curse of the alpha - episode 03 & 04 Read Online Free

know-nothing know-it-all like Erik Jensen.
    She rushed through her shower, towel dried her hair and threw on one of her new
    dresses and a pair of sandals. A quick look in the mirror told her she looked very nice.
    She winked at herself, then scowled. This was not a campy spy mission. This required
    surgical precision. She got her mind in the game and headed out.
    The outside air caressed her bare arms and she walked past Sadie Epstein-Walker,
    who was weeding again in her big sunhat.
    “Hi, Sadie!” she called.
    “Ainsley, hello!” Sadie shouted back cheerfully.
    She rounded the corner onto Elm before she remembered that Erik could easily be on
    site right across Yale.
    Instead of crossing and taking the path directly into the college woods, she hugged
    the town side of Yale and crossed at the train overpass. The walk to the woods was a bit longer this way, but well worth it to avoid another run-in.
    The cool shade of the woods embraced her at last. She was at Scott Hall in moments,
    the marble floors clacking under her Jimmy Choos. By the time she got to the top of the stairs, Clive was there waiting.
    “Hi, Ainsley.”
    “Hello, Clive.”
    They looked at each other carefully. Clive looked handsome as ever in his uniform,
    biceps straining at the blue fabric whenever he bent his arms. The steamy tension from their last meeting seemed to be making them both shy.
    “I heard there was a commotion at your place last night. Are you okay?”
    Oh god, had Grace told him details? What did he know?
    “I’m fine, thanks.”
    He led her into the office.
    “I tried my best to organize the books for you.” His deep voice was soft.
    She looked over the collection, which was spread across the floor in no apparent
    order.
    “They’re alphabetized,” he said with a note of pride.
    Christ, they were. By title, not by author.
    Ainsley smiled up at his earnest blue eyes and looked the books over again. It was
    hard for her to deal without them being organized the proper way, but she resisted her compulsive urge to fix them, and scanned the piles.
    The titles swam in her mind. This was exactly the sort of thing she was looking
    forward to having Julian’s help with. But that ship had sailed.
    Well, not so much sailed as sunk.
    After a few minutes she was finished.
    “I can’t think of anything important that’s missing, Clive. I’m so sorry. There might have been something I didn’t know about.”
    Whenever her dad located a rare book she and her mother had to hear every detail
    about it. The condition, the people it had belonged to, how much they were asking and how much it was worth. And of course, he longed to own them all. The hunt to bring the book home, unharmed, often meant a family trip to Boston, New York or even Chicago. It would be strange if there were a single rare volume she didn’t know intimately.
    Of course, he would have added some new titles in the years she’d been away.
    Her shoulders slumped as she pictured a future laid out in front of her without a single book being added to the collection. Suddenly, the reality of her loss seemed to press on her like a weight. She let out a sigh and put a hand on the desk for support.
    Clive was next to her in a heartbeat.
    He pulled her close and she rested her head on his massive chest as his meaty hand
    stroked her hair. She could hear his heartbeat pounding and smell his restrained
    excitement.
    After a long moment she pulled away.
    “I’m sorry,” she said demurely, smoothing her hair down.
    “No, I’m sorry for what you’re going through, Ainsley,” he said simply.
    Before she could change her mind, Ainsley blurted out an invitation.
    “Clive, would you please join me for dinner tomorrow night?”
    “Yes!” he said, a little too quickly.
    They both laughed nervously.
    “Five o’clock?” Ainsley asked.
    “Five o’clock,” he confirmed.
    Ainsley impulsively reached up and pecked him on the cheek. He froze and she heard
    the jolt of his pulse as