Jill Shalvis - The Heat Is On

A book in the American Heroes series, 2010

Dear Reader,

Who doesnt love hot alpha-male rescue heroes? When I wrote about my firefighters for the Blaze line, I set them in the fictional California beach town of Santa Rey. In this book, were back in Santa Rey, this time with Jacob Madden, one of the citys finest with a badge. Hes a bit tough, a bit edgy and more than a bit jaded.

Until hes blindsided by a warm, funny and adorably wacky woman named Bella.

Problem is, Bellas got a bit of a problem. A dead-guy problem. Its complicated.

What isnt complicated is how these two fall in love-hard!-when romance was the last thing they were looking for. Love tends to work that way.

Happy reading!

Jill Shalvis

OH, YEAH, BABY, THATS GOOD, she whispered. So good that she wanted more. She couldnt help herself, shed never been known for having much self-control.

Not when it came to chocolate. Isabella Manchelli loved desserts, all of them.

Especially hers.

Which was why she was talking to them. Licking the last of it off her spoon, Bella then tossed the spoon into the sink, nodding in satisfaction and pride at the tray of little chocolate Genoese sponge squares shed created. She wasnt sure of much, but she felt quite positive that the little cakes were her personal best to date. She went to work making up a second batch, knowing her boss, Willow, owner of Edible Bliss Cakes and Pastries, would be clamoring for more for her customers as the day progressed.

And the day had a lot of progressing to do. By the very nature of her job, she was routinely up before dawn, baking, and today had been no exception. At just the thought, she yawned.

Thats what you get for staying up way too late last night

Having her absolute last one-night stand.

Her last, because as much as she enjoyed the occasional social orgasm, she never got much pleasure out of the morning after. The slipping out of bed, hunting down her clothes from off the floor, carrying her sandals so as not to wake him up

No, none of that ever felt good as good as the night before.

Even if this time, her first in a damn long time, now that she thought about it, the night before had been so admittedly terrific that she suspected she was still wearing a grin advertising just how terrific

She angled her stainless-steel mixer so that she could use the appliance as a mirror and turned her head right and then left, inspecting herself. Yep.

Ridiculous grin still in place.

She couldnt help it. Mr. Tall, Dark and Drop-dead Sexy had really had it going on. Shed met him through the local rec centers singles club, when Willow had somehow talked her into signing up for their Eight Dates in Eight Days. Tall, Dark and Drop-dead Sexy had been her eighth date, and the only one shed let so much as kiss her.

The kiss had been shockinglywow. Which had led to one thing or another, and some more wow, along with a good dash of yowza, and thenthe whole morning-after thing.

Hed caught her in mid-tiptoe and off-kilter; shed decided to go with her standard protocol for such situations.

Shed told him she was moving to Siberia, and then shed left.

No feelings hurt, no strings. Just the way she liked it.

So why she felt a little hollow, a little discontented, she had no idea.

Probably it was all the chocolate on an empty stomach. Or possibly not. Possibly, the impossible had happened, and her mothers mantra-its time to settle down, Bella-was right.

And how disconcerting a thought was that.

Bella didnt settle well. After growing up one of many in a huge family, shed taken off soon as shed been able, loving being alone. Loving the adventure of silence, the lack of planning ahead. Itd been bliss. She still felt that way, still preferred to roam the planet, touching down here and there as it suited her, never staying in one spot too long.

Except this time.

This time shed landed in Santa Rey, California, the latest stop on the Bellas Train of Travels, and she loved the small beach town. Loved the job shed taken on as a pastry chef at Edible Bliss, in the heart of a most adorable little downtown, only one block from the beach.

Shed been working here for a month now, and things were good. She had a roof over her head, she had pastries to make, and best yet-shed gotten that orgasm last night.

Make that multiple orgasms

She took a moment for a dreamy sigh. It really was a shame that shed forced herself out of Tall, Dark and Drop-dead Sexys bed after such a fantastic night, because hed been both sharp and fun, her two top requirements in a man.

Hed also been focused and quietly controlled in a way that suggested cop or military, making her want to break the rules of the Eight Dates in Eight Days contract and ask him what he did for a living. But theyd been forbidden from discussing details like their vocation or age of residence until a second date, if a second date came to be.

Hed been the only one to spark her interest. Hed certainly been the one and only to get her to a bed, and in fact, if things had been different, he might even have had a shot at being that elusive keeper everyone talked about.

With a sigh, she moved through the front room of Edible Bliss, straightening tables and chairs, making sure everything was perfect before she opened them up for business.

She was raising the shades on the windows when she thought she heard a scraping sound from the kitchens back door. She headed that way, thinking maybe it was Willow a little early. But today was Tuesday, and on Tuesdays Willow took a drawing class at the city college. It was male-model day. Nude-male-model day. Willows favorite.

It wouldnt be Willow then, no way.

Maybe it was Trevor, the rangy, sun-kissed cutie who worked part-time bussing tables and serving customers.

Walking through the kitchen, Bella peeked out the window in the back door-no one.

So now she was hearing things. Seemed thats what sleep deprivation did to a person. Good to know. Maybe next time she was faced with the prospect of some seriously fantastic sex, shed say, No, sorry, I cant, it appears wild monkey sex causes auditory hallucinations in me.

Shaking her head at herself, she checked the Cannoli batch she had in the oven, waving the heat blast from her face. Needing air, she went to crack open the back door, but it caught on something. She pushed, then squeezed through the space onto the back stoop to take a look, and tripped over-

Oh, God.

A body.

It was a guy, in jeans and a T-shirt, a small bouquet of wildflowers clutched in his fist.

Heart stuck in her throat, she dropped to a crouch and put a hand on his shoulder. Hello? There was an odd stillness to him she didnt want to face. Are you okay? Beneath her fingers, he felt warm, but she couldnt find a pulse. Panic caught her by the throat, choking off her air supply, as did the sight of the blood pooling beneath the man. Not okay, she murmured, horror gathering in a greasy ball in her gut-which did not mix well with all the chocolate already there.

She closed her eyes on a wave of dizziness, doing her best not to throw up her sponge squares. Hang on, Ill call 911.

But even as she hit the buttons on her cell phone, even as she stumbled back and stuttered her name and address for the dispatcher, she knew.