He brushed his thumb across her lower lip.
"You still got time to go upstairs alone," he said quietly. "Because once I follow you inside, Jo, I'm not coming out until sunrise." The confession settled low and warm in his chest.
Her lips quivered once beneath the dashboard lights while her brown eyes stayed locked on his as though looking away wasn't an option. Johanna looked like a woman holding herself together through sheer force of will.
Then Johanna reached for the handle and whispered, “Follow me.”
Chapter 10
Neither of them spoke while crossing the sidewalk toward her building.
They didn't need to. Everything left unsaid stretched between them with enough force to fill the silence.
Johanna unlocked the front entrance to the building with fingers that felt suspiciously unsteady. Blaze stood close behind her, one hand braced lightly against the doorframe beside her head. The masculine warmth of him surrounded her, protective, overwhelming, and entirely too tempting for her peace of mind.
She pushed the door open and glanced back over her shoulder.
Blaze was watching her with a dark, focused intensity that sent desire tightening low in her stomach.
"Last chance," he murmured.
Johanna paused for just a moment before turning and climbing the stairs to the second floor while Blaze followed close behind.
The narrow stairwell, tucked beside the gift shop on Main Street, carried the faint scent of candles and ocean-themed souvenirs from below. Their footsteps echoed softly against the worn wooden steps, tightening the tension already wrapped around them both.
By the time they reached her apartment door, Johanna's hands no longer felt entirely steady.
She unlocked the door and stepped inside. Blaze followed behind her, closing the door with a soft click that seemed to reverberate through the small apartment with surprising finality.
The sound settled over her nerves.
“Take off your jacket. Make yourself at home,” she said as sheshrugged out of her coat and tossed it over a wooden chair near a narrow entryway.
He slipped out of his jacket and laid it across the arm of the overstuffed sofa.
Warm kitchen light spilled across the room, illuminating the cozy space. A dining table sat near the windows overlooking Main Street, where scattered storefront lights still glowed below.
Normally, Johanna loved the familiar comfort of her apartment, from the mismatched furniture to the collection of framed beach photographs lining the walls.
Tonight, however, none of it felt familiar.
Blaze’s presence had altered the space in ways she couldn’t explain.
Johanna crossed to the table and fussed with the bouquet, pretending she wasn’t acutely aware of Blaze watching her.
“You have a nice place,” she heard him say.
She swung around. “Thank—” the words died in her throat when she saw the look in his eyes. Blaze’s attention was focused on one thing:
Her.
Then he took one determined step toward her.
Then another.
And the room felt smaller.
Johanna's hip brushed against a chair, and suddenly it felt like the apartment had somehow shrunk around them.
