Chapter 3 #2
The fitted navy fire department sweatshirt stretched across his chest and shoulders, molding to hard muscles earned from years of carrying hoses, forcing open doors, and running toward danger while everybody else ran away from it.
The faded SBFD logo rested over the left side of his chest, while the sleeves hugged powerful biceps.
His jeans rode low on narrow hips, worn soft from use, and heavy black work boots completed the look.
Simple.
Masculine.
Entirely too effective.
But it wasn't the clothes that hit Johanna hardest. It was him.
Blaze had always carried himself with quiet confidence, but the man standing in front of her felt different from the one she'd fallen in love with years ago.
Time had sharpened him. His jaw looked rougher beneath neatly trimmed facial hair.
His shoulders seemed broader. Even his expression carried a steadiness she didn't remember from their younger days.
Like life had sanded away some of the restlessness that used to live beneath his skin, or maybe she only wanted to believe it was gone.
She still remembered the version of Blaze who always seemed to have one eye on the horizon, chasing the next challenge, the next opportunity, the next place he thought he was supposed to be.
And those eyes...
Those warm brown eyes found hers almost instantly. Recognition flashed between them. Familiarity. History. Something deeper that neither of them had ever fully escaped.
The noise of the ballroom seemed to recede.
The florists arguing over centerpieces.
Sedona debating linen colors.
The distant clatter from the catering department.
None of it mattered.
Johanna's body remembered him before her mind could catch up.
“Damn,” Sinfany whispered beside her.
Johanna nearly jumped.
Sinfany looked from Blaze to Johanna and back again. Understanding spread across her face with alarming speed. Then she smiled. “Mmm-hmm. Okay, I see you.” Sinfany hid her grin behind the tablet in her hands.
Blaze started toward her then, moving with that same steady confidence she remembered from years ago. He didn’t swagger. Didn’t perform. That was part of what made him so dangerous. Blaze never needed attention to command a room. His presence alone did the work.
And somehow, even after all these years, Johanna reacted to him instinctively.
The strength in his stride caught her attention, along with the memory of those hands against her skin years ago.
Worst of all, her stomach still tightened whenever he looked at her too long, like her body remembered him more clearly than her mind wanted to admit.
That had always been her problem with Blaze. He made her feel too much.
“Jo.”
Just hearing his voice up close again did something reckless to her chest.
Deep.
Warm.
Familiar enough to hurt.
Johanna folded her arms, mostly because she didn’t trust herself not to reach for him otherwise.
“You texted me.”
One corner of Blaze’s mouth lifted slowly. “You noticed.”
Why did this man flirt like he held a professional certification in emotional destruction?
“You could’ve called instead,” she scolded.
“I thought you might ignore me.”
“Smart assessment.”
That grin widened slightly, and suddenly Johanna was seventeen again sneaking onto the beach after curfew just to sit beside him near the pier.
God. She hated that memory still lived inside her so clearly.
Bianca walked over and said, “Well, that explains a lot."
Johanna whipped around. “Excuse me?”
Blaze laughed softly under his breath, the sound low and rough enough to send warmth crawling across her skin.
Bianca ignored her. “Make sure to add him to the guest list.”
“Bianca,” Johanna warned.
“Remember,” Bianca called while walking away, “you’re the one who bid on him.”
Sinfany followed close behind her, clearly fighting laughter. “Bianca’s right,” she tossed over her shoulder. “I witnessed the crime personally.”
Traitors.
This town is too small.
Johanna turned back slowly to find Blaze watching her with entirely too much amusement. “How’d you even get my phone number?”
“Nia.”
She closed her eyes briefly. “I should’ve known.”
“The Saltwater Sisters still exist.”
She blinked. “Excuse me?”
“That’s what you and your clan called yourselves in high school.”
Despite herself, Johanna laughed softly. “It stuck.”
Blaze shook his head slowly. “That’s tragic.”
“What’s tragic is my so-called friends secretly spending eighteen hundred dollars on a firefighter without my permission.”
His eyebrows lifted. “They bid on me?”
“They claim it was an investment.”
A slow grin spread across his face then, warm and entirely too handsome. “Well,” he drawled, “I appreciate them recognizing quality.”
Johanna rolled her eyes, but her pulse still refused to behave.
Around them, wedding chaos continued at full speed, but standing this close to Blaze made everything blur at the edges. His scent drifted toward her subtly, clean soap layered over cedarwood and smoke. Memory hit her hard after that.
Bonfires on the beach.
Summer nights at the fair.
His letterman’s jacket wrapped around her shoulders while he kissed her beneath the pier lights.
Nooo…
This man was a problem.
“I heard you were back in town,” she said carefully.
“Almost five months now.”
Five months. And only now reaching out. The realization bothered her more than it should have. Although she hadn't exactly made herself approachable. And the last time they’d seen each other, she told him never to contact her again.
Blaze studied her quietly for a moment, his gaze moving slowly across her face like he was trying to absorb every version of her at once.
“You look good, Jo.”
The sincerity in his voice caught her off guard. No games. No charm. Just honesty.
Her stomach flipped traitorously. “So do you.”
Something shifted in his eyes after that. Warmth deepened there, softer than before. “You mean that?”
Johanna immediately regretted answering honestly.
Blaze laughed quietly.
And Lord… she forgot how much she loved that sound. Not loud or showy. His laughter wrapped around people. Warmed rooms. Made everything around him feel easier somehow.
Johanna glanced away before she did something stupid like smile too hard.
Mistake. Because now she noticed everyone else pretending not to stare.
Bianca openly watching from across the ballroom. Debra smirking behind a champagne tower. Even Sedona had paused mid-meltdown to observe.
Wonderful.
“This feels like public humiliation,” Johanna muttered.
Blaze stepped closer. Not enough to touch her. Just enough to disrupt her breathing.
“One date,” he said softly.
Johanna blinked. “The auction package is a date.”
“I’m not talking about the package.” His voice lowered slightly after that. “I’m talking about spending an evening catching up.”
The air shifted instantly and became more intimate and dangerous.
Blaze held her gaze steadily while the noise of the ballroom seemed to disappear around them.
“I just want one evening where we sit down and talk,” he said quietly. “If you decide afterward you’re completely done with me, I’ll leave it alone. Hell, I’ll donate the whole auction package to charity myself.”
Johanna’s chest tightened painfully. Because there it was again. That pull. That terrifying feeling that one night alone with Blaze could unravel every carefully stitched emotional defense she’d spent years building.
And maybe the worst part… some reckless piece of her wanted it to.
Blaze waited patiently while she battled herself silently. No pressure and no pushing.
Finally, Johanna exhaled slowly. “Fine,” she said carefully. “One date.”
The look that crossed Blaze’s face was pure, genuine relief. Like some part of him had been bracing for rejection. And for reasons she absolutely did not want to examine too closely… that affected her more than it should have.
Blaze held her gaze another second before nodding once. “I’ll pick you up Friday.”
Then he turned and walked away. No smooth final line. Just quiet confidence. Which somehow made him even harder to resist.
Johanna stared after him while her pulse completely ignored common sense.
Behind her, Bianca appeared silently like a wealthy matchmaking spirit. “That man is fine.”
Johanna jumped. “Why do you move like that?”
Bianca grinned unapologetically. “Because I was blessed with timing.” She leaned closer. “And because that firefighter was looking at you like he has feelings for you.”
Groaning, Johanna grabbed the nearest wedding binder and hugged it to her chest. “I suddenly understand why people elope.”
The dangerous part wasn't that Blaze wanted another chance.
The dangerous part was how badly she wanted to give him one.