand. The second they sat, warmth from the flames rolled over them while waves crashed steadily somewhere beyond the dunes.
He stretched his legs out in front of him and leaned back on one arm while Johanna tucked her knees beneath the blanket covering the group.
Then the wind shifted harder. Johanna shivered lightly beside him.
Blaze noticed. Without saying a word, he reached behind them, grabbed another blanket from the pile nearby, and pulled it over both of them before sliding one arm naturally around her shoulders.
Like he’d done it a thousand times before.
Because he had.
Johanna inhaled softly beside him at the contact.
Blaze lowered his mouth near her ear slightly. “Relax.”
The quiet rumble of his voice against her skin made her shoulders tense for exactly one second before she tried pretending otherwise.
“I am relaxed,” she whispered back.
Blaze’s mouth curved against the side of her hair.
Liar.
But he let her keep the illusion.
For now.
The fire popped loudly while Michael launched into a wildly exaggerated retelling of a rescue call that had half the firefighters yelling corrections across the circle.
“You are lying already,” Ryan interrupted.
“I’m storytelling.”
“You almost fell off the ladder,” Blaze argued.
“That is not what happened.”
“It absolutely happened,” another firefighter shouted.
Laughter erupted around the fire again.
Beside Blaze, Johanna slowly relaxed despite herself. He felt it happen gradually beneath his arm. Her body softened against his side while her breathing lost some of that careful tension she carried around him earlier.
Maybe it was the fire, or it was the music.
Or maybe it was the way his thumb moved absently along her upper arm beneath the blanket like touching her had already become instinct again.
Dangerous thought. Very dangerous.
MacKenzie looked across the fire suddenly. “You know this fool almost fought somebody at the auction?”
Johanna’s eyes snapped toward Blaze. “Excuse me?”
Blaze sighed heavily. “He’s being dramatic.”
Ryan barked out a laugh loud enough to scare birds. “I’m absolutely not.”
MacKenzie pointed directly at him. “After the auction, the host had all of the bachelors line up outside so every woman leaving could see them up close and in person. This chick from Dover kept touching his chest and was in no rush to leave.”
After her number had flashed up on the screen as the winning bid, Johanna had left the building. He knew because he went looking for her.
Johanna blinked once. Then turned toward Blaze.
“Wow,” she whispered.
Blaze rubbed one hand across his jaw. “She was doing a lot.”
“A lot?” Ryan repeated loudly. “Blaze looked one second away from calling security.”
The group exploded again.
Heat crept unexpectedly through Blaze’s chest when Johanna looked at him after that. Not because she seemed upset. Because she looked affected. Jealous maybe. Or at least close enough for him to notice. And he noticed everything when it came to her.
He lowered his gaze to hers completely steady and unapologetic.
“I didn’t want her touching me.”
Johanna’s brows lifted slightly. “Why?”
Blaze held her eyes for one long second. Then answered honestly. “Because she wasn’t you.”
The silence that followed felt heavier somehow.
Johanna looked back toward the fire, but Blaze still caught the warmth spreading across her cheeks.
Lord.
That woman had no idea what she did to him.
MacKenzie slapped Ryan dramatically on the shoulder. “See? This is why I can’t hang around these two sober.”
Ryan nodded solemnly. “They got years of unresolved eye contact happening.”
Blaze laughed quietly beside Johanna, and the sound vibrated against her shoulder where she rested tucked beneath his arm.
Truth was, Blaze liked her there entirely too much.
But instead, Johanna leaned into him a little more comfortably beneath the blanket, and Blaze felt the shift all the way down to his bones.
His hand slid along her upper arm once beneath the blanket. Not sexual. Protective in that quiet masculine way he usually kept locked down.
“You good?” he murmured low enough for only her to hear.
Johanna tilted her face toward him. Firelight danced across her skin while dark curls framed eyes focused entirely on him despite the noise surrounding them.
