He looked around. They weren’t alone and he didn’t think getting arrested for indecent exposure would be a good idea. “Not here. Do you think we could manage quiet sex in the house with your mom around?”

She let out a short laugh. “Probably not, but we can try.”

They hurried back to the house. Haven looked at the upstairs window. “Her room is dark. Either she’s downstairs waiting up for us, or she’s gone to bed already.”

They opened the door, and the only light on was a small lamp in the living room.

“She used to leave that lamp on for me when I was out at night. She’s gone to bed,” Haven said in a whispered voice. “You go ahead and go up to your room. It’s the farthest from hers. I’ll get ready for bed, then I’ll meet you in yours.”

He nodded, tiptoeing up the stairs, trying to make as little noise as possible. He went into his room, brushed his teeth, and climbed out of his pants and shirt. Fifteen minutes later, Haven opened the door and gently closed it. She wore very short pajama bottoms and a skimpy tank top.

“She’s a pretty heavy sleeper. I think we’ll be okay.”

She came toward him and climbed on the bed, straddling him. “I need to be with you.”

She kept her voice low, and he just knew it was going to be the hardest thing to stay quiet. With her planted squarely on his quickly hardening cock, it took all the restraint he had not to groan. He fit his hands to her h*ps and took in the sight of her, her cheeks pink from their walk. She’d washed her face, so she wore no makeup. He liked that she came to him that way, that she didn’t think it was necessary to be all made up like so many of the women he’d dated. Haven was confident in her looks, in her body, and as he swept his hand over the nape of her neck and pulled her down for a kiss, he tasted the mint of her toothpaste, his tongue sliding alongside hers.

She whimpered, the sound caught on a heaving whisper as he rolled with her, tucking her underneath him so he could stretch his body out, feel her legs against his, her br**sts rubbing his chest. She teased her leg alongside his. It was like silk rubbing against him, and made his dick pound.

He lifted his head. “You’re making this harder.”

She reached between them, cupping his erection. “You mean I’m making this harder.”

He sucked in a breath. “Yeah. That. Definitely that.”

“I have a tiny little secret to confess,” she said.

He paused, looked down at her. “Oh, yeah? What’s that?”

“I’ve never had sex in this house before.”

He grinned. “Well, it’s about damn time you do. Want me to sneak you into your bedroom so you can fulfill all your teen girl fantasies?”

She let out a snort. “No. Definitely not. Besides, I didn’t have teen girl fantasies about ha**g s*x in my room.”

He trailed his fingers along the side of her breast. “So, you waited until college, huh?”

Her gaze stayed on his face, but her breathing quickened when he brushed the palm of his hand back and forth over her breast. Her nipple hardened through the material of her top.

“Maybe.”

“Were any of those college girl fantasies about me?”

“No.”

She’d answered way too fast. “You’re lying. You wanted me.” He rolled to her side, then drew the straps of her tank down, baring her breasts. He bent and caught one hard nipple in his mouth, flicking his tongue back and forth until she arched against him.

“I definitely didn’t want you.”

He smiled against the softness of her skin, using his teeth to tease her. “Yeah, you did. It’s okay to admit it.”

“You were annoying.”

“I was charming and irresistible.”

She frowned. “Maybe to most of the female population on campus. Definitely not to me. To me, you were annoying.”

He slid his hand over her rib cage and down her stomach, loving the silken feel of her skin under his hands. When he dipped his fingers inside her panties and found her hot and wet, a moan escaped her lips.

“Am I annoying you now?”

“Yes. But in a much more pleasant way.”

He rolled her bottoms off and spread her legs, sliding down her body to put his mouth on her. All he could hear was her breathing as he pleasured her, and the occasional gasps and moans he knew she was trying hard to suppress. He loved her taste, the way her h*ps moved as she directed him right where she wanted him.

“Oh, Trevor, you’re going to make me come. I need to come. Please.”

