Clara’s POV

I couldn’t help it.

I kissed him.

That simple truth sat like fire in my chest as I drove away from the bookstore, my hands trembling on the steering wheel. It wasn’t calculated, it wasn’t controlled. I didn’t plan it, didn’t even think. One moment I was looking at the Damien I once loved, stripped of his expensive suit and cold mask and the next, my lips betrayed me.

And when we broke apart, when his breath still lingered on mine, I ran. Like a coward. Like a ...