She just sat there and said nothing. He figured she was at a loss for words and this would be the best time for him to leave her to her thoughts. “Let’s meet at the same place where we met yesterday in about an hour,” he said, walking off to place his cup in the dishwasher.
Before exiting the kitchen he turned back to her and said, “And just so you know, Jillian, the reason I’m not leaving today to return to Boston has nothing to do with some woman I met at the club last night, but it has everything to do with you.”
* * *
It has everything to do with you.
Not in her wildest dreams had Jillian thought seven little words could have such a huge impact on her. But they did. So much so that an hour later, she was back in the same place she’d been yesterday, waiting on Aidan.
She began pacing. Had she lost her mind? She wasn’t sure what kind of game he was playing but instead of putting her foot down and letting him know she wanted no part of his foolishness, somehow she got caught, hook, line and sinker.
And all because of a kiss.
She would have to admit, it had been more than just a kiss. The fact that he was a gorgeous man, a man she’d had a secret crush on for four years, probably had a lot to do with it. But she’d always been able to separate fact from fiction, reality from fantasy, good from bad. So what was wrong with her now? An association with Aidan would only bring on heartache because not only was she deceiving her sister and brother-in-law, and no doubt the entire Westmoreland family, but she was deceiving herself, as well. Why would she want to become involved with a man known as a womanizer?
But then, she really wasn’t involved with him. He was taking her riding, probably he would try to steal a few kisses and then nothing. Tomorrow he would return to Boston and she would return to Wyoming and it would be business as usual. But she knew for her it wouldn’t be that simple.
She turned when she heard his approach. Their gazes connected and a luscious shiver ran through her body. He rode just like he had yesterday and looked basically the same. But today something was different. Now she knew he had the mouth of a very sensual man. A mouth he definitely knew how to use.
“I was hoping you would be here,” he said, bringing his horse to a stop a few feet from her.
“Did you think I wouldn’t after what you threatened to do?”
“I guess not,” he said, dismounting.
“And you have no remorse?”
He tipped his Stetson back to gaze at her. “I’ve heard confession is good for the soul.”
“And just what would it have accomplished, Aidan?”
“Putting it out there would have cleared your conscience, since it obviously bothers you that someone might discover I’m attracted to you and that you’re attracted to me.”
She started to deny what he’d said about her being attracted to him, but decided not to waste her time. It was true and they both knew it. “A true gentleman never kisses and tells.”
“You’re right. A true gentleman doesn’t kiss and tell. But I don’t like the thought of you cheapening what happened yesterday, either.”
She placed her hands on her hips and leaned in, glaring at him. “How is it cheapening it when the whole thing meant nothing to you anyway?”
* * *
Jillian's question stunned Aidan. For a moment he couldn’t say anything. She had definitely asked a good question, and it was one he wasn’t sure he could answer. The only response he could come up with was that the kisses should not have meant anything to him, but they had. Hell, he had spent the past twenty-four hours thinking about nothing else. And hadn’t he changed his plans so that he could stay another day just to spend more time with her?
She was standing there, glaring at him, with her arms crossed over her chest in a way that placed emphasis on a nice pair of breasts. Full and perfectly shaped. He could just imagine running his hands over them, teasing the nipples before drawing them in his mouth to...
“Well?”
She wanted an explanation and all he wanted to do was erase the distance separating them, take her into his arms and kiss that glare right off her face. Unfortunately, he knew he wouldn’t stop there. Whether she knew it or not, Jillian Novak’s taste only made him want more.
“Let’s ride,” he said, moving toward his horse. Otherwise, he would be tempted to do something he might later regret.
“Ride?” she hissed. “Is that all you’ve got to say?”
He glanced back over at her as he mounted his horse. “For now.”
“None of this makes any sense, Aidan,” she said, mounting her own horse.
She was right about that, he thought. None of it made any sense. Why was she like a magnet pulling him in? And why was he letting her?
They had ridden a few moments side by side in total silence when she finally broke it by asking, “Where are we going?”
“Bane’s Ponderosa.”
She nodded. “Has he built anything on it?”
“No, because legally it’s not his yet. He can’t claim it until he’s twenty-five.”
“Like Bailey. She told me about the age requirement.”
“Yes, like Bailey.”
He wished they could go back to not talking. He needed the silence to figure out what in the hell was happening to him. She must have deciphered that he was not in a talkative mood because she went silent again.
Aidan glanced over at her, admiring how well she handled a horse. He couldn’t help admiring other things, as well. Such as how she looked today in her jeans and western shirt, and how the breasts he had fantasized about earlier moved erotically in rhythm with the horse’s prance.
“There is a building here,” Jillian said, bringing her horse to a stop.
He forced his eyes off her breasts to follow her gaze to the wooden cabin. He brought his horse to a stop, as well. “If you want to call it that, then yes. Bane built it a while back. It became his and Crystal’s secret lovers’ hideaway.”
“Crystal?”
“Yes. Crystal Newsome. Bane’s one and only.”
Jillian nodded. “She’s the reason he had to leave and join the navy, right?”
Aidan shrugged. “I guess you could say that, although I wouldn’t place the blame squarely on Crystal’s shoulders. Bane was as much into Crystal as Crystal was into Bane. They were both sticks of dynamite waiting to explode.”
“Where is she now?”
“Don’t know. I’m not sure if Bane even knows. He never says and I prefer not to ask,” Aidan said, getting off his horse and tying it to the rail in front of the cabin.
He moved to assist her from her horse and braced himself for the onslaught of emotions he knew he would feel when he did so.
“You don’t have to help me down, Aidan. I can manage.”
“I’m sure you can but I’m offering my assistance anyway,” he said, reaching his arms up to her.
For a minute he thought she would refuse his offer, but then she slid into his embrace. And as expected the moment they touched, fire shot through him. He actually felt his erection throb. He didn’t say anything as he stared into her face. How could she arouse him to this degree?
“You can let go of me now, Aidan.”
He blinked, realizing her feet were on the ground yet his arms were still