Chapter 12 #2
Blaze’s hand settled low against her back as they walked together along the waterfront beneath glowing lights and passing crowds. Music drifted faintly from nearby bars while couples wandered the harbor holding hands beneath strings of white lights reflected against the water.
And for the first time… nobody recognized them.
Without gossip, whispers, or nosy Sheraton Beach residents pretending not to stare while collecting information for tomorrow morning’s breakfast conversations.
It was just the two of them.
The night suddenly felt private in a way Johanna hadn’t realized she needed.
“You like being away from home,” he murmured as if he’d read her mind.
Johanna glanced out toward the harbor. “I like not feeling observed every five seconds.”
A grin spread across his lips. “Too late. I got my eyes on you.”
Lord help her.
The man flirted as naturally as he walked. And somehow he managed to do it without sounding rehearsed.
Blaze guided her toward an upscale seafood restaurant overlooking the water where warm golden light spilled through massive windows and soft jazz drifted into the street every time the front door opened.
The hostess greeted them when they stepped inside. After checking the reservations, she said, “Mr. Carter, your table is ready.”
Johanna looked sharply toward Blaze as they followed the hostess deeper into the restaurant. “You made reservations.” When did he start doing that?
Blaze looked genuinely offended by the question. “Baby, I flew you to another state. What kind of man would I be if I didn’t make reservations?”
The laugh that escaped her turned heads nearby.
And Blaze—
Lord.
Blaze looked entirely too satisfied hearing it.
Their table overlooked the harbor, candlelight flickering softly between them while the city shimmered outside beneath the night sky. The atmosphere felt intimate without trying too hard, and Johanna found herself relaxing around Blaze without constantly bracing for emotional impact.
Conversations came easier now. Like the years apart had finally stopped sitting between them at the table.
Johanna laughed halfway through dessert while Blaze told a story about Ryan nearly falling into the marina after too many drinks during a firehouse fundraiser.
“I know you’re lying.”
“I swear to God.”
“There’s no way.”
Blaze leaned back grinning. “That man was out there fighting for his life in three feet of water.”
Johanna laughed harder, leaning forward against the table while Blaze watched her with that same mesmerizing expression he always wore whenever she relaxed around him completely.
The look unsettled her every single time.
Because Blaze looked at her like her happiness mattered to him.
“You know what?” she said while studying him across the candlelight.
A few months ago, she would have sworn she'd never sit across from Blaze Carter again, let alone enjoy herself this much. Yet here she was, smiling until her cheeks hurt and wishing the night would slow down.
For the first time since he'd returned to Sheraton Beach, she stopped wondering whether getting close to him was a mistake.
And started wondering what would happen if she didn't.
“What?” he asked curiously.
Johanna traced one finger slowly around the stem of her wineglass. “I missed this.”
Something quiet moved across Blaze’s face then.
Relief maybe, or gratitude.
“Yeah,” he admitted softly. “Me too.”
The honesty from him still affected her every single time.
There was nothing calculated about Blaze when it came to his feelings. He never hid them behind games or ego or emotional distance. Loving her used to come as naturally to him as breathing. The frightening part was realizing how badly she missed being loved that openly.
Later, they bundled up and strolled along the harbor beneath strings of lights while the city glowed around them in reflections across dark water. The wind picked up sharply near the docks, and Johanna shivered lightly before Blaze pulled her closer against his side without hesitation.
The movement felt protective. Like her place had always been there beside him.
Johanna tipped her head back to look at him. “You know what your problem is?”
Blaze grinned immediately. “Are you obsessed with diagnosing me?”
“You got jokes.” She laughed then sobered. “Seriously. You make everything feel…” She hesitated briefly before finally admitting the truth. “Easy.”
His expression softened almost instantly. “Maybe because loving you never felt hard.”
The words settled deep inside her chest.
Because that was the thing. Even after heartbreak, years apart, and all the emotional damage he caused her, being with Blaze still felt frighteningly natural. It was as if her body and heart both remembered him long before her mind caught up.
Blaze stopped walking then turned Johanna gently toward him beneath the glow of harbor lights. The city moved around them in soft noise and distant laughter while water rolled dark beside the docks. But suddenly none of it mattered.
