The Secret Affair(14)

                “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?”