As the water coursed over my body, I tried my best to get my head back on straight. What the hell had I been thinking?

I had kissed plenty of men in my life before – well, maybe not so much recently – but still, nothing on this planet had come close to what I had just shared with Morgan. The feel of his stubble against my skin, the way his hands had gripped onto me like he had been waiting for this since the moment we landed, it had been too much for me to take. I could have let him fuck me right there and then. And damn, but that would have been good.

But what I had told him was the truth. This was a professional trip, and that meant I wasn’t allowed to give in to making out with him at random whenever I felt like it. Even if he had just purchased me a huge stack of gorgeous clothing, even if he had kissed the nape of my neck like he wanted to take a bite of me, and even if he was one of the most singularly gorgeous men I had ever laid eyes on in my life. That wasn’t how this worked. I was just here for a few days to convince him to help out with the charity, and that would be it.

I knew I was lying to myself even as the words ran through my head. When I was dating Adam while we were running the company, sure, there had been that little thrill of knowing I was doing something naughty, but it was nothing compared to what Morgan did to me. Just one kiss from him, and I felt as though every inch of self-control I had was flying out the window completely. How could that be? He was just a man. A rich, famous, handsome man whom I’d watched in a sex scene just a few hours ago, sure, but just a man nonetheless.

Yet still, I couldn’t shake the memory of that kiss out of my mind. I had no idea how I was even meant to. The way he had touched me…I could still feel the imprint of his hands all over my body, like they had burned themselves into my memory. But I couldn’t let it happen again...

I slipped my hand between my legs and found my clit. I knew the only way I was going to be able to walk out of here without straight combusting was if I gave myself a little of the relief I was craving. I allowed my mind to wander forward in our encounter, filling in the blanks of what had happened between us – well, what had almost happened, at least.

If I’d let his hand go between my legs, he would have slipped it beneath my jeans and my panties at once, stroking around my soaked slit, knowing that I was all ready for him. He’d kiss my neck, soft and sweet, and murmur in my ear, teasing me about how hot I was for this already. And I would have been helpless to protest because it would be so obvious that he was right.

He’d spin me around and pull my hips up, pushing down my jeans and my panties roughly before he ran his hands greedily over my ass. Maybe he’d land a sharp spank on my butt before he continued, drawing a little squeak from me, proof that I was already highly-sensitized to his touch.

"Fuck, you look so good like this," he’d growl, and he’d pause for a moment to just take me all in. But I would need him – need him more and need him now – so I would wiggle my ass back and forth before him to let him know that he should fuck me right this instant before I was consumed entirely by my need for him.

And he wouldn’t wait long to give it to me. This was my fantasy, so we could do without condoms for now – no, I would just hear the zip of his pants and feel the press of his cock against my slit, and another helpless moan would escape my lips as he teased me with the very tip.

"Please..." I would pant, and finally, that would be the button I needed to press to get him to go over the edge. He would thrust deep into me, all at once, filling me to the hilt with his cock, and it would be everything I’d ever wanted from him. And then, he would fuck me. Hard.

I was grinding against my hand in the shower, pretending that the water rushing over my skin was the heat of his breath on my body, and soon, I found that I was getting close. I didn’t realize how on-edge I’d been since I had been alone with him, how desperate my want for him had become these last few hours. Maybe I was just horny in general. Or maybe it was him: the way he looked at me, the way he touched me, and the way he teased me, like he owned me and wanted me to know it, too. And the thought of that – of him owning me – was enough, at last, to tip me over the edge into relief.

As I came, I moaned loudly enough to snap me out of my little reverie. The pleasure was pulsing through me, rushing through my system. The feeling was all-consuming; I couldn’t focus on anything else. As my climax ebbed, I realized I was making these moaning noises out loud. How close was he? Could he hear me? I flushed hot under the water of the shower and withdrew my hand from between my legs as though I had been caught in the act of something. Turning the knob, I increased the water pressure – maybe it had been enough to cloak any sound that I had made – and did my best to scrub myself off, hoping that I would be able to clean myself of the pheromones that I had no doubt been dripping with since I’d stepped in here.

I slipped into some of the new clothes he had purchased me, pulling the figure-hugging leggings over my belly and pinching at a little of the loose skin. Did he know that was what lie underneath here? That concerned me a little, if I were being honest – the thought that perhaps he had no clue that I was only recently slim. He knew I had a couple of kids, so he understood that I was far from perfect. But my mind drifted back to the woman he had been with in that sex scene we had watched together and how every inch of her body had been smooth and perfect and toned. I quickly pulled on a sweater to cover myself up before I wound up getting too stuck on the way I looked. Because that didn’t matter. As long as this was professional, it didn’t matter at all, right?

