Johanna turned onto her back to look at him, and the sight nearly ruined her composure all over again.
The pillow framed a face still heavy with exhaustion while his eyes remained half-lidded and focused entirely on her. Morning light stretched across his rich brown skin, highlighting thepowerful lines of his broad shoulders and the hard definition of an athletic chest built from years of physical labor, discipline, and strength.
Somehow this version of Blaze felt even more unsettling than the confident firefighter from the night before.
Because this man looked compassionate, content, and entirely happy waking up beside her.
“Morning, baby,” he said quietly.
Heat spread slowly through her chest.
Nobody should sound that good first thing in the morning.
Blaze brushed one hand lazily along her waist beneath the blanket while studying her face with entirely too much attention for someone barely awake.
“What?”
Johanna looked away immediately. “Nothing.”
A grin tugged at his mouth. “You’re staring.”
“I was not,” she protested.
“You absolutely were.”
His voice still sounded rough from sleep, deep enough to send longing curling low through her stomach all over again.
Johanna pulled the blanket slightly higher. “You’re very smug for somebody sleeping in my bed uninvited.”
Blaze looked genuinely offended. “Uninvited?” He slid closer, his mouth brushing lightly near her jaw. “Baby, you literally dragged me in here.”
Johanna laughed lightly. “That’s not how I remember it.”
“That’s because your memory gets unreliable around me.”
The confidence in his voice made her shake her head.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t entirely wrong.
Blaze propped himself up on one elbow beside her then, his gaze moving slowly across her face while the teasing gradually softened from his expression.
“You okay with last night?”
The question landed with surprising gentleness. Blaze wasn’t asking casually or out of obligation. He genuinely needed to know.
Johanna studied him quietly.
That was the thing about Blaze. Underneath all the confidence, teasing, and masculine charm, he paid attention.
Always had.
And this morning, lying beside her with sunlight barely touching the room, he looked more emotionally open than she’d seen him in years.
“I’m okay,” she admitted.
Relief flickered across his face before he leaned down and kissed her forehead.
The tenderness nearly wrecked her all over again.
