Chapter5
The hostess led them through the restaurant toward a quiet table overlooking the ocean. Johanna suspected the seating arrangement had been intentional the second she noticed the view.
Everything about Harbor & Wine felt carefully designed to lower a woman’s defenses.
Soft candlelight flickered across crisp white tablecloths while low jazz drifted through the restaurant beneath the murmur of conversations and the occasional clink of wine glasses. Floor-to-ceiling windows framed the Atlantic like moving artwork. Moonlight stretched silver across dark water while waves rolled steadily against the shoreline below.
The entire place radiated romance with unapologetic confidence. Which meant Blaze absolutely chose it on purpose.
Johanna slid into her chair and set her clutch beside her before leveling a suspicious look across the table.
“You planned this entirely too well.”
Blaze looked completely unbothered by the accusation. “Thank you.”
“That wasn’t a compliment.”
His mouth curved, lazy amusement settling into his expression. “Sounded like one.”
That confidence should have irritated her. Instead, warmth spread low through her stomach in ways she did not appreciate.
The waiter appeared with menus and water glasses. Blaze thanked him before turning his attention back to her, and there it was again, that steady masculine focus that made her feel like the only woman in the restaurant.
Johanna lowered her eyes to the menu immediately.
Coward, she scolded herself.
“So,” Blaze said casually, “do you still eat dessert before dinner?”
Her head snapped up. “You remember that?”
A faint grin tugged at his mouth. “You used to say life was too unpredictable to postpone chocolate cake.”
Heat climbed up her neck.
Because not only had she said that… she had completely forgotten she ever did.
Blaze, apparently, had not forgotten anything.
“You remember entirely too much,” she muttered.
He leaned back in his chair, broad shoulders stretching the button-down in ways that should have been illegal in public dining establishments.
“I remember what mattered to me.”
The words settled quietly between them.
Johanna looked toward the ocean because maintaining direct eye contact with Blaze for too long already felt emotionally risky.
The waiter returned for drink orders. Johanna requested a glass of cabernet while Blaze ordered bourbon neat.
Of course he did.
Everything about him suited bourbon now. He carried the same slow warmth and strength beneath the surface.
“You nervous?” he asked after the waiter walked away.
Johanna laughed softly. “About what?”