I finally took a deep breath and prepared myself to go out and meet him at the end of the hall. He was waiting for me. I could hear him out there, and I wasn’t sure if I was more excited or terrified. I knew for damn sure that I wanted to see him, wanted to be close to him, but I had no idea how to balance the professionality of this with the fact that his stubble on my cheek had been enough to send goosebumps flooding all over my body.

He was leaning in the doorway, waiting for me and eyeing me with what looked like amusement. I found myself turning bright red all over again as I realized that he must have been able to hear me in the shower. I wanted to curse myself for being so dumb, for not turning the water up high enough, for even letting myself take care of that in the first place, but the truth was that if I hadn’t, I’d have been throwing myself at him right now.

"You ready to head out to the slopes?” he suggested. I lowered my eyes to the floor and took another deep breath. I felt like I was trying to blow out some overheating in my system, and I was a little mad at myself for letting it get this far. I had a crush. So what? I was a grown woman, and grown women got crushes plenty of the time. And they got over it. And they certainly didn’t let it get in the way of the job they had to do.

"Yeah, I guess so," I agreed. "But fair warning, I’ve never done anything like this before. I don’t think I’ve ever actually been on a set of skis before."

"So you must have been squeaking with fear in the shower, then?” he remarked casually, and I glanced over at him to see that infuriatingly smug, knowing expression painted all over his face. Had I really been that loud? With having kids, I had learned to specialize in the skill of getting off quickly and quietly, but I supposed something about our embrace had been enough to push me to places I hadn’t been to in a long time.

"Yeah, something like that," I muttered. Mercifully, he seemed to accept that answer and not push any further to find out the truth. He led me out to the car, and I couldn’t help but notice just how nice he looked in his ski wear – leggings that fit close to his muscular body and a jacket that strained to contain his enormous shoulders. Even standing here in front of him now, knowing that he was real, and knowing that I could just reach out and touch him if I wanted, I still felt as though this was some kind of sick, twisted joke at my expense. That someone was going to come leaping from behind the door and point a camera at me and reveal that everything had just been a game.

He pulled the door open for me and offered a hand to help me climb in; even just that, the briefest of touches, was enough to send a sparkle of shivers down my back. I wanted to lean up and kiss him again, but that would just be asking for trouble. And I had been doing that quite enough recently as it was.

"How far is it to the slopes?” I asked nervously. I was worried that I was about to make an enormous ass out of myself and tumble head-first down the entire mountain – I was sure that Morgan didn’t really believe me when I told him just how inexperienced I was at all of this, but I was about to prove it.

We arrived at the little lodge that sat at the bottom of the largest slope. I stood back for a moment and just took it all in as he climbed out of the car. Suddenly, I felt my heart pick up the pace in my chest.

"Fuck," I muttered to myself. There were so many people here. That was what was scaring me the most. I was going to make an ass of myself in front of not just Morgan, but all of these piles of people as well. That didn’t seem fair.

"You alright?” he asked, appearing beside me and catching me off-guard. I glanced his way, nodded, and plastered on a smile.

"Yeah, yeah, I’m all good," I assured him, lying through my teeth.

"Let’s start out on the baby slopes for a while, huh?" he suggested gently, apparently seeing straight through my façade to my nervousness. My shoulders sagged with relief.

"Yeah, that would be perfect," I admitted. He grinned, offering me his arm.

"Well, we’ll need to get you set up with some skis first, huh?” he pointed out, leading me toward the lodge. "Come on, I know what we’re looking for."

Soon enough, he had me set up with all of the equipment I needed. Honestly, I felt as though it might have been a little on the too-much side, but I would take his word for it. Skis, braces, sticks, and a visor to keep the cold and the wind from my eyes – now I just needed to see if I could actually ski or not.

"Here, we have to go up a little before we get to the baby slopes," he explained as he directed me toward the ski-lifts. I eyed them suspiciously.

"Are those things safe?”

"Totally safe," he assured me. "And if they fall, I’ll make sure to get underneath you for a soft landing, alright?”

"I think landing on you would be anything but soft," I remarked without thinking, and he opened his mouth to shoot back some triumphantly flirty response – but before he could let it drop, I strode off through the crunchy snow toward the lifts.

We hopped onto one together, and it was only then that I realized just how small they were. Not that I was worried about them breaking or anything – no, I was more worried about the fact that I was pressed up, with no escape, against this man whom I was doing everything to quell my attraction to.

"You okay?" he asked me gently, and the sudden tenderness in his voice was enough to make me melt. I glanced over at him, so close I could see the slight tinge of red to his cheeks where the cold had started to get to him, and I nodded.

"I’m fine," I replied finally. Damn, that mouth was so close to me again. I could have just kissed him. How sweet would that have been? Could have just fallen forward into him and claimed that I was nervous.

