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.”

Chapter 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.