The truth settled heavily between them.
Blaze looked away briefly, frustration moving quietly across his face before he leaned back in the booth.
“You know what’s killing me right now?” he asked softly.
Johanna didn’t answer.
“That you look at me like I’m already gone.”
Her chest tightened immediately. Because maybe MacKenzie was right. Maybe she was emotionally preparing herself. Bracing for impact before she got hurt worse.
Blaze rubbed one hand slowly across his chin while exhaustion finally settled visibly into his expression. “I don’t know how to convince you I’m not trying to run anymore.”
The quiet defeat in his voice nearly undid Johanna on thespot. Almost.
But fear remained louder than everything else. It reminded her how badly losing him once had hurt and how quickly happiness could disappear when she finally started trusting it. Most of all, fear reminded her that loving Blaze Carter would never truly feel safe, no matter how deeply she loved him.
Johanna pushed her basket gently away before lifting her eyes back to Blaze’s. The overhead lights inside Clarence’s reflected softly against the glass of cola sitting near his hand while the noise of the restaurant blurred around them. Plates clattered near the kitchen. Somebody laughed too loudly near the counter. Music drifted low through the speakers overhead.
But none of it reached her fully anymore.
All Johanna could feel was the ache building between them.
“I don’t want to do this.”
Blaze’s expression tightened slightly, not with anger, but with the kind of restraint that hurt worse to witness. He leaned back slowly against the booth while keeping his eyes locked on hers.
“Do what?” he asked quietly.
Johanna’s throat tightened instantly. “This.” She gestured weakly between them with trembling fingers. “Feeling like I’m standing on the edge of something that could break me all over again.”
The words hung heavily in the air after that.
Silence settled between them thick enough to feel physical, and Johanna suddenly hated how easily Blaze could unravel her. One look from him still reached places inside her she spent years trying to seal shut.
Blaze held her gaze for a long moment before finally nodding once. Slowly. Carefully. Like her fear physically hurt him even though he understood exactly where it came from.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” he said quietly. “I want to loveyou.”
God.
The gentleness in his voice nearly destroyed what little composure she had left. Johanna shifted her gaze and found herself staring blindly toward the front windows of the restaurant while one terrifying thought settled heavily inside her mind.
What if love alone wasn’t enough to save them this time?
Across the room, her friends watched anxiously from their booth while Ryan and Michael suddenly became deeply fascinated by the dessert display near the register. Neither man looked remotely convincing.
Johanna swallowed hard before sliding slowly from the booth. “I can’t.”
The sadness that crossed Blaze’s face almost stopped her. Almost.
Before she could turn away, Blaze reached across the table and caught her wrist gently.
“Jo, wait.”
Johanna looked down at his fingers surrounding her wrist before forcing herself to lift her eyes back to his.
Exhaustion and emotion shadowed his face. Blaze wasn’t fighting with her anymore. He wasn’t trying to convince her or push her. He just looked like a man watching somebody he loved walk away.