He laid his tongue on her cl*tand took her over the edge, her body shaking with her orgasm. He didn’t give her time to recover, just slipped off his boxers and put on the condom, then entered her with her body still vibrating.

Her pu**y contracted around his cock, squeezing him in a death grip that shook his resolve as he pushed deep inside her. He stilled, lifting up to look at her. Her eyes were deep pools of stormy blue, her hands pulling him down, her legs wrapping around him.

“Harder,” she whispered. “I want to feel you deep.”

“You want deep?”

“Yes.”

He pulled out and flipped her over, shoved a pillow under her stomach and spread her legs and entered her.

She gasped, and lifted her butt, pushing back against him.

“More,” she whispered.

He wanted to give her more, wanted to give her hard, fast, and as deep as he could sink into her, but the damn bed squeaked. So instead, he gave her slow and deep, feeling every bit of her each time he inched into her body. Her heat surrounded him, every muscle quivering around his c**k until sweat beaded and ran down his back. And still, he held on to her hips, watching her ass move as he pumped ever so slowly in, then eased out, until she moaned and tossed her head back, rocking that sweet ass against him.

He leaned over her. “Do you know how badly I want to shove my c**k deep into you? Do you know how much I want to give it to you hard and fast until you scream?”

“Yes,” she said. “As much as I want it.”

“Damn bed,” he muttered, then reached underneath her, finding her clit. “But I am going to make you come, Haven. And then I’m going to come hard inside you.”

She tightened around him as he stroked her clit, her pu**y gripping him in a vise that made him grit his teeth and fight not to come. Not yet. Not until Haven did.

“Trevor. Trevor, yes. Make me come.”

He swept his fingers back and forth over her clit, felt the contracting of her pu**y around his cock.

“I’m coming. Oh, I’m coming, Trevor.”

Hell, yes, she was. And he felt it tear through him at the same time. He wrapped an arm around her, holding on to her as he shuddered through his own release, thrusting deeply into her over and over again, not caring that the bed made noise, that he groaned, that she let out a soft cry as they came together.

Fuck, it was good, so damn good that he lost all sense of awareness except for the feel of Haven shuddering against him, her body squeezing every drop of come he had until she collapsed. He rolled to his side, drawing her against him, both of them damp with perspiration from the effort.

Trevor swept Haven’s bangs away from her forehead and she reached out to rub her fingers over his lips. He grasped her wrist and kissed each fingertip, then took her mouth in a deep kiss that made his c**k fire to life again.

Yeah, his c**k might want round two, but he needed a few minutes.

“I sure as hell hope my mother doesn’t come running down the hall to see what all that noise was about,” Haven finally said.

“Me, too. But if she does, I promise to throw you on the floor on the other side of the bed, toss a blanket over you, then tell her I was thrashing around because I was having a nightmare.”

Her lips curved. “How chivalrous of you to protect my virtue like that.”

“Just the kind of guy I am, babe.”

“Speaking of my virtue—or lack thereof—I should go back to my room. Otherwise, I’m going to be tempted to cuddle up next to you and fall asleep. And then there’d definitely be some explaining to do in the morning.”

Trevor took a deep breath. “I’d like you to sleep here with me tonight. But yeah, you probably should.”

Haven got out of bed and bent over to find her clothes. He took a few minutes to appreciate the feminine lines of her back and of course, her great ass and legs.

After disposing of the condom, he put on his boxers and walked her to the bedroom door, pulled her into his arms, and gave her a long, deep kiss that made his c**k go steely hard. When he pulled away, Haven licked her lips.

“Thanks for that. Now I’ll never get to sleep tonight. Then again,” she said, cupping his erection, “it looks like you won’t, either.”

He took a deep breath. “Yeah, but I’ll have great dreams.”

She quirked a sexy smile and reached for the doorknob. “Pleasant dreams, Trevor.”

