Before I Melt Away

Before I Melt Away
Isabel Sharpe

A steamy Christmas fling…'Tis the season to have fun, but personal chef Annabel Brightman isn't having any! Her crazy business keeps her on the run catering dinners and parties for other people to enjoy. Her ex is engaged–to someone else. And as for sex–everything seems frozen inside. Until Quinn Garrett appears on her doorstep one chilly December night offering the promise of heat.Or the real thing?Quinn has never forgotten Annabel from high school. But now it's lust at first sight…soon followed by hot sex between them that's passionate, inventive–and highly addictive. He can't get enough of her in bed, in the kitchen…. And he's touched by this unexpected Christmas gift. Annabel is melting–falling hard for him, it seems. But has her heart truly thawed?

She wanted to sleep with Quinn…

Not to beat around the bush or anything, but Annabel wanted to make love with him. Right now. Like crazy. The breakup with her ex weeks ago had left her alone, but satisfied. Usually it was six to eight months before she craved intimacy. But one glimpse of Quinn on her doorstep had her libido rising like a chocolate-Chambord soufflé.

“So your brother John tells me you need rescuing,” he murmured.

Annabel’s welcoming smile traded itself for a dropped jaw. “Rescuing?”

“He said you don’t know how to have fun anymore.” His eyes twinkled.

“Huh?”

Quinn cocked his head to one side and shot her an amused look. “Don’t. Know. How. To. Have. Fun.”

The overenunciation of each word brought her attention to his lips, which were full and all-male and magnificent. She could imagine him kissing every inch of her body. Why didn’t he just strip her naked now and pleasure her till she screamed?

Because that would be fine. Really. And maybe even fun…

Dear Reader,

I’ve always loved the Charles Dickens story A Christmas Carol. It hit me one day that it would be fun to write a Christmas Blaze novel with a female “Scrooge” heroine. Of course, instead of three spirits, she has the sexy-as-hell and very real man from her past, Quinn Garrett, to guide her to her own salvation. Which he does in a highly sensual, won’t-take-no fashion.

I’m also a big fan of reunion stories where couples who didn’t get it right the first time manage to struggle through personal growth in round two and reach their happy-ever-after. In Annabel and Quinn’s case, teenage unrequited love is given a second chance—this time with all the additional fun adults get to have.

Hope you enjoy the book! And if you lived a second-chance-at-teenage-love story, e-mail me through my Web site, www.IsabelSharpe.com. I’d love to hear it!

Cheers,

Isabel Sharpe

Before I Melt Away

Isabel Sharpe

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

To Birgit,

with gratitude, respect and affection

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

1

To: John Brightman

From: Quinn Garrett

Date: November 19

Subject: Long time no see

Hello, John. I googled your name and found your work e-mail. You’re no longer in Wisconsin—big disappointment. I’m heading to Milwaukee in December to see about starting a manufacturing plant for the HC-3 and was hoping to see you. I have a lot of good memories of the year I spent with your family. Hope you are well.

Quinn

To: Quinn Garrett

From: John Brightman

Date: November 20

Subject: Re: Long time no see

Quinn! How the hell are you? God, it’s been forever! Sixteen years? Of course I’ve followed your rise to the top with Holocorp, so I know more about you than you do about me. I guess you’re probably sick of comparisons to the big Gates guy, but if the shoe fits… Congratulations, you’ve done the world of technology a lot of good. My students already act as if holographic computer screens have been in existence since the dawn of time.

I’m teaching at Rollins, still can’t get used to the Florida climate. My sister is the only one left in Milwaukee; I’m sorry to say my parents passed on, Dad about six years ago, Mom two.

Look Annabel up when you’re there. She started a personal chef business a year ago and is running herself ragged. Take her out and make her have some fun, for God’s sake. You might be the great success story of the twenty-first century, but I can’t believe you’ve forgotten how to have fun. She apparently has.