She huffed softly under her breath and looked back toward the windshield.
The man noticed entirely too much.
By the time Blaze pulled in front of her building, Main Street had settled into late-night quiet. Boutique windows sat dark, restaurant patios were nearly empty except for a few lingering couples huddled beneath patio heaters, and the ocean wind drifted steadily between the buildings, carrying the scent of salt and the bite of February cold.
Neither of them moved right away.
The truck idled softly as silence stretched between them, weighted by everything they still hadn't said aloud. For a moment, Johanna stared through the windshield, trying to ignore the awareness humming beneath her skin. Eventually, she wrapped her fingers around the door handle and forced a small smile.
"I had a really good time. Thank you."
Before she could open the door, Blaze reached over and gently closed his hand around her wrist.
The touch wasn't forceful. It didn't need to be.
The simple contact sent her pulse stumbling, and when she turned toward him, she found him watching her with the samesteady intensity that had been unraveling her all evening. His gaze held hers for a long moment before it drifted briefly to her mouth.
"Are you really about to walk away from me after kissing me like that on the beach?" he asked quietly.
Heat rushed through her chest. "Braxton..."
His eyes darkened the instant his name left her mouth.
"There you go again."
Johanna swallowed beneath the weight of his gaze. "You make it very difficult to think clearly."
A slow grin spread across his face, warm and undeniably male.
"Good. I'm tired of competing with your common sense."
Lord have mercy.
Before she could recover from that devastating answer, Blaze slid one hand into her hair, his fingers curling gently at the nape of her neck as he kissed her again.
This kiss felt nothing like the one outside Harbor & Vine.
That kiss had been tender, layered with emotion, and uncertainty. This one carried a different kind of intensity, fueled by weeks of restraint and a growing awareness neither of them seemed capable of denying anymore.
Johanna made a soft sound against his mouth as Blaze pulled her closer. His hand tightened instinctively at her waist while heat surged between them, stronger and more consuming than before. Whatever caution had existed earlier in the evening had all but disappeared.
Without thinking, she turned toward him, one hand sliding up his chest until her fingers curled around the collar of his shirt.
Blaze groaned softly against her mouth.
The sound sent a wave of warmth through her so quickly she nearly lost her breath.
"Jo," he murmured against her mouth. The words soundeddragged from somewhere deep inside him. "You have no idea what you do to me."
The honesty in those words unraveled the last thread of restraint she still possessed.
Johanna kissed him again as Blaze wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer. When she settled against him, he released a slow breath, as though he'd finally gotten hold of something he'd wanted all night.
Maybe longer than that.
His hand drifted along her back beneath her sweater, his fingertips grazing the warm skin above her jeans. The subtle touch sent a shiver through her, and Blaze noticed.
A look of satisfaction crossed his face before he lowered his mouth to hers once more, slower this time. More deliberate.
