Chapter 21
After the car kiss, Ariana woke up the next morning with an unfamiliar lightness in her chest. It wasn’t just happiness—it was the kind that lingered, the kind that refused to be ignored. She lay in bed for a few seconds longer than usual, staring at the ceiling while the memory replayed itself over and over again.
Damien’s hands. His voice. The way he had looked at her like she wasn’t just an employee, not just an intern, but something far more important than she was ready to admit. A small smile crept onto her lips before she could stop it.
“I’m in trouble,” she whispered to herself, covering her face with a pillow as if that could erase the feeling. But it didn’t. Everything reminded her of him. The sound of passing cars outside her window, the quiet of the morning, ev
