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 trustherself 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.”
