“Blaze—”
“No.” His grip tightened gently around her hand. “The last thing I remember thinking about before that roof caved in was you.”
Tears spilled down her cheeks instantly.
Blaze looked at her for a long moment while chaos continued around them and none of it mattered. Not with Johanna standing here looking at him like he was her entire world.
Blaze swallowed against the tightness in his throat. “You know what else went through my head in there?”
Johanna shook her head silently.
“That I can’t leave you like this.” His eyes held hers steadily. “I can’t leave you believing I’d ever choose anything over you.”
Emotion moved violently across her face now.
Love.
Fear.
Blaze understood that.
Trust took time.
Especially after years of wounds neither of them had fully healed.
A paramedic stepped closer again. “Sir, we need to transport—”
“Give me a minute.”
“Blaze,” Johanna whispered immediately, “you need to go.”
He barely heard her. Because suddenly this felt too important.
Blaze reached for her hand again and held it firmly despite the rain pouring around them. “You listen to me carefully.”
Johanna’s breathing shook.
“I don’t care about Seattle.” His voice stayed steady now. Certain. “I care about you.”
More tears slipped loose down her face.
Blaze brushed his thumb across her knuckles slowly.
And as rain poured across the ruined house and emergency lights flashed around them, Blaze realized with complete clarity, he loved this woman enough to stay.
Now he just had to convince her he meant it.
* * *
The ambulance ride to the hospital felt surreal.
Rain battered the roof overhead while paramedics monitored Blaze’s vitals and Ryan followed behind them in his truck.
Johanna sat beside the stretcher. Every few minutes her eyes moved over him again like she still needed proof he was breathing.
Blaze noticed every single time. “Baby.”
Johanna looked up immediately. “What’s on your mind?”
