An Alpha's Lightning (Water Bear Shifters 2) Read Online Free

and started the ten minute drive back to her apartment. Thankfully, the traffic was sparse, and Jade hit every light green. She made it home in record time, and bounded up the stairs to her third floor apartment.
    The place was small, but homey. Jade had lived here for the last three years, and, although she kept telling herself she was going to upgrade to something better, she kept renewing her lease here when it ended. She could afford something bigger, but she figured she didn’t really need the space. And moving seemed like so much effort. So much change. Jade was comfortable enough here, and she didn’t think it was likely that she’d be sharing this space with anyone else any time soon.
    Jade sighed as she opened her fridge and grabbed a diet coke. She popped the tab open, and took a long, thirsty sip. Ace’s face flashed across her mind, and she did her best to push the image away.
    He was a helicopter pilot on a Coast Guard search and rescue crew. His job had high risk written all over it, and Jade refused to go there. She refused to spend her days and nights sick with worry that something tragic might happen. She’d had enough of that to last her a lifetime.
    Jade stepped out on the tiny balcony connected to her living room, and watched the cars driving by on the road adjacent to the apartment complex. Life had become a bit lonely, true. But things were calm. Settled. Peaceful. The last thing Jade wanted to do was rock the boat. Jade took another long sip of her diet coke, and then walked back inside, leaving the balcony door open to let in the cool breeze. She leaned back on her couch and stared up at the ceiling for a few minutes, trying and failing again to get the image of Ace out of her mind.
    No one could objectively deny that he was gorgeous. His dark brown hair and dark brown eyes matched each other perfectly, and offset the deep, olive tone of his skin. His hair was cropped short in a military style, but this morning he’d had a healthy amount of stubble on his chin. Jade guessed that he probably hadn’t shaved since he hadn’t been on duty today. He stood well over six feet tall, and his biceps looked like they were as big as her thighs. He was a beast of a man, and Jade had worked hard all morning to keep herself from swooning over his tough guy look.
    She had figured she just had to keep her cool until she was done giving him a tour, and then he would leave and she would probably never see him again. He wouldn’t have any reason to come back to the rescue center, since she’d told him that she didn’t anticipate ever having more information about the whale they had rescued. As she bid him farewell by the front entrance, she had silently congratulated herself on making it through the tour without saying something stupid. But just as she thought she was done with him, he had asked her to dinner. Jade had been flattered, and surprised. She didn’t consider herself bad-looking, necessarily. But she wasn’t a runway model, that’s for sure. And Ace seemed like the kind of guy who could have his pick of runway models, if he wanted to.
    But no matter how flattered she felt by his attention, she couldn’t date him. She had made her decision. Jade put her feet up on her coffee table and used the remote to flick on the television. The local news was playing, covering a story about a shootout between some gang members and a group of police officers. All of the police officers had survived, thankfully, and one of the gang members was in critical condition at a local hospital. The other gang members were in custody.
    Jade flicked the TV off and squeezed her eyes shut. Why was everything today reminding her of what she had lost? She reached to open the storage drawer on the coffee table, and pulled out a small box of photos. Tears filled her eyes as she viewed the first one. Mike, standing at the top of Razor Point Trail in the Torrey Pines State Reserve. He was flexing his muscles, and had a grin that