The Secret Affair(30)

                “Okay, and I don’t need your help mounting my horse.”

                In other words, she didn’t want him to touch her. “You sure?”

                “Positive.”

                He nodded and then watched her move away from his horse to get on hers. As usual, it was a total turn-on watching her. “I want to thank you, Aidan.”

                He took his gaze away from the sight of her legs straddling the horse to look into her face. “Thank me for what?”

                “For introducing me to a few things during this visit home.”

                For some reason that made him smile. “It was my pleasure.” And he meant every word.





                                      Seven

                “You’re still not going home, Jillian?”

                Jillian looked up from eating her breakfast to see her roommate, Ivy Rollins. They had met in her sophomore year when Jillian knew she didn’t want to live in the dorm any longer. She had wanted an apartment off campus and someone to share the cost with her. Ivy, who had plans to attend law school, had answered the ad Jillian placed in the campus newspaper. They’d hit it off the first time they’d met and had been the best of friends since. Jillian couldn’t ask for a better roommate.

                “I was home last month,” she reminded Ivy.

                “Yes, but that was a couple of days for your birthday. Next week is spring break.”

                Jillian didn’t want to be reminded. Pam had called yesterday to see if Jillian would be coming home since Nadia had made plans to do so. Paige, who was attending UCLA, had gotten a small part in a play on campus and needed to remain in Los Angeles. Guilt was still riding Jillian over what she and Aidan had done. She hated deceiving her sister about anything. “I explained to Pam that I need to start studying for the MCAT. She understood.”

                “I hate leaving you, but—”

                “But you will,” Jillian said, smiling. “And that’s fine. I know how homesick you get.” That was an understatement. Ivy’s family lived in Oregon. Her parents, both chefs, owned a huge restaurant there. Her two older brothers were chefs as well and assisted her parents. Ivy had decided on a different profession than her parents and siblings, but she loved going home every chance she got to help out.

                “Yes, I will,” Ivy said, returning her smile. “In fact I leave in two days. Sure you’ll be okay?”

                “Yes, I’ll be fine. I’ve got enough to keep me busy since I’m sitting for the MCAT in two months. And I need to start working on my essays.”

                “It’s a bummer you’ll be doing something other than enjoying yourself next week,” Ivy said.

                “It’s okay. Getting into medical school is the most important thing to me right now.”

                A few hours later Jillian sat at the computer desk in her bedroom searching the internet. She had tossed around the idea of joining a study group for the MCAT and there appeared to be several. Normally, she preferred studying solo but for some reason she couldn’t concentrate. She pushed away from the computer and leaned back in her chair knowing the reason.

                Aidan.

                It had been a little over a month since she’d gone home for her birthday, and Aidan had been wrong. She hadn’t woken up in her bed in Wyoming not thinking of him. In fact she thought of him even more. All the time. Thoughts of him had begun interfering with her studies.