Flashpoint Read online

  Look what people are saying about Jill Shalvis…

  “Riveting suspense laced with humor and heart is her hallmark and Jill Shalvis always delivers.”

  —USA TODAY bestselling author Donna Kauffman

  “Shalvis firmly establishes herself as a writer of fast-paced, edgy but realistic romantic suspense, with believable and likable supporting characters and fiercely evocative descriptive passages.”

  —Booklist

  “For those of you who haven’t read Jill Shalvis, you are really missing out.”

  —In the Library Reviews

  “Danger, adrenaline and firefighting heat up the mix in Jill Shalvis’ blistering new novel.”

  —Romantic Times BOOKreviews on White Heat

  “Jill Shalvis displays the soul of a poet with her deft pen, creating a powerful atmosphere.”

  —WordWeaving

  “Jill Shalvis is a breath of fresh air on a hot, humid night.”

  —thereadersconnection.com

  Dear Reader,

  Over the past few years I’ve received a bunch of letters asking me to write more firefighter heroes. I responded to those letters with a “hopefully someday.” Well, I have good news—someday has come!

  In the months ahead I hope you enjoy reading about the sexy firefighters of Firehouse #34, stationed in the fictional beach town of Santa Rey, California. First up is Flashpoint. In this book, sexy firefighter Zach Thomas is resisting his attraction to a coworker, all while dealing with the growing suspicion that there is an arsonist in their midst. Then, next month, check out Flashback, in which Zach’s partner, Aidan Donnelly, solves the mystery and manages to fall hard for a sexy blast from his past. And finally, as a special holiday treat, you’ll find one more of these incredible heroes in my contribution to the 2008 Harlequin Blaze Christmas anthology, Heating Up the Holidays.

  I want to send a great big thanks to all the readers who come to my daily blog. Stop by any time and join me and my friends. I’m looking forward to hearing from you.

  Happy reading!

  Jill Shalvis

  www.jillshalvis.com/blog

  JILL SHALVIS

  Flashpoint

  TORONTO • NEW YORK • LONDON

  AMSTERDAM • PARIS • SYDNEY • HAMBURG

  STOCKHOLM • ATHENS • TOKYO • MILAN • MADRID

  PRAGUE • WARSAW • BUDAPEST • AUCKLAND

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  USA TODAY bestselling author Jill Shalvis is happily writing her next book from her neck of the Sierras. You can find her romances wherever books are sold, or visit her on the Web at www.jillshalvis.com/blog.

  Books by Jill Shalvis

  HARLEQUIN BLAZE

  63—NAUGHTY BUT NICE

  132—BARED

  232—ROOM SERVICE

  270—JUST TRY ME…

  303—JINXED! “Together Again?”

  329—SHADOW HAWK

  HARLEQUIN TEMPTATION

  938—LUKE

  962—BACK IN THE BEDROOM

  995—SEDUCE ME

  1015—FREE FALL

  To the readers of my daily blog.

  Having you there with me on my I Love Lucy

  adventures makes my day, every day.

  This firefighter’s for you.

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Prologue

  “NOW’S YOUR SHOT with me, Zach. I say we get naked.”

  Exhausted, filthy, Zach Thomas still managed to lift his head and stare at Cristina. “What?”

  Just as filthy, she arched a come-hither brow streaked with soot, which made it difficult to take her seriously. So did the mustache of grime. “You and me,” she said. “Naked. What do you think?”

  He couldn’t help it; he laughed. He thought that she was crazy. They both wore their fire gear and were dragging their asses after several hours of intense firefighting. All around them, the stench of smoke and devastation still swirled in thick gray clouds, penetrating their outfits, their skin. Nothing about it felt sexy.

  “Hey, nobody laughs at my offer of sex and lives,” she told him. “Not even you, Officer Hottie.”

  When he grimaced at the nickname, she laughed. “You doing me tonight or not?”

  Sex as a relaxant worked—generally speaking, sex as anything worked—but Zach was so close to comatose he couldn’t have summoned the energy to pull her close, much less do anything about it once he got her that way. “I can’t.”

  “Now we both know that’s a lie.”

  Firefighting left some people exhilarated and pumped with adrenaline. Cristina was one of them. Normally he was, too, but they’d just lost a civilian—an innocent young kid—and he couldn’t get that out of his head. “I can’t,” he repeated.

  Cristina sighed. She was in her midtwenties, blond, and so pretty she could have passed for an actress playing a firefighter, but she was the real deal, as good as any guy on the squad. She was also tough-skinned, cynical and possessed a tongue that could lash a person dead without trying.

  He should know; he’d been on the wrong end of it plenty of times. So he braced himself, but she just sighed again. As sardonic and caustic as she could be, they really were friends. Twice they’d been friends with benefits, but it had been a while. She let it go, rolling her eyes at him, but moving off, leaving him alone.

  He stood there a moment more, surrounded by chaos, his gear weighing seventy-five pounds but feeling like three hundred as the radio on his hip squawked. Allan Stone, their new chief, was ordering everyone off the scene except the mop-up crew, who would stay through what was left of the night to make sure there were no flare-ups. Tommy Ramirez, the fire inspector, was already on scene, his job just beginning.

  Zach’s crew was slowly making their way to their respective rigs. He needed to move, as well, but his gut was screaming on this one—someone had set this blaze intentionally. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the first time he’d suspected arson when no one else had. Even more unfortunately, the last two times he’d thought so, he’d been reprimanded by Tommy for having an “authority” issue.

  He didn’t.

  Okay, maybe he had a slight authority issue, sometimes, but not tonight.

  He could ask Aidan what he thought but Zach knew what his firefighting partn and best friend would say. Grab a beer, a woman and a bed, in any order. And if Zach called Cristina back, he could knock out two of the three. Yeah, that was what he should do.

  So why he headed toward the burned-out shell of a house instead, he had no idea, except that he trusted himself enough to know something was off here.

  Something big.

  And he couldn’t just walk away from it.

  He never could.

  1

  BROOKE WAS A VIRGIN. Not in the classic sense of the word—that status had changed on her seventeenth Halloween night when she’d dressed as an evil, slutty witch and given in to a very naughty knight in shining armor—but that was another story.

  She was a California virgin, but as she drove up the coast for the first time and into the small town of Santa Rey, she lost that cherry, as well.

  Santa Rey was a classic West Coast beach town, mixing the best elements of Mexico and Mediterranean architecture, all within steps of the beach shimmering brilliantly on her left. There were outdoor cafés, s