Early the next morning, Lucy woke to the blaring shriek of her alarm clock. Her body felt heavy, her limbs sluggish, and her mind refused to settle. Memories of yesterday replayed relentlessly, each one sharper, hotter, more impossible to ignore. Drake’s lips was insistent, commanding, intoxicating, haunted her like fire coursing through her veins. Every time she recalled the kiss, the heat in her chest flared anew. She shivered at how close they had been to crossing a line she wasn’t ready to cross, the treasure she held most dear nearly lost in a moment of abandon.
Her mind spun with the memory of Daryl barging in, the interruption that had spared her from temptation. She sighed, pulling herself out of bed and stretching slowly, still flushed. The morning light filtered through the wind
