The fitted white sweater Paige suggested lasted less than three minutes before Johanna ripped it back off in irritation. The neckline dipped just enough to invite attention, and she already knew exactly how Blaze would look at her in it. Like he was trying to stay respectful while imagining very disrespectful things.
She wasn’t volunteering for that kind of attention tonight.
Then came the denim jumpsuit.
Paige took one look and nearly screamed herself into cardiac arrest. “Oh, you’re going to slay tonight!” Johanna immediately hated the outfit after that.
Now, five minutes before Paige was coming to scoop her up, she stood in front of her bedroom mirror wearing dark fitted jeans, knee-high boots, gold hoop earrings, and a soft cream turtleneck sweater that hugged her curves without openly advertising them.
Casual, simple, and, emotionally responsible.
At least that was the goal.
Johanna leaned closer to the mirror and applied one final layer of gloss while trying to ignore the nervous energy fluttering low in her stomach.
“This wasn’t a date,” she reminded herself. That distinction mattered.
She already gave Blaze one date, and he used every second of it to emotionally destabilize her beneath moonlight and ocean wind.
Tonight, technically qualified as a bonfire.
A casual gathering with firefighters, family, friends, and whoever else Sheraton Beach considered emotionally invested in Blaze Carter’s personal business.
Which somehow made it feel even more dangerous.
Dinner had been private. Intimate. Tonight was Blaze letting her see the life he’d built since returning to Sheraton Beach.
His friends. His crew. The people who mattered to him. And that carried an entirely different weight.
Johanna set the gloss down carefully and studied herself in the mirror again.
Her curls spilled softly around her shoulders tonight instead of pinned neatly away, and the realization irritated her because Blaze always preferred her hair down. He used to slide his fingers through it absentmindedly whenever they sat together on the beach, twisting curls around his knuckles while talking about nothing important for hours.
See, this was exactly the problem. Everything somehow circled back to Blaze.
The memory of his mouth against hers flashed suddenly through her mind, warm enough to send heat crawling slowly up her neck.
Johanna grabbed her earrings aggressively.
She needed emotional discipline. Fast.
Her phone buzzed against the vanity.
BLAZE:Can’t wait to see you.
Johanna stared at the screen for several seconds.
No emojis or extra explanation.
Just calm masculine confidence like the man already knew she’d show up.
Her pulse betrayed her instantly.
Annoying.
Johanna typed back before common sense could intervene.
JOHANNA: I might come. I might not.
