“I missed making you laugh.”
Her expression changed instantly.
Good.
Because Blaze needed her to understand something. This wasn’t just about attraction, unfinished chemistry or old memories wrapped in small-town nostalgia.
He missed her.
Allof her.
The woman who stole fries off his plate and argued with him over NBA basketball for absolutely no reason. The woman who danced barefoot on the front porch while singing songs off-key and somehow made ordinary moments feel important. The woman who used to sit beside him on the beach and talk about all the places they were going to see someday.
Johanna swallowed. “You remember strange things.”
Blaze held her gaze steadily. “I remember everything about you.”
Her breath caught again. He watched emotion move visibly across her face after that.
Longing. Fear.
Everything battled at once behind those beautiful brown eyes.
And Blaze knew then Johanna was closer to giving in than she realized.
Not because he pressured her, but because somewhere beneath all those careful emotional walls… she missed this too.
Blaze tucked one loose curl gently behind her ear, and the intimate little gesture made her eyes close briefly again.
Shit!
He needed control. One more soft sound from her and he was going to forget they were in public.
“You cold?” he asked quietly.
Johanna shook her head once. “No.”
Liar.
The wind coming off the water had turned colder now, pushing sharp February air across the shoreline. Without hesitation, Blaze pulled off his black hoodie and draped it around her shoulders.
Johanna looked at his fitted black thermal shirt before lifting her eyes back to his.
“You’re gonna freeze.”
Blaze shrugged easily. “I run hot.”
The corner of her mouth lifted.
Small and dangerously cute. His chest tightened again. That possessive instinct surprised him a little. Blaze wasn’t controlling by nature. Jealousy usually felt pointless to him.
But something about Johanna woke up every protective instinct he possessed all at once. Always had.
Even when they were teenagers, he found himself watching for anything that upset her, anything that made her uncomfortable, anything that threatened her peace.
He spent years trying not to think about her after he left Sheraton Beach.
Spent even more years trying not to compare every other woman to her.
