The Secret Affair

I will be if you don’t stop looking at me like that, Jillian thought, getting closer to where he stood. She felt the heat of his gaze on every inch of her. She came to a stop in front of him. She couldn’t take looking into his eyes any longer so she glanced around. In addition to the huge lake there were also mountains surrounding the property. “You have a nice mountain view in this spot and can see the lake from here,” she said.

“I know. That’s why I plan to build my house right here.”

She nodded. “Have you designed it yet?”

“No. I don’t plan on building for several more years, but I often come here and think about the time when I will. The house will be large enough for me and my family.”

She snapped her head around. “You plan on getting married?”

His chuckle was soft but potent. “Yes, one day. That surprises you?”

She decided to be honest. “Yes. You do have a reputation.”

He leaned one broad shoulder against a Siberian elm tree. “This is the second time today that you’ve mentioned something about my reputation. Just what have you heard about me?”

She took a seat across from him on a huge tree stump. “I heard what hellions you, Adrian, Bailey and Bane used to be.”

He nodded solemnly. “Yes, we were that. But that was a long time ago, and I can honestly say we regretted our actions. When we grew older and realized the impact we’d had on the family, we apologized to each one of them.”

“I’m sure they understood. You were just children and there was a reason you did what you did,” she said. She’d heard the full story from Pam. The deaths of their parents, and aunt and uncle, had been the hardest on those youngest four. Everyone had known that their acts of rebellion were their way of handling their grief.

“Sorry I mentioned it,” she said, feeling bad that she’d even brought it up.

He shrugged. “No harm done. It is what it is. It seems the four of us got a reputation we’ve been trying to live down for years. But I’m sure that’s not the reputation of mine that you were really referring to.”

No, it wasn’t. “I understand you like women.”

He chuckled. “Most men do.”

She raised a brow, not in the least amused. “I mean you really like them, but you don’t care about their feelings. You break their hearts without any concern for the pain it might cause.”

He studied her for a long moment. “That’s what you heard?”

“Yes. And now you want me to believe that you’re seriously considering settling down one day, marrying and having a family?”

“Yes. One doesn’t have anything to do with the other. What I do now in no way affects any future plans. I need to clarify something. I don’t deliberately set out to break any woman’s heart. I tell any woman I date the truth up front—my career as a doctor is foremost. However, if she refuses to take me at my word and assumes that she can change my mind, then it’s not my fault when she finds out otherwise.”

“So in other words...”

“In other words, Jillian, I don’t intentionally set up any woman for heartbreak or lead her on,” he answered curtly.

She knew she should probably leave well enough alone and stop digging, but for some reason she couldn’t help herself. “However, you do admit to dating a lot of women.”

“Yes, I admit it. And why not? I’m single and don’t plan to get into a committed relationship anytime soon. And contrary to what you believe, I don’t date as many women as you might think. My time is pretty limited these days because of medical school.”

She could imagine. How he managed to date at all while in medical school was beyond her. He was definitely into multitasking. She’d discovered most relationships demanded a lot of work and it was work she didn’t have time for. Evidently he made things easy by not getting serious with any woman. At least he’d been honest about it. He dated women for the fun of it and didn’t love any of them.

“I have one other question for you, Aidan,” she said, after drawing in a deep breath.

“What’s your question?”

“If all of what you said is true, about not getting serious with any woman, then why did you kiss me?”

* * *

Now that was a good question, one he could answer but really didn’t want to. She did deserve an answer, though, especially after the way he had plowed her mouth earlier. She was twenty-one, five years younger than him. And although she’d held her own during their kiss, he knew they were worlds apart when it came to sexual experience. Therefore, before he answered her, he needed to ask a few questions of his own.

“Why did you kiss me back?”

He could tell by her expression that she was surprised by his counterquestion. And, as he’d expected, she tried to avoid giving him an answer. “That’s not the issue here.”

He couldn’t help but smile. Little did she know it was the issue, but he would touch on that later. “The reason I kissed you, Jillian, is because I was curious. I think you have a beautiful pair of lips and I wanted to taste them. I wanted to taste you. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a while.”

He saw her jaw drop and had to hold his mouth closed for a second to keep from grinning. She hadn’t expected him to answer her question so bluntly or to be so direct. That’s something she needed to know about him. He didn’t sugarcoat anything. Straightforward could be his middle name.

“So now that you know my reason for kissing you, what was your reason for kissing me back?”

She began nibbling on her bottom lip. Watching her made him ache, made him want to take hold of those lips and have his way with them again.

“I—I was...”

When she didn’t say anything else, he lifted a brow. “You were what?”

Then she had the nerve to take her tongue and lick those same lips she’d been nibbling on moments ago. “I was curious about you, too.”

He smiled. Now they were getting somewhere. “I can understand that. I guess the reason you asked about the kiss is because I told you I’m not into serious relationships when it comes to women. I hope you don’t think a deep kiss constitutes a serious relationship.”

From the look on her face, which she quickly wiped off, that’s exactly what she’d thought. She was more inexperienced than he’d assumed. He wondered just how inexperienced she was. Most twenty-one-year-old women he knew wore desire, instead of their hearts, on their sleeves.

“Of course I knew that.”

If she knew that then why were they having this conversation? If she thought he was looking for something serious just because he’d kissed her then she was so far off the mark it wasn’t funny.

“How many boyfriends have you had?”

“Excuse me?”

No, he wouldn’t excuse her. There were certain things she needed to know. Things experience had nothing to do with. “I asked how many boyfriends you’ve had. And before you tell me it’s none of my business, I’m asking for a reason.”

She lifted her chin in a defiant pose. “I can’t imagine what reason you would have for needing to know that.”

“So you can protect yourself.” He thought she looked both adorable and sexy. From the way her curly hair tumbled down her shoulders to the way the smoothness of her skin shone in the sunlight.

She lifted a brow. “Against men like you?”

“No. Men like me would never mislead you into thinking there was anything serious about a kiss. But there are men who would lead you to think otherwise.”

She frowned. “And you don’t think I can handle myself?”