TWENTY-THREE

OVER BREAKFAST THE NEXT MORNING, HAVEN PLAYED it very cool. She was polite and tried to act normal. Her mother asked her if she slept well, no doubt referring to her breakdown from the night before.

She had slept well, thanks to Trevor, and she’d told her mother she had no trouble sleeping.

Trevor had been all smiles and, as always, was charming with her mother. He even helped her make breakfast while Haven sipped coffee at the kitchen table. Haven told her mom about Trevor’s house in St. Louis, and about Hammond. Her mother was fascinated about the house, and Haven showed her photos. Trevor invited her up for a visit. The whole thing was oddly . . . comfortable, and yet uncomfortable at the same time. It was as if she were sharing her boyfriend with her mother.

Which she clearly was not, since Trevor wasn’t her boyfriend. But she liked seeing him working side by side with her mom, cooking bacon while her mom had fixed eggs and biscuits. She could almost envision the two of them together. Trevor had always been close to her mom—and her dad. He hadn’t been lying to her when he’d told her they were like parents to him when he’d been in college. He’d been around a lot back then, but back then she’d been wholly distracted by him because she’d had such a crush on him and hadn’t known how to act around him.

Not that she had a better handle on that now. But maybe she was at least starting to figure out how to separate the professional from the personal.

Today—last night—had been personal. When they started working on the interview again, it would be professional. It seemed they could both juggle it, which was a good thing.

Her mind shifted to the professional. She wished he’d open up to her about his family. She wanted to know more about his childhood. Now that she’d met Zane, she was curious about his parents. Why didn’t he want to talk about them? Why wouldn’t he let her interview them? Part of a human interest story on an athlete was childhood background. It helped shape who that athlete was today. Trevor’s not talking about his parents was going to leave a giant gap in the story, and that didn’t sit right with Haven.

As someone who cared about him, she took a step back. As a professional reporter, she was going to have to push him on this.

She pondered it over breakfast, during which she and Trevor exchanged glances. She also noticed her mother shooting very knowing looks at both her and Trevor, so maybe their tryst last night hadn’t been as secret as she first thought. At least her mother was smiling whenever she looked her way.

Then again, the last thing she wanted her mom to think was that she had some personal relationship going with Trevor, because it wasn’t a relationship.

It was just sex. She was doing a good job compartmentalizing it there.

Okay, maybe it was becoming more than just sex, at least to Haven. But she wasn’t going to allow herself to make it more than a fling, an interlude, something fun to do while she was on this assignment. She had enough to handle with getting her career on track and putting this whole grief nightmare to rest. Anything else would be too much.

Trevor was too much, and he’d made no indication he was even interested in a relationship. The last thing she wanted was to get hurt, and have more emotional turmoil to wrestle with.

No, she was better off putting Trevor firmly in the “fun to have sex with” box and leaving him there. So when he turned his sexy grin in her direction, his eyes capturing her with their intensity, she put a lock on her heart.

She could so easily get lost in him.

She could so easily love him.

ADMITTEDLY, TREVOR HAD FUN REVISITING HIS COLLEGE campus for the day with Haven and the camera crew. They met with both his football and baseball coaches and Haven conducted short interviews while they reminisced. It was great to catch up with the coaches. He also got to talk to a few of his teachers, who were kind enough to say nice things about him even though he knew he’d given them all headaches. He walked them around campus and showed them some of his favorite hangouts, and they went out on the football field. He even took a few passes from some of the current football team out on the field.

That was fun, and Haven said they got some good shots. Now they wanted to do some interviews in town at some of his favorite local haunts.

“Let’s stop there,” Haven said, pointing out a local luncheonette. “This is a familiar hangout for a lot of the sports teams. I called ahead, and Ralph said we could film inside.”

Trevor grinned. “I haven’t had a cheeseburger in here in a long time.”

“And it just so happens it’s around the lunch hour.”

He gave her a sidelong look. “It’s like you planned it this way.”

“It is, isn’t it,” she said with a waggle of her brows.