“I really don't know why I agreed to this,” Sinfany muttered. “This is wedding planner territory.”
Johanna smiled knowingly.
“You can hire ten wedding planners and it still wouldn't be enough. Bianca treats every Beaumont event like the Met Gala.”
“That's because this wedding is basically Sheraton Beach royalty.”
“And the entire town plans to watch.”
Sinfany nodded. “Exactly. No pressure.”
Across the ballroom, Sedona gasped over centerpiece candles while Sage continued threatening military leadership over speakerphone.
Johanna glanced around at the organized chaos, luxury, laughter, strong opinions, and entirely too many moving parts.
Then she smiled despite herself.
Yeah.
This wedding was going to be a beautiful one.
The ballroom doors opened. Johanna felt him before she saw him. A strange awareness moved through her instantly, warmand unsettling, like a familiar song drifting through a crowded room. Her pulse stumbled before her eyes even lifted from the tablet in her hands.
Then she looked up and her breath stalled.
Blaze Carter stood near the entrance looking like every bad decision she'd ever wanted to make twice.
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.
