Be careful about “baiting questions” that women may ask you. Females have crafty tactics of their own and might slip in an innocent-sounding question in an attempt to expose a chink in your armor. If you give the wrong answer, it may extinguish any interest she has in you. A common baiting question women ask is, “So how come you don’t have a girlfriend?” This is never an innocent question.

There’s an intention behind it: she’s trying to gauge whether you’re a “player” who bounces from one woman to the next. Or, maybe you’ve got some defect that turns women off.

Answering in a cocky way is the wrong move. Don’t say something like “I like to play the field,” or “I’ve date a lot of different girls, I’m just not ready to settle down.” Instead, answer in a way that separates you from the herd. Tell her, “I’m not in a hurry a serious relationship isn’t something to rush into. When the right girl comes along, I’ll be ready to make a commitment.”

This is the honest truth: as a Mack, you’re not in a rush to make anything happen, but you’re prepared to capitalize when opportunities arise. Now that you’ve answered her question, move to another topic. Don’t let her start asking you specifics about your exes. (Another question they always seem to ask: “How long was your longest relationship?”)

You want to keep her focused on the present moment,and the possibilities that are blossoming between you and her.  Another baiting question we’ve been hit with involves the ménage a trois. Every guy has fantasized, or at least wondered, about getting it on with two women at the same time. There is a small percentage of women who are open to this idea, but most are definitely not down with it. They may think you’re a dog for even admitting that it turns you on.

If a girl asks you what you think about two-on-ones, no matter how sexually liberated she may seem, don’t take the bait. You run the risk of planting a poisonous seed in her mind, that you’re a typical horndog who’s more interested in casual, freaky sex than committed relationships.

Tell her, “I guess everyone fantasizes about it at some point, but I’d much rather be in a one-on-one relationship with someone that I can trust.” Another one they might ask is the cheating question: “Have you ever heated on one of your girlfriends?” A lot of guys have fooled around during a relationship at least once in their life, and some are under the impression that it’s OK to admit this. They may think they score points by being honest, or that it sends the message that they’re a virile stud.

Again, don’t take the bait. It’s never a good idea to talk about your past sexual conquests, whether they involved cheating or not. Shut this baiting question down by talking about the future instead: “It’s not my style. When I’m in a relationship I expect the other person to be loyal and committed, and I hold myself to the same standard.”

My buddy The Negotiator once deflected the cheating question with a clever little story. He told the girl…

“In the Mafia, it’s traditional for guys to have their wives, and their ‘goomahs’ y’know, their mistresses. But I heard a story once about a Mafia boss who looked down on the guys in his family who had goomahs. He actually had a hard time trusting them.

His attitude was, ‘How can you be loyal to me, if you can’t be true to the one person in the world you vowed to be faithful to?”

Instead of taking the girl’s bait, he flipped it around and established how much he valued loyalty. If the girl was suspicious before about him being a “player,” she now saw him in a new light.