But he was behaving himself, and I supposed I should be grateful for that. Because at the end of the day, Morgan was just a man playing a part, a man doing a very good job at convincing me that there was something real between us. I still didn’t totally get his intent behind the game, but I knew it had to be a play. If someone like Adam had dropped me and moved on to someone younger, hotter, and thinner, then I had no idea what Morgan would be doing pursuing me in the first place, you know?

Nonetheless, I shifted closer to him, savoring his presence next to me. It was nice to have him here – nice to have him close and nice to be with a man again, even if it was only for a few days. I knew that Clara would be begging for the details when I got home, and at least I had a kiss to share with her.

We landed at the top of the slope, and he offered a hand to help me out; I took it, finding myself a little disappointed that he had behaved himself so well on the trip up. Which was crazy because he was just going along with what I had asked of him, wasn’t he? This dude wasn’t a mind reader; I couldn’t expect him to just understand everything that was going on in my head, especially when it went directly against what had come out of my mouth.

"Okay, so you’ve really never done something like this before?” he asked. I shook my head.

"Yeah, you’re going to have to show me from scratch," I agreed as I eyed the soft downward slope of the track in front of us. Even though the angle was gentle, I could still imagine myself flying down and breaking a rib and having to get helicoptered out of this place strapped to a gurney.

"There’s nothing to be worried about," he assured me, apparently sensing the tension in my system. "Really. This is much easier than you think it’s going to be. You just have to keep focused on balance and gravity, and you’ll be just fine."

"And what makes you think I have any grasp on balance?" I muttered, slapping my skis down on the snow like a pair of giant, ungainly flippers. It was cold up here, but the warmth of his presence was keeping me distracted.

"Okay, so let’s take this slow," he suggested, moving in behind me. I noticed a couple of people – a mom with her kid and a girl with her boyfriend – look over at the two of us as though they were trying to place him. I felt a little swell of pride. Yeah, he was here with me. That was pretty damn cool, now that I thought about it.

"You have to focus on keeping your body as tightly in as you can," he explained as he guided my arms inward to my sides, making the sticks poke out at awkward angles underneath them.

"And bend your knees slightly." With that, he ran his hand down the back of my waist, taking hold of my hips and drawing me downward. Even through the thick fabric of my leggings, it felt as though his fingers were burning against me.

"And then you just lean forward..." He gently nudged me in the direction I needed to go, and I felt a shock of panic as I began to slide down the slope. I bit my lip to keep from crying out as I slid downward; I focused on the sight of the fancy skis strapped to my feet until I came to a halt once more. I lifted my head and looked up at the crisp, clear sky. Phew. Okay, maybe that wasn’t so bad after all.

"See? You totally made it," Morgan remarked as he came down to join me. I turned around to see that I had only managed about ten feet, but hey, it was something, right?

"I totally did," I agreed, clasping onto his arm to keep my wobbly legs from giving out beneath me. Now that I had done it once, I could actually focus on something other than the fear of making a total ass of myself. I glanced around, taking in the mountain and the trees that curled around the bottom like a river. I had never seen so much snow in my life. It was beautiful in its crisp pureness, studded with people skiing and snowboarding and walking and generally enjoying the decadence of a ski vacation.

"Come on, back to the top," Morgan continued excitedly. "I want to see if you can manage to ski a little farther this time."

"Alright, let’s not get ahead of ourselves..." I remarked, but before I knew it, I was fully engaged in our little lesson. I wasn’t good, but he was patient, taking his time to show me exactly how to stand and slide and then how to control my motions with little movements from side to side. And he shared in the victories I celebrated as I managed to pull off a turn, a stop, and a little speed. My body was already aching from the unfamiliar positions I’d been contorting myself into, but every time I turned around and found him looking down at me with that enormous grin on his face, I knew it had been worth it.

"You think we should head back?” he asked, rubbing his gloved hands together as the light began to dim behind the mountains. I shook my head.

"Just one more," I suggested. "Then we’ll go."

"I thought you said you were going to be difficult about this?” he reminded me playfully. "You said that if you weren’t the best on the mountain, you’d be an asshole about it."

"Well, good thing I am the best on the mountain then, right?" I flashed him a cocky smile. I was at the top of the little slope once more – I had only dared to stick it out here, just in case, to avoid getting injured – and I decided I had time for just one more run before we went back to the cabin. Or maybe I was trying to tire myself out enough so that I wouldn’t have the energy to do anything other than crawl into bed once we got home.

"Go ahead and prove it," he shot back, crossing his arms over his chest and nodding to the slope. I turned, took up the position, and pushed myself off. The rush of the wind through my hair was invigorating, but more than that was the knowledge that he was watching me, that his eyes were on me. Emboldened, I glanced over my shoulder, smiled at him, and then-

A rush. A crash. The trees coming at me so quickly I couldn’t catch my breath. And then, nothing.