And there it was again. That feeling. Like no matter how crowded the room became, he could always find her.
Always had.
“Yeah,” she admitted softly.
Blaze studied her another second before nodding once like her answer genuinely mattered.
Because it did.
More than she realized.
A slower song drifted through the speakers then, a love ballad layered beneath crashing waves and firelight.
Several couples stood almost instantly.
Michael groaned dramatically. “Aw hell. Here everybody go getting emotional.”
MacKenzie laughed while reaching down for her husband’s hand. “Come dance with me before you ruin the vibe.”
All around the bonfire, couples paired off beneath string lights and moonlight while the ocean rolled steadily behind them.
The atmosphere shifted after that. Softer now. More intimate.
Blaze looked down at Johanna and felt something settle deep in his chest with dangerous certainty.
He wanted this woman back in his life.
Not temporarily. Not halfway.
Completely.
Those warm brown eyes lifted to his again, cautious but already softening.
Blaze held her gaze steadily. “Dance with me.”
Not a question.
Just quiet confidence from a man who knew exactly what he wanted.
Even if he was still figuring out what came next.
*.*.*
Johanna’s pulse skipped traitorously.
“On sand?” she asked weakly.
A slow smile spread across Blaze’s mouth beneath the hood pulled low over his head. “Why, you scared?”
The challenge in his voice landed instantly.
Johanna narrowed her eyes. “I hate you.”
“No, you don’t.”
The man sounded entirely too confident about that.
Blaze stood first, unfolding to his full height beside the fire while shadows and flames moved across broad shoulders dressed in black.
Firelight sharpened every hard line of him, the powerful chest beneath the fitted henley, the relaxed masculine stance, the calm confidence that seemed woven into his skin now.
Honestly, it felt unfair.
Johanna stared at the hand he offered her for one second too long before finally placing her palm against his. Warmth wrapped around her, and, Blaze smiled like a man who already knew he’d won something important tonight.
The realization made her stomach tighten.
He pulled her effortlessly to her feet, keeping his hand around hers as though touching her had always been the most natural thing in the world.
Johanna rose from the blanket trying not to notice the solid wall of muscle standing directly in front of her, the heat of his palm around hers, or the fact that every firefighter near the bonfire suddenly looked far too entertained.
Michael leaned back in his chair grinning openly. “Dude, you smiling hard as hell.”
MacKenzie clutched her chest dramatically while Ryan pointed toward Blaze like he’d just witnessed a supernatural event.
“Look at what’s happening,” Ryan announced loudly. “Our boy’s in love again.”
Blaze ignored every last one of them. Instead, he guided Johanna farther down the shoreline away from the louder crowd and toward the quieter edge of the firelight where the sand felt smoother beneath their feet and the ocean sounded louder than the conversations behind them.
Johanna glanced around suspiciously. “You moved us away from witnesses.”
That slow smile returned.
“Maybe I wanted privacy.”
Heat rushed instantly into her cheeks.
Blaze had become entirely too confident for her emotional stability.
Behind them, the bonfire crackled beneath strings of lights while music drifted softly through the February night. Couples swayed together near the fire as ocean waves rolled steadily onto shore carrying smoke, salt, and cold sea air through the darkness. The entire beach looked wrapped in romance.
Which meant Johanna absolutely should have stayed home. Instead, she stood there with Blaze’s hand resting at her waist while her pulse behaved like it lacked basic home training.
His touch wasn’t hesitant. It wasn’t possessive either. It felt steady and certain. The kind of touch that said he already knew exactly where he wanted her.
“You nervous again?” he asked quietly.
Johanna lifted one eyebrow. “You ask that question a lot.”
“That’s because I like honest answers.”
His thumb brushed against her waist beneath the sweater, and Johanna had to inhale carefully before responding.
“Maybe a little.”
Something warm moved through Blaze’s expression.
“There she is.”
Johanna frowned slightly. “Who?”
