Page 68 of Designed for Disaster

“Finally,” Trent breathed against my lips as he closed the door behind us. He pressed his lips to my neck, and I kicked off my shoes. “I thought we’d never get here.”

“It was only a twenty-minute walk.”

“Twenty minutes too long,” he growled. “I need you now.” He backed me down the hall toward his bedroom, pulling my jacket off my shoulders as we went. It hit the floor, and I tried not to stumble over it as he got his hands under my sweater.

I shivered, whining. “Your hands are cold.”

“Better get that body heat going,” he said, grinning as my legs bumped up against his bed. I collapsed onto it, and he leaned over me, kissing his way down my stomach, popping the button on my jeans. He didn’t stop, tugging at my underwear with his teeth until I was squirming to get my legs free from my jeans, eager to wrap those legs around him. Despite Trent’s earlier declarations, he didn’t seem to be in any hurry, taking his time kissing up and down my thighs.

I closed my eyes, focusing on the sensation of his lips, my fingers running through his hair. “Trent,” I said.

“Yes?”

“What are you doing?”

“Warming you up,” he teased, the tip of his nose brushing over my underwear in a way that had my back arching off the bed. “Is it working?”

I bit back a laugh. It sure as hellwasworking. This slow, languid game he was playing was going to drive me crazy. I pressed my hand to his cheek, and he looked up at me, those dark eyes filled with an expression I wasn’t sure how to name. In the time we’d been doing this, we’d started to learn each other’s bodies, and though the desire was just as strong as it had been the first time, there wasn’t the rushing urgency anymore. And frankly, it felt amazing, knowing Trent this well. It had been so long since I’d had something like this in my life, but even as those thoughts surfaced, I couldn’t stop guilt from bubbling up.

“What are you thinking about?” he asked, rubbing circles around my hip bone. “You seem distracted.”

“Nothing,” I said. “Come up here and kiss me.”

He crawled up my body, but he resisted as I tugged on his shirt, trying to bring his lips to mine. “Natasha,” he said, the word insistent. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I swear.” I swallowed hard, the guilt tapping at my temple like a tiny hammer. “I’m just tired.”

“Do you want to stop?” he asked.

“No,” I insisted, rocking my body up against his. I wanted him. Idid. And I really wanted him in a good mood…because tonight I might finally tell him I’d been in contact with his mother.

I hooked my leg around his hip, rolling us so I landed on top, my hands pressed against his muscular chest.

“We don’t have to do this right now.”

“I want to,” I said, smiling down at him. This was the way I must have been staring at him in that photo the newspaper printed. That’s the one Lara Saunders had seen. The same one she’d used to track me down. I guess when you had the kind of money the Saunders family did, figuring out who your son was dating wasn’t exactly complicated. She’d messaged me through 1stDibs, saying that she wasn’t sure if Trent would try to stop her if she reached out via the company.

I rolled my hips, feeling Trent harden beneath me. He held my waist, his fingers digging into my skin. “You’re killing me,” he said.

“Not yet,” I whispered, squeezing him through his jeans. “Looks like you’re stillveryalive to me.” I leaned over, kissing him again, even as my mind kept replaying the conversation I’d had with his mother.

When I’d met up with Lara, she was so worried about Trent. She practically begged me to tell her why he was shutting her out. The only thing I could think to do was explain that he had a lot on his mind—Dee’s condition, Jimmy’s school struggles, the problems he’d helped his friends through. She was surprised by all of it—which had surprisedme.Maybe she hadn’t been kept in the loop on her ex-mother-in-law’s condition, and she’d really had no way of knowing what was going on with the Lost Boys, but why wouldn’t she know what Jimmy was going through? Trent might ignore the calls from his mom, but I couldn’t see Jimmy doing that. But Lara had suggested that Jimmy might have been hiding the extent of his problems from her, not wanting to worry her.

Trent pulled my sweater over my head. I let him, trying to get into the right headspace as he popped my bra open, getting his mouth around one of my nipples. He sucked hard, sending mespiraling into a wave of desire. God, I wanted to come. I wanted to makehimcome. I wanted us both to be happy…and I really, really wanted him to be okay with the fact I’d met up with his mom without telling him. I did it for him—in the hopes that I might be able to heal the breach and help bring them back together. But would he be able to accept that? From what Lara said, things had been strained between them ever since he took over as CEO. Surely now, after five years, he was ready to go back to being a family, right?

I just…“Fuck!” I hissed as Trent slid his hand between my legs.

“Come for me,” he whispered in my ear, demanding.

I wanted to. I did. But a part of me couldn’t quite relax or let go. Not when I was keeping this secret from him.

“Where are you?” Trent whispered, removing his hand from between my legs. I hadn’t even noticed he’d stopped stroking me—that’s how distracted I was.

“Here,” I promised. “With you.”

“No you’re not,” he said, tapping his finger to the end of my nose. “What’s wrong?”

“Just thinking,” I said. I rolled off him, flopping down on the pillow as I tried to find the right words. Maybe there was a way I could test the waters, see what his reaction would be to me meeting up with his mom without actually telling him.

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