The Heat Is On Read Online Free Page B

never got to ask you. How did last night go? Date number eight?”
    In spite of everything, Bella felt herself soften. “Nice.”
    Willow blinked, then let out a slow grin. “Honey, a smile that like means a whole helluva lot more than nice. ”
    â€œYes, well, it got complicated.”
    â€œUh-huh. Most good stuff is. Is he good looking?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œGood kisser?”
    â€œWillow—”
    â€œOh, come on. I haven’t had a date in three months. Let me live vicariously through you.”
    â€œYes,” Bella breathed on a whisper of a laugh. “He’s a good kisser. But—”
    â€œOh, crap. There’s a but?”
    â€œA big one, actually. He’s the detective assigned to this case. Or he was, until it was established that he’d slept with the person who found the dead guy.”
    Willow stared at her. “Oh, shit, Bella.”
    â€œYeah. That about covers it.”
    They stood together and walked past the yellow tape to the alley between the building and the one next door. It was narrow and lined with two trash cans. Passing through, they came to the rear of the shop, where there was more yellow tape across the back door.
    Bella took in the sight of the stoop and shivered. Willow hugged her, then they took the stairs to the second-story landing. Her boss moved to her door. “You going to be okay?”
    â€œAbsolutely.”
    Willow blew her a kiss and vanished inside her place.
    Bella entered her own apartment, where she stripped, pulled on her bathing suit and headed back out, walking the block to the beach. The boardwalk stretched out in front of her, but she didn’t walk it as she normally did. Today she wanted to swim. Hard.
    This particular beach drew sunbathers looking to soak up the California sun, and fishermen seeking fish and crab. It was a popular spot, and not much of a secret, but this afternoon, there wasn’t a crowd. Standing at the water’s edge, Bella stared out into the waves, inhaling the warm, salty air. The scent was intoxicating. With a purposeful breath, she let loose some of the tension knotting her shoulders and neck, and kicked off her flip-flops. She dropped her towelto the sand, and then her sunglasses on the towel, and without pause, dived out past the waves. There, she swam parallel to the shore for half a mile, and then back.
    By the time she walked out of the water at the same spot she’d started, the sun was slanting lower in the sky, perched like a glorious burning ball hanging over the horizon.
    The beach had completely cleared. Instead of the pockets of families dotting the sand, there was only the occasional straggler. She bent for her sunglasses, slid them on, then straightened, coming face-to-face with Detective Jacob Madden.
    He looked her over slowly, taking in her dripping wet suit without a word. He wore the same loose jeans and the shirt she’d seen him in earlier, and still had his gun at his hip. The shirt was snug across his shoulders and loose across the abs she had every reason to know were flat and ridged, as she’d spent some time running her tongue across them.
    All day her thoughts had drifted to him.
    He was easy to think about. He looked great when he was smiling. He looked great when he was just standing there. Hell, he looked great naked and sweaty, and that was hard to do—no pun intended.
    He was wearing dark sunglasses and looked like a movie star. She squeezed the water from her hair, quiet as she eyed him. “Definitely Tall, Dark and Drop-dead Sexy.”
    â€œExcuse me?”
    â€œWell, maybe drop-dead aren’t exactly the right words today.”
    He grimaced, and she had to let out a low laugh. “Are you embarrassed?”
    â€œNo. I don’t do embarrassed.”
    But he was. She could tell, and she shook her head. “You do own a mirror, right?”
    He ignored that, probably out of self-defense. “I wanted to know