When she woke the next morning, she sat up in bed with a start and looked around. Her heart was racing, and her mind was confused, but she knew it had happened.

She had had a sexy dream about Trent.

Hell, it was more than a sexy dream…

It was practically her ultimate fantasy.

She bit her lip and pulled her legs up to her chest and looked toward the window. There was a crack in the curtains and it was letting in a sliver of bright sunlight and it took her right back to what she had envisioned when she had been deep within the forest.

It took her right back to the sensation of him holding her… of him touching her… or him pushing himself inside of her.

She fanned her face and rolled out her shoulders. She was going to have to get a grip. All of it was so inappropriate, this man was her boss. He had hired her to look after his daughter.

What the hell was she thinking having dirty dreams about him!?

She rose to her feet and took a sip from the glass of water that was on her nightstand, before she reached for her silk robe that was hanging on the back of her door and pulled it on, before she tied it at the waist. She crossed the small bedroom to the window and opened the curtains wide and smiled as she could see more green than she had been able to the entire time that she had been up there on the mountain.

“Looks like some of this snow is melting,” she said to herself as she stifled a yawn.

She turned and went into the bathroom where she splashed water on her face and tried to wake herself up. Even though she had only drunk one glass of wine the night before, she still felt a little fuzzy headed and half asleep, and she knew she was going to have to have a cold shower to fully bring her back into the land of the living.

Once she had showered, changed, and dried her hair, she looked in the mirror and swept her hair over her shoulder before she smoothed on some lip balm. She looked fresh faced and dewy, and she was sure her skin was naturally blushed at the cheeks and on her chest.

“Must have been the hot dream,” she whispered as she laughed at her own reflection.

She left the annex with her coat under her arm and her boots in her hands, and when she walked through the laundry room and through the other side, into the kitchen, she could already see Trent sitting at the island, drinking coffee.

She felt her heart rate quicken and she tried not to catch his eye.

He had no clue what she had been thinking about him, and he certainly didn’t know about the dream, but she still felt completely exposed and embarrassed as he raised his head to look at her and smiled.

“Morning,” he said gruffly as he flicked a page on the newspaper he was reading.

“Morning,” she smiled weakly as she walked over to the counter and lifted up the coffee pot.

She was in there earlier than normal, and she knew Emma was likely still going to be up in her room, either sleeping or playing with her toys.

“Thanks for last night,” Trent said suddenly.

Morgan turned to look at him, not sure whether she had heard him correctly, and the look on his face was just as misleading. He still looked full of rage and as if he wasn’t sure whether he wanted her there, but then suddenly, out of nowhere, his face softened, and he smiled.

“I know I’m not easy,” he said. “But I want you to know I appreciate everything you are doing for us.”

Morgan’s heart raced on and on in her chest and her blood began to whoosh through her ears, making her dizzy and lightheaded.

“You are?” she said instinctively.

“Yes,” he nodded as he rose to his feet. “I am.”

He stood in front of her and looked down into her eyes. She hadn’t been this close to him before and it was unnerving. Memories of her dream were still fresh in her mind and having him so close seemed brutal and tempting. She took a step back and swallowed nervously.

“Emma never had a mom,” he said, before he looked over his shoulder to check that she wasn’t there listening. “So, having you here, it really is meaning a lot to her, I can tell.”

Morgan felt her jaw sag a little.

She didn’t know what she had been expecting from him on that particular day, but this certainly wasn’t it.

“I never thought I’d want another woman around the house,” he smiled. “But let’s just say, you’re starting to change my opinion. For someone as young as you, you’re mature, and you sure know how to cook a mean steak.”

He laughed and so did Morgan.

“I meant what I said, though,” she interjected. “I won’t cook for you guys if I’m stepping on your toes. I know you two have your own traditions, your pizza nights and your take-outs… I don’t want to do anything you don’t want me to do.”

“Last night was one of the best meals we’ve had in a long time,” he reassured her. “And you were right when you said it would be good for Emma to come home to food on the table. A decent meal. Not something out of a box from down on Main Street.”

She couldn’t be sure, but Morgan was pretty sure she was blushing again.

He had gone from distant, reserved, and rude, to complimentary and flattering.

“It’s just my job,” she shrugged. “Like I said on my first day, if I’m not taking care of you guys, then what else am I going to do while Emma is at school?”

Trent nodded and smiled, and then he took a step backward and ran his hand through his hair.

Something had changed between them.

Morgan didn’t know what, and she was sure she was never going to be able to pinpoint it exactly, but it was as if the beast inside the mountain man had stepped aside for a moment. He was finally letting the real Trent shine through.

She was seeing the man who was vulnerable, the one who had been hurt, the one who just wanted the best for his daughter and to give her a good quality of life.

“I’ll cook again tonight,” she said. “For the two of you.”

“For the three of us,” Trent said with a wag of his finger. “I know Emma would love you to join us.”

He said it as an order, rather than a question, and Morgan found herself nodding and accepting that this was how it was going to be. She had set a precedent, but they wanted to keep it going. They wanted the stability and the enjoyment of having an extra person in the fold.

Trent was officially thawing.

He had been as icy as the snow when she had arrived, but now, just like the snow itself… it appeared as if his cold snap was also on the way out.