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The Heat Is On & Blame It on the Bikini: A 2-in-1 Collection (Harlequin Bestselling Author Collection) - Softcover

Shalvis, Jill; Anderson, Natalie

 
9780373180790: The Heat Is On & Blame It on the Bikini: A 2-in-1 Collection (Harlequin Bestselling Author Collection)
Softcover
ISBN 10: 0373180799 ISBN 13: 9780373180790
Verlag: Harlequin Bestselling Author Collection, 2013

Inhaltsangabe

Catching Fire

Bella Manchelli didn't stick, not to places, or to people. Even though she liked the coastal town of Santa Rey, California, and her job as a pastry chef, she never made promises and she never got hurt. So when she signed up for Eight Dates in Eight Days, it was just for fun. And when she went home with Date Eight, she crept out of his room in the morning and never expected to see him again.

Until she found a body on her doorstop. The detective on the case? None other than Mr. Date Eight—Jacob Madden. Bella was glad to see him, because there was definitely chemistry between them. She felt safe and protected with Jacob, and for the first time Bella felt at home. But he wasn't looking for forever…and they both knew the killer wasn't finished.

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Über die Autorinnen und Autoren

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Jill Shalvis is the award winning author of over three dozen romance novels.  Visit www.jillshalvis.com for a complete book list and a daily blog chronicling her I-Love-Lucy attempts at having it all; the writing, the kids, a life ...

USA Today bestselling author Natalie Anderson writes emotional contemporary romance full of sparkling banter, sizzling heat and uplifting endings--perfect for readers who love to escape with empowered heroines and arrogant alphas who are too sexy for their own good. With over 5 million books sold, her stories have been translated into more than a dozen languages.She lives in New Zealand. Follow her at www.natalie-anderson.com.

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"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 been forbidden from discussing details like their vocation or age of residence until a second date, if a second date came to be.

He'd been the only one to spark her interest. He'd 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 kitchen's 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.

Willow's favorite.

It wouldn't 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 that's what sleep deprivation did to a person. Good to know. Maybe next time she was faced with the prospect of some seriously fantastic sex, she'd say, "No, sorry, I can't, 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 didn't want to face. "Are you okay?" Beneath her fingers, he felt warm, but she couldn't 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, I'll 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.

The man on her back stoop was beyond needing help.

After being assured by the dispatcher that an ambulance was on its way, Bella practiced the breathing techniques she'd been learning in yoga.

Not helping.

She went to visualization next, trying to imagine herself on the beach, with the calm waves hitting the shore, the light breeze brushing her skin… She had a lot of beaches to choose from, but she went with the beach right across the street because there was just something about Santa Rey's long stretch of white sand, where the salt water whooshed sea foam in on the gently sloping shores, and then whished it back out again. She swallowed hard, telling herself how much she loved the contemplative coves, the bluff-top trails, the dynamic tide pools, all off the beaten...

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Verlag
Harlequin Bestselling Author Collection
Erscheinungsdatum
2013
Sprache
Englisch
ISBN 10 
0373180799
ISBN 13 
9780373180790
Einband
Taschenbuch
Anzahl der Seiten
464
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