As soon as I stirred the next morning, I felt a powerful wash of shame course through me. I couldn't believe what I had done. I couldn’t believe that I had been foolish enough to fall for this guy, to allow him into my ski-pants just like that. When I turned over in bed, I found that he was missing, and I couldn’t say I was surprised. I mean, he was a famous movie star, and he had gotten what he wanted. Now he had probably fled the building and sent his driver to take me back to the airport, right?

I reached out and skimmed my fingers over the empty space in the bed. Well, it had been fun while it had lasted, hadn’t it? At least I’d gotten a really good fuck out of the equation, and a story I could share with my friends when I’d had a little too much to drink.

Not that I could imagine telling anyone about this right now. It was way too humiliating. I was supposed to be here for work, yet I hadn’t been able to keep it in my damn pants. What kind of boss was I? This was a man I was supposed to be signing up for charity work, yet I had tumbled into bed with him the first opportunity I got. And yes, he was hot, and yes, it had been amazing, but that didn’t make what I had done any better. I was a grown-ass adult, and I needed to learn how to keep myself under control, especially when it came to smoking-hot actors who probably had half of Hollywood in their little black book.

I sighed and went to climb out of bed and get dressed, planning on slinking off the first chance I had to get away. I wasn’t sure how I was going to make it home, but surely he had planned for that, something smooth and simple to whisk me out of the county and make sure that I didn’t cause any more trouble for him. He struck me as the kind of man who had done this sort of thing plenty of times over the years, and just because I wasn’t some actor or model didn’t mean that I was going to get any kind of different—

And that’s when I heard the door open. I froze on the spot then dived back into bed, still half-naked, not wanting to be caught by one of his staff. I pulled the covers up and over me and lay back, hoping I could pass for some kind of sleeping beauty now that the stretchmarks and loose skin were covered.

Footsteps approached the door and finally made their way inside, and I glanced up. To my shock, I saw Morgan standing there. My jaw dropped.

"I thought you’d left," I blurted out. I knew it sounded desperate and a little pathetic, but I was so happy to see him standing there that I didn’t care a bit.

"No, I just went down to the gym to get in a workout while you were still asleep," he explained, making his way toward me and placing a paper bag on the bedside table. I pushed myself up in bed, still pinning the covers tightly around me to make sure I didn’t expose any part of myself to him. I might have been glad that he was back, but I was still stone-cold sober and distinctly aware of the fact that he might figure out I was far from a knockout by the light of day.

"Oh, well," I muttered to myself, having the decency to at least go a little red for my transgression. "I’m glad you’re back now."

"I’m not going anywhere," he assured me, and there was a fervency to his voice that caught me off-guard. As though he wanted me to know, above all else, that he meant this. I turned to the bag next to me, the one that he had brought in, assuming I had just imagined his tone and pushing it to the back of my mind.

"What’s this?" I asked as I dipped my hand into the paper bag.

"Just some breakfast for you," he replied, slipping down into bed with me. "An omelet, a biscuit, and some juice. I figured you could use something."

"Yeah, you’re right," I agreed, opening the packet and tearing off a chunk of the biscuit. I popped it in my mouth and groaned at how good it tasted.

"Where did you get this?" I asked, covering my mouth so I didn’t spray him with crumbs. "Because I think I need to start getting them to ship straight to my house."

"There’s a little café not far from the gym," he explained. "I wanted to bring you something."

"You’re really sweet," I told him, and he grinned at me, his entire face lighting up. It was kind of new territory for me, being with a guy who was acting this sweet after the two of us had already hooked up. Most of the time, I found that things shifted once they had gotten into my pants. Not that they were cruel, exactly, but they seemed less focused on the minute details. Less focused on making everything perfect for me. Which I understood, but I had still found it a little hurtful. With Morgan, though? That didn’t seem to be the case. And if I had expected it from anyone, it would have been someone with his reputation.

"So, what are we going to do today?” I asked him once I had finished my breakfast. It had been delicious, almost as good as the Chinese food we’d had the night before. Normally, I would have been nervous about eating so much, worried that the weight was just going to come crashing back down on me again, but I found myself more laid-back with him around. He had fucked me senseless last night, apparently not caring one little bit about the way I looked. Why should I get hung up on my weight when he didn’t seem to give a damn?

"I thought we could go out and see how you like the snow," he suggested. "Without skiing, I mean. I think we’ve already proved once and for all that you shouldn’t be out on the slopes."

"Hey, in my defense, that guy totally crashed into me," I protested. He chuckled.

"Yeah, he did," he agreed. "But I have to get you back to your family in one piece, don’t I? Not going to risk another mowing-down by an out-of-control beginner."

"Fair point," I conceded. "So, what are we getting up to instead?”

"There’s a good layer of snow on the ground now," he glanced outside, cracking a notch in the blinds. The light that poured through was cold and blinding, and I squinted against a ray of sunshine that seemed to launch itself into my retinas.

"We should go outside, take it in," he suggested. "Build a snowman, throw some snowballs..."