“The woman who finally stopped pretending she doesn’t feel what’s happening between us.”
Johanna looked toward the ocean because eye contact suddenly felt dangerous.
Blaze stepped closer instead, his body heat sliding through the cool night air until she could feel him through the thin knit fabric separating them.
“You know what’s funny?” he murmured.
“I’m almost afraid to ask.”
A low laugh escaped him. “I spent years imagining what it would feel like touching you again. Then I spent the last five months trying not to think about it.”
His eyes dropped briefly to her mouth before returning to hers.
“And somehow it’s worse now.”
Johanna swallowed hard. “Worse?”
“Yeah.” His voice lowered another notch. “Now I remember how hard it is to stop.”
The honesty wrapped around her like heat.
Worse still, she understood exactly what he meant.
Being close to Blaze again felt dangerously familiar, like her body remembered him long before her mind agreed to it.
Which would have been easier to enjoy if she didn't remember how much it hurt when he left.
The music softened around them then, slower now, smoother, while Blaze drew her closer until she settled naturally against him.
Johanna placed one hand lightly against his chest to steady herself and immediately regretted the decision.
Because the solid muscle beneath the black henley and the steady rhythm of his heartbeat hit her all at once.
A knowing smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “You always liked this color on me.”
Johanna looked up suspiciously. “You remember entirely too much.”
“You used to say black made me look dangerous.”
Heat climbed to her face. “That sounds like something the younger me would say.”
Blaze leaned down slightly, amusement warming those dark brown eyes. “Younger you was smart.”
The flirtation between them had shifted tonight in an entirely different way.
Charged. Hungry. Dangerously aware.
Neither of them pretended attraction wasn’t running the show anymore.
Johanna became acutely aware of how naturally Blaze controlled space around her.
Without thinking about it, he positioned his body between her and the wind.
His hand stayed steady at her waist while his attention remained focused so completely on her that everything else blurred into background noise.
The masculine intensity in his gaze felt overwhelming in the best possible way.
“You know what your problem is?” she asked softly.
Blaze grinned. “You diagnosing me now?”
“You’re enjoying this entirely too much.”
“That’s because you finally stopped fighting me every second.”
Johanna narrowed her eyes, and Blaze laughed quietly under his breath. The sound settled low in her stomach every single time she heard it.
As the song drifted toward its end, they walked toward the others. Johanna noticed several women near the bonfire glance openly toward Blaze.
Honestly, she understood why.
Blaze carried himself with an easy masculine confidence that drew attention naturally. Women noticed him because he looked like exactly what he was: a strong, capable man entirely comfortable in his own skin.
And Johanna didn’t like them looking. The realization startled her badly enough that Blaze noticed.
Interest sharpened his expression. “What was that look?”
Johanna straightened too fast. “I don’t know what you mean.”
A smug little sound rumbled in his chest. “You jealous, Jo?”
She scoffed entirely too quickly. “Absolutely not.”
Blaze’s mouth curved before he leaned closer, his hand settling more firmly at her waist.
“Good,” he murmured near her ear. “Would hate embarrassing those women for nothing.”
Johanna’s breath caught sharply.
There it was again. That quiet possessiveness that somehow affected her more because it wasn’t performative. Blaze wasn’t trying to claim her publicly for attention. He simply made it very clear where his focus stayed.
On her. Always her.
Blaze pulled back just enough to study her face again, his gaze moving over every reaction she tried hiding.
“You’re thinking too hard again.”
“How can you tell?”
A grin spread across his mouth. “Because you get that little crease.” His thumb brushed lightly between her brows. “Like your brain trying to save you from your heart.”
Lord.
Before Johanna could recover from that devastating observation, Blaze leaned down and captured her mouth in another kiss. And while standing there beneath moonlight and crashing waves, Johanna finally understood something terrifying.
She wasn’t losing this fight because Blaze Carter pursued her relentlessly.
She was losing because some part of her had never truly wanted him gone in the first place.