Missed Connections: Stepping Out by Marie Harte Page B

of coffee waiting for her, she responded to comments online. Before she knew it, her day flew by, leaving her elated that she’d accomplished so much in so little time.
    With only an hour to go until Conlan arrived, she hurried to pick up the house. What to have for dinner?
    As she stared into her freezer, another thought hit her. What would he bring for dessert? Had “dessert” been a euphemism for sex, or was he bringing cheesecake?
    Either way, her mouth watered. With a grin, she settled on chicken and prepared to wow him with her mother’s favorite recipe.
    * * * *
    Conlan sat in the upscale diner and stared in dismay at Aaron. He’d had to push off their meeting for a few hours due to some editorial issues with his current novel-in-progress. After dealing with a picky editor, he wasn’t in the best of moods. And having to handle Aaron before meeting with Gwen put a serious damper on his evening plans.
    “It wasn’t my fault, I’m telling you. I think I’m a sex addict.”
    Conlan knew no such thing. He’d once done research on the subject of sex addiction for his column in the paper. The addiction existed. Yet because of assholes like Aaron—who glommed on to a compulsion such as sex addiction to excuse their behavior—many people doubted sex addiction to be real.
    Conlan did his best to be patient with the asshole. “I see. Let me ask you something. Are you an obsessive type of person?”
    Aaron blinked. “Uh, no. I don’t think so.”
    “Have a low self-esteem?”
    Aaron snorted. “Dude, the problem is I’m too sexy for women to handle. They all want me. I can’t say no.”
    “No to self-esteem issues. Do you have sex every day?”
    “Not every day,” Aaron said defensively. “I have a life and a job. I mean, my nights are my own, but if I don’t focus, I can’t function at the firm and—”
    “I rest my case. You’re not an addict, just a man with a high opinion of himself and little care for anyone else. You’re selfish and obviously not ready to settle down.” Conlan had no problem telling Aaron the truth, gratified when the man looked away. “Do Lisa a favor, man. Get out of her life. Let her find someone who’ll love her and treat her right.” To his discomfort, Aaron glanced up at him with glassy eyes.
    “Don’t you get it? I screwed up. I love her so much.”
    “So much that while she’s six months pregnant with your kid, you’re busy trying to hook up on craigslist? Really, Aaron? Come on. Yeah, you screwed up, and you got caught. Problem is, you have a kid on the way, and that’s not going to change. Lisa told me you didn’t want kids this soon.”
    Aaron wiped his eyes, not even trying to be subtle about it. “I know. I’ll love the kid, but I…I don’t think I can do it. Not fatherhood when I’m not even out of my twenties.”
    “So let her go. Quit bugging her to stay when you know you won’t commit. Can you seriously tell me you’ll get back with my sister and not stray? No more looking at other women. No more flirting or fucking strangers. Just Lisa. Forever.” Hearing the relationship described in terms of such finality even made Conlan uneasy about the institution of marriage. But he wanted this guy out of his sister’s life. If Aaron remained close, she’d live in misery. Hormonal, pregnant, and dealing with a fiancé who didn’t love her enough to be faithful, Lisa was already suffering stress she didn’t need.
    “I don’t know if I can let her go, Conlan.” Aaron stared at his untouched plate of food.
    “Yeah? Well, you should have thought of that before you fucked around on her the first time.” Disgusted and aggravated by the idiot, Conlan stood, shoved his chair back, and left.
    Aaron could foot the damn bill. A dry part of himself noted he’d done just what Gwen had done to him a few days ago. At least this time, the right guy was being stiffed.
    Frustrated and worried he’d done more harm than good for interfering, he swung by the