Not with the way he was looking at her.
His eyes shone with awareness and certainty that felt sincere. Then he brushed one curl away from her face before his fingers settled gently along her jaw.
“You know what?” he murmured.
Johanna’s pulse fluttered softly. “What?”
“Every version of my future I ever pictured still somehow had you in it.”
Emotion tightened painfully in Johanna’s chest while Blaze studied her face like he already understood exactly what those words had done to her. Then he kissed her.
Gentle at first, then deeper.
Johanna melted against him, her hands sliding into his jacket while Blaze pulled her closer. His body heat blocked out the cold wind while his mouth moved against hers with the kind of familiarity that only came from loving someone before.
Blaze hadn’t spent five months back in Sheraton Beach avoiding every other woman in town just to walk away now.
And standing there in Baltimore wrapped in Blaze's arms, Johanna realized she was no longer trying to stop herself from falling.
The truth was, she already had.
Her hands tightened inside his jacket as she kissed him back without hesitation, giving him every piece of the response she'd spent weeks trying to hold back.
Blaze deepened the kiss, one hand firm at her waist while the other cradled the back of her neck against the cold harbor wind.
Everything else faded into the background. The lights, water, the city moving around them, none of it mattered.
Not when being with Blaze still felt this right and he kissed her like this.
Blaze finally pulled back just enough for both of them to breathe while his forehead rested lightly against hers. A slow grin spread across his mouth.
“You know what your problem is?” he murmured.
Johanna laughed, still breathless. “You really love that question.”
“You keep giving me material.”
Her eyes rolled affectionately before Blaze kissed the corner of her mouth again.
Whatever existed between them tonight felt deeper than simple chemistry or physical attraction.
Comfort, ease, and years of history wrapped around them.
The kind that came from knowing someone long enough to know exactly how they fit into your life.
Without another word, Blaze tucked her against his side and started walking again while Johanna leaned comfortably into him.
The intimacy of the gesture settled warmly between them.
“You always do that,” she murmured.
“Do what?”
“Take care of people like it’s automatic.”
Blaze glanced down at her. “You’re not people… baby, you’re special to me.”
The answer came so naturally that Johanna looked away before he could see how much it affected her.
Pulling her tighter to him, they wandered along the harbor, stopping inside little shops to keep warm, sharing bites of warm beignets from a New Orleans-inspired café, and laughed harder and easier than either of them expected.
Somewhere between the helicopter ride, the harbor lights, and Blaze feeding her powdered-sugar-covered pastries while looking entirely too handsome for public spaces, Johanna realized something terrifying.
This no longer felt like revisiting an old relationship.
It felt like creating something entirely new.
Something steadier, deeper, and built by two people who finally understood exactly what they stood to lose if they let each other go again.
Which made it much more terrifying. Because now Johanna knew exactly how much of her heart was involved.
By the time they returned to the helicopter pad, the city had settled into deep night. Johanna stepped closer against Blaze as sharp wind swept across the water again.
Blaze looked down at her immediately. “You tired?”
“A little.”
His hand slid slowly along her back. “Come here.”
The tenderness in his voice wrapped around her chest immediately.
During the flight home, Johanna curled naturally against his side while Blaze kept one arm wrapped around her the entire way back to Delaware.
The helicopter lights reflected faintly across the windows while the water stretched dark beneath them.
And for the first time in years, Johanna felt completely peaceful beside him. The anxiety and uncertainty that usually followed had gone quiet tonight, leaving behind only tenderness, safety, and the steady comfort of being wrapped in Blaze’s arms again.
At one point during the flight, Blaze looked down and caught her staring at him again.
“What?” he murmured softly.
Johanna smiled faintly. “Nothing.”
A slow grin spread across his face. “You’re staring again.”
“Maybe.”
Blaze leaned down and kissed her forehead gently before pulling her a little closer against him.
And somewhere high above the coastline between Baltimore and Sheraton Beach, Johanna realized she was already imagining what forever with Blaze Carter might actually look like.
Which was either incredibly romantic…
or the beginning of another terrible decision.