The Heat Is On Read online

  Look what people are saying about this talented author….

  “Shalvis thoroughly engages readers.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  “Shalvis—the strong, masculine heroes of Kleypas and the curvy, earthy heroines of Crusie all wrapped up in realistic relationships.”

  —Billie J. Bloebaum, book buyer for Powell’s Portland Airport

  “Shalvis’s writing is a perfect trifecta of win: hilarious dialogue, evocative and real characters, and settings that are as much a part of the story as the hero and heroine. I’ve never been disappointed by a Shalvis book.”

  —SmartBitchesTrashyBooks.com

  “A Jill Shalvis hero is the stuff naughty dreams are made of.”

  —New York Times bestselling author Vicki Lewis Thompson

  “Witty, fun and sexy—the perfect romance!”

  —New York Times bestselling author Lori Foster

  “Fast paced and deliciously fun. Jill Shalvis sweeps you away!”

  —USA TODAY bestselling author Cherry Adair

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

  —USA TODAY bestselling author Donna Kauffman

  “A fun, hot, sexy story of the redemptive powers of love. Jill Shalvis sizzles.”

  —USA TODAY bestselling author JoAnn Ross

  Dear Reader,

  Who doesn’t 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, we’re back in Santa Rey, this time with Jacob Madden, one of the city’s finest with a badge. He’s a bit tough, a bit edgy and more than a bit jaded.

  Until he’s blindsided by a warm, funny and adorably wacky woman named Bella.

  Problem is, Bella’s got a bit of a problem. A dead-guy problem. It’s complicated.

  What isn’t 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

  Jill Shalvis

  THE HEAT IS ON

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  USA TODAY bestselling and award-winning author Jill Shalvis has published more than fifty romance novels, including her firefighter heroes miniseries for Harlequin Blaze. The three-time RITA® Award nominee and three-time National Readers’ Choice winner makes her home near Lake Tahoe. Visit her Web site at www.jillshalvis.com for a complete book list and her daily 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

  410—FLASHPOINT

  416—FLASHBACK

  435—HEATING UP THE HOLIDAYS “All He Wants for Christmas…”

  487—STORM WATCH

  549—BORN ON THE 4TH OF JULY “Friendly Fire”

  To my editor extraordinaire, Brenda.

  Thanks for always believing.

  Contents

  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

  1

  “OH, YEAH, BABY, THAT’S GOOD,” she whispered. So good that she wanted more. She couldn’t help herself, she’d 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 she’d created. She wasn’t 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.

  That’s 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 couldn’t help it. Mr. Tall, Dark and Drop-dead Sexy had really had it going on. She’d met him through the local rec center’s 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 she’d let so much as kiss her.

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

  He’d caught her in mid-tiptoe and off-kilter; she’d decided to go with her standard protocol for such situations.

  She’d told him she was moving to Siberia, and then she’d 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 mother’s mantra—it’s time to settle down, Bella—was right.

  And how disconcerting a thought was that.

  Bella didn’t settle well. After growing up one of many in a huge family, she’d taken off soon as she’d been able, loving being alone. Loving the adventure of silence, the lack of planning ahead. It’d 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 she’d landed in Santa Rey, California, the latest stop on the Bella’s Train of Travels, and she loved the small beach town. Loved the job she’d taken on as a pastry chef at Edible Bliss, in the heart of a most adorable little downtown, only one block from the beach.

  She’d 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—she’d gotten that orgasm last night.

  Make that multiple orgasms…

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

  He’d 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 they’d bee