Chapter 5 #3
And somehow that felt even more intimate.
Johanna should have stepped back. She should have remembered every lonely night after he left. Instead, her fingers curled lightly into the front of his jacket.
Blaze’s eyes darkened instantly. That tiny movement was all the permission he needed.
The kiss began slowly. Carefully. Like both of them understood exactly how much chemistry still existed between them. His mouth brushed hers once, soft and testing.
Then again, and again.
And Lord…
Johanna felt it everywhere.
The ache of finally touching someone her heart never truly released. A quiet sound escaped her before she could stop it.
Blaze’s hand slid gently into her hair as the kiss deepened. It was the kind of kiss that said, I remember you.
Johanna melted against him before common sense could intervene because this—this right here—was what ruined her for everyone else.
Blaze kissed like a man completely certain about what he wanted. And somehow, even after all these years… what he wanted was still her.
The realization split something open inside her chest.
Blaze pulled back, barely creating distance between them. His forehead rested briefly against hers while both of them struggled to steady their breathing.
“Damn, Jo,” he murmured.
The rough emotion in his voice nearly destroyed what remained of her composure.
Johanna kept her eyes closed because opening them suddenly felt too risky.
Nothing about this felt casual. Nothing about Blaze had ever been casual.
The ocean crashed below them while wind tangled softly through her curls. And standing there in his arms, Johanna realized one terrifying truth.
She had not survived Blaze Carter nearly as well as she thought she had.
* * *
Blaze sat in his truck long after Johanna disappeared inside her apartment building.
At some point the engine settled into a quiet idle beneath him, but he barely noticed.
Main Street glowed outside in soft streaks of gold and neon while pedestrians drifted between restaurants and bars wrapped in coats against the February chill.
Somewhere down the block, laughter spilled out of Spanky’s each time the front door opened.
None of it held his attention.
All he could see was Johanna standing beneath moonlight with her hands twisted in the front of his shirt while kissing him back like some part of her had never stopped belonging there.
Jesus Christ.
Blaze dragged one hand across his chin and leaned his head back against the seat.
That kiss had messed with his head in ways he hadn’t fully prepared for.
Physical attraction between them had never disappeared, so Blaze wasn’t shocked by how quickly heat sparked between them again.
What caught him off guard was the familiarity of it all.
Years and distance vanished the moment her mouth touched his.
Blaze still knew exactly how she sighed when emotion caught her off guard.
He recognized the tiny tremble in her breathing whenever she stopped pretending she wasn’t affected by him.
And he knew her well enough to recognize fear too.
Johanna had been afraid because she felt every bit of it.
Blaze stared toward the warm glow of her apartment windows upstairs while emotion pressed low and heavy inside his chest.
One date. That was all she agreed to. But tonight changed something between them.
He felt it with absolute certainty.
The walls Johanna spent years building around herself didn’t fully collapse tonight, but cracks had formed. Small ones. Enough for Blaze to finally see glimpses of the woman he remembered beneath all that careful control.
And that woman still loved him.
A rough laugh escaped him before he shook his head.
Ryan was going to be unbearable tomorrow.
Hell, the entire station probably already knew Blaze took Johanna Bennett to Harbor & Wine. News moved through Sheraton Beach faster than wildfire and twice as recklessly.
By morning, Mrs. Adele Jenkins would probably have an engagement prediction timeline drafted somewhere.
The thought pulled a reluctant smile out of him.
Then the smile faded. Because the second the truck pulled away from the curb, reality crept back in.
His phone buzzed against the center console.
Blaze glanced down immediately.
Seattle Fire Department.
Again.
For several seconds he simply stared at the screen while old dreams rose hard enough to ache.
Five months ago, when he came back to Sheraton Beach planning to stay only long enough to catch his breath, he would've answered on the first ring.
Seattle represented every ambition he used to chase when he was younger.
Bigger city. Better pay. Better opportunities.
Blaze used to sit beside Johanna on the beach at seventeen talking about high-rise rescues, elite training programs, mountains, rain, and a life larger than Sheraton Beach could offer them.
Back then, Seattle sounded like freedom.
Like proof he could become something more than the boy whose father disappeared before he learned how to say his name.
Johanna used to believe it too.
Blaze finally grabbed the phone.
But he didn’t answer.
He waited until the voicemail picked up before tossing the phone back onto the console harder than necessary.
Another missed call.
Another decision he kept refusing to make.
Blaze headed back toward the marina while ocean wind swept through the dark streets of Sheraton Beach.
Earlier rain still slicked the pavement, reflecting storefront lights in blurred ribbons of gold and blue.
He drove without music because his thoughts already sounded too loud.
The truth was becoming impossible to ignore now.
A few weeks ago, he would have accepted Seattle without hesitation. A lieutenant position. More money than he’d ever earned. Career advancement and everything he used to think mattered most.
For years, Blaze chased success with relentless determination because he believed accomplishment would eventually quiet the doubts that had followed him since childhood.
Every promotion, every new challenge, every goal achieved felt like another attempt to outrun the insecurities his father left behind.
Now, instead of thinking about career milestones, he found himself replaying the sound of Johanna's laughter across a candlelit table and the way her eyes softened whenever she forgot to guard herself.
Couldn’t stop replaying the sound of his name in her mouth tonight.
Braxton.
Nobody called him that anymore except his mother. But hearing Johanna say it again damn near knocked the air straight out of his lungs.
Blaze tightened his grip on the steering wheel as he crossed the marina bridge.
Because somewhere along the line, the dream changed. Or maybe he did.
Seattle used to feel like possibility. Tonight, it felt like distance.
And for the first time in his life, Blaze Carter wasn’t sure ambition was worth losing love twice. That realization followed him all the way home.
His rental sat near the water overlooking rows of dark boats rocking gently against the docks. Usually, he loved the quiet out here. Loved the isolation. The house gave him space to think after long shifts and hard calls.
Tonight, the place just felt empty.
Blaze killed the engine but stayed sitting there staring through the windshield while moonlight shimmered across the marina outside.
He could still taste Johanna on his lips. Still feel the softness of her body pressed against his chest. And God help him… he wanted more.
He wanted the life that came after the grand gestures. The quiet mornings. The familiar routines. The comfort of knowing Johanna would be waiting for him at the end of the day and the privilege of falling asleep beside her at night.
For years, he convinced himself men like him didn’t get those kinds of endings.
Men like him chased things, worked for things, and lost things.
His father proved that early.
But tonight, standing beneath moonlight with Johanna wrapped in his arms, Blaze realized something.
For the first time in his life, Blaze wasn't sure which future mattered more.
The dream he'd spent years chasing.
Or the woman he'd never stopped loving.