Before waking up in his arms.
Before she'd started believing he might actually stay.
The unspoken words settled heavily between them while Johanna leaned back slowly in her chair, trying to process the timeline. A few months ago meant before the auction, before Baltimore, and before falling asleep wrapped in Blaze’s arms again. Even knowing that, the revelation still felt painfully personal, like the ground beneath her had shifted withoutwarning. “You never mentioned it.”
Blaze studied her carefully. “Because the minute things changed between us, Seattle stopped feeling important.”
“But you considered it.”
His jaw tightened slightly.
“Jo—”
“You just got back here and you’re already thinking about leaving again.”
The words came out softer than she wanted.
More hurt than accusation.
Blaze leaned forward immediately. “Baby, that was before—”
“Before what?” she asked quietly. “Before you remembered you wanted me again?”
The question landed harder than she intended.
Blaze’s expression changed instantly with concern. “Jo.”
But fear was already spreading through her chest, cold and familiar.
Because suddenly she wasn’t sitting across from the man who held her while they walked the Baltimore Harbor. She was twenty-three again listening to Blaze dream about a future that might not include her.
And the worst part was he hadn’t told her.
He'd let her fall back into the fragile hope that this time might be different.
Blaze reached across the table and touched her hand. “Look at me.”
Johanna stared down at her untouched lunch while silence stretched heavily between them.
“Jo.”
Reluctantly, she lifted her eyes, and the second their gazes met, she knew Blaze recognized everything she was feeling.
“Baby, don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“That thing where you start emotionally checking out before anything’s even happened.” The accuracy of it made her flinch. However, Seattle hadn’t happened years ago during some reckless phase in his twenties. It had happened now, recently enough that the possibility still existed.
Blaze exhaled slowly and leaned back in his chair while frustration and concern battled across his face.
“I interviewed in Seattle when I thought my life was headed in one direction,” he said carefully. “Then you walked back into it.”
Johanna’s throat tightened painfully. “But they’re still calling.”
A long silence stretched between them, then Blaze answered honestly. “Yeah, because I haven’t given them an answer yet.”
A job offer meant Seattle had been more than casual curiosity or a random application submitted on a whim. Blaze had seriously considered building a life somewhere else.