"Alright, I’ve never done any of that stuff before, so you’re going to have an edge over me," I warned him.

"I promise I’ll go gentle," he replied, cocking an eyebrow, and I found myself flushing bright red. I pulled my eyes away from him, reminding myself that this was meant to be professional. Not flirtatious, not morning-after, just professional. And I would have to ignore the fact that this man had brought me breakfast in bed after a night of hardcore, incredible fucking.

"Here, let me get you your clothes," he continued, and I sat there in bed awkwardly, not really sure how I was supposed to stick to my guns with his...well, his guns right there on show for me. He was so damn sexy, freshly showered from the gym. And as far as he was concerned, we were just picking up right where we’d left off last night. Just a couple who’d taken things to the next level the evening before, now having fun, flirting, and enjoying those early stages of whatever the hell this happened to be.

He handed me my clothes, and I honestly considered sliding them beneath the bed and getting dressed beneath the covers, but I supposed that would be too obvious a giveaway as to my nervousness about being naked around him. I took a deep breath and pulled myself out of bed before getting to my feet, swiftly turning my back on him, and pulling on my bra.

"You need a hand with that?" he asked gently as I groped around uselessly at the hooks behind me. Why was I suddenly so bad at this? I should have been able to do this easily; I had never struggled before in my adult life. Maybe some subconscious part of me was craving his touch and doing everything I could to get him to put his hands on me again.

He brushed my fingers away and did it up for me, and I let him, savoring the way his hand trailed briefly across my skin. Did he know the kind of effect he was having on me? He must be able to see the shiver of desire that danced across my skin when he touched me.

I pulled away from him as soon as the bra was done up and went to grab the rest of my clothes, pulling them on quickly – I thought I was good and dressed when he moved in behind me to tuck the tag back into my shirt.

"Hey, you’re showing," he teased lightly. I caught my breath. He was standing so close to me, I could feel the warmth from his body, and he seemed distinctly aware of it too. Before I could say a word, he wrapped his arms around me from behind, pulled me in close to him, and nuzzled against my neck.

"Is it weird that I missed you when I was at the gym?” he murmured in my ear. I smiled, unable to help myself.

"Well, I’m a very easy person to miss," I teased, turning around and winding my arms around his neck.

He kissed me on the mouth, softly at first, but growing in intensity until our tongues met and his hands were gripping my waist firmly to keep me in place. There was more than a small part of me that wanted to drag this man straight back to bed and spend the rest of the day covering everything that we had missed last night, but instead, I forced myself to pull back.

"We should go outside," I suggested. "I want to see what it looks like out there with all of the snow coming down."

"Lead on," he waved for me to go ahead of him but slipped his hand into mine and held it tight as I made my way to the front of the house once more. It was cold, but a nice kind of cold – the sort that was crisp and clear, not damp and cloying. Through every window, the blinding white of the untouched snow beyond seemed to glow like it was from another world.

"You ready?" he asked as I pulled on a pair of gloves that I had purchased the day before. I nodded.

"Ready."

And with that, he pushed the door open and let me see the snow-covered ground for the first time.

I honestly gasped the first time I laid eyes on it in person. I had never seen anything like it before in my life. It looked fake almost, like this was the set for some romantic movie that the two of us were starring in. I couldn’t help but giggle with delight, slapping a gloved hand over my mouth as I took it in.

"I didn’t realize it could snow this much overnight," I remarked. "There has to be..."

"At least six inches here," he replied. "Way more than there was yesterday."

"Yeah, you’re right," I agreed. And more than that, yesterday’s snow had been all trampled down by people going back and forth this way and that, but right now, I was looking at a near-untouched blanket of whiteness. I tipped my head back to the sky, and a flurry of snow fluttered down onto my face. I stuck my tongue out to catch a drop on the tip of my tongue, closing my eyes as the coldness melted over my lips. It tasted clean and fresh. Nothing like Nevada.

"You said you’d never really been out in the snow before?” he questioned.

"No, not really," I shook my head. "Maybe a little sprinkle here and there, but nothing like this."

"Then I have to show you how to make a snowball," he grinned at me, grabbing my hand again. "Come on, this way – we can go into the trees and make sure we don’t get caught."

"And what exactly would we be getting caught at?” I inquired, but he didn’t bother to respond. Truth be told, I didn’t care – I was a little giddy from being the center of all of this attention from him, and I was already finding myself addicted to it. I loved the way he lavished me with attention, loved the way he held my hand, and loved that anyone who caught us like this would think we were just a regular couple, goofing off in the snow together. Some part of me wanted someone to stumble across us, just so I could be sure that this was real and not a figment of my imagination.

We reached the woods not far from the cabin, and he pulled me into the darkened space beyond. Under the trees, it felt a little cooler, the cold trapped by the mesh of branches above us. Where the light managed to filter through the trees, they sparkled gorgeously, as though they were cloaked in diamonds.

"It’s so pretty up here," I remarked as I followed him a little deeper into the woods. Usually, I would have second-guessed being alone with him like this, but he made me feel so utterly safe, even amid the icy cold and dark of the woods.

"Okay, just a little bit farther..." he muttered to himself. Then, all at once, we emerged from the dim light and into a bright clearing. I clapped my hands together as soon as I saw it, overexcited as a child.

"How did you know this place was here?" I asked as I took in the area he had brought me to. It was strikingly gorgeous, lined by a ring of delicate trees that seemed to have peeled their branches back just enough to let the light in. In the center of the clearing, there was a small frozen pond. I wanted to jump right on it, but I had a feeling I would go straight through.

"I would like to come running out here when the weather’s better," he explained, and he reached down and scooped up some snow in his hands. I raised my eyebrows at him.

"And what exactly do you think you’re doing?"

"I’m showing you how to make a snowball," he waved me over to him. "Come on, over here, I’ll show you."

"Alright, but if you throw one at me..."

"I promise I won’t," he assured me with a chuckle, and I made my way over to join him. Pulling the gloves around my fingers, I leaned down and grabbed a lump of fresh snow from the ground.

"Here, now you just compact it in," he explained, leaning over and pressing my hands tightly around the snow until it was one hard lump in my hand. I turned, aimed it at a tree, and let fly, watching as it exploded into a burst of soft white once more. I giggled delightedly.

"Alright, so you’ve got the snowball thing down," he remarked. "How about a snowman?”

"I’ve never built one of those before..." I replied nervously. "I don’t even know where I’d start."

"So, you just start out with a little ball," he continued, crouching down before me. "And then you start rolling..."

I got behind him and placed my gloved hands against the tiny snowball he had in front of him. Together, using all of our weight, we began to push the ball across the ground. Before I knew it, it had begun to pick up size, expanding rapidly as we slowly rolled it around the small pond.

"Okay, so we have our base now," he told me once it was of appropriate size. "We need to make some more for his body."

"Oh my God, this is so much fun," I squealed with excitement as I started making the next ball. I couldn’t stop thinking about how much my kids would love this. They would have such a great time out here, exploring the woods and throwing snowballs and building a whole family of little snowpeople. It would be the best Christmas ever.

We constructed the rest of our snowman, and I was grateful for Morgan’s strength as he hefted the balls on top of one another until they were placed in one ascending pile. When we were done with that part, he began dressing the snowman, pulling off his coat and sticking it around the shoulders.

"Hey, you’re pretty good at that," I remarked, and he glanced over at me.

"I’ve spent enough time in costume departments to know how to dress someone," he replied, grinning in my direction. I felt my heart flutter. He was so damn sweet, that was what I couldn’t get over. For all that he could be this big, swaggering bad boy when he wanted to be, there was something undeniably and impossibly gentle about him when he wanted there to be.

I watched as he decorated our creation, and an idea crossed my mind. I knew it was a little cheeky, but we had already long since cast out professionalism, hadn’t we?

I ducked down, as quietly as I could, and scooped up a handful of snow – I quickly compacted it down in my hands until it was solid. I slipped it behind my back and watched as he pulled out a cigar from his pocket and placed it on the snowman’s face, giving him a nose, before adding a couple of rocks for the eyes. Just as he was standing back to admire his work, I let it rip, tossing the snowball at his shoulder. It made contact and exploded in a puff of white. He turned around and raised his eyebrows at me.

"I should never have taught you how to do that," he remarked, shaking his head.

"Now, I’m even more trouble," I replied, grinning. Before I could say another word, he lunged toward me, sending me tumbling to the ground; he twisted himself around so that he landed below me, cushioning my fall so I didn’t come to much harm. I landed with an “oof” on top of him and burst out laughing.

"Alright, that seems like a bit of an overreaction," I teased him.

"I’ve trained in action for too long," he remarked, and I was suddenly distinctly aware of how close we were to one another; his hands were on my waist, holding me close, and I was warm against his body, despite how cold it was out here. I glanced down at his mouth, at the mouth that had given me so much pleasure the night before, and I knew that I needed to pull back if I was going to get out of this without making a huge mistake.

"Snow angels," he suggested suddenly.

"What?”

"Snow angels," he repeated himself as he pointed to the ground next to him. "You just make them by lying in the snow and moving your arms and legs around."

"Oh, right, yeah," I nodded. I quickly rolled off of him. Better to pretend that this was what we had been down here for in the first place because I was starting to feel the resolve I had worked so hard to build up begin to waver. And there was no way in hell I could have that.

The two of us made snow angels – well, mine looked more like an angel that had been tipped from the sky at a great height and landed with a loud crash, but anyway. When I got to my feet, the cold had seeped into my system, and I shivered.

"We should get back to the house," he suggested, putting an arm around me. I told myself it was just for warmth, but I still snuggled myself back against him a little.

"Yeah, let’s do that," I agreed, tilting my head up to look at him. And the gaze he gave me back was almost enough to brush all of the cold out of my system for good.