Missed Connections: Stepping Out Read online

  She frowned and closed the door behind him. “Um, Ally? That’s her name, right?”

  “Huh? No. Not her. Dickhead. Aaron.”

  “Oh.” She gave him a sympathetic smile and took the bag he handed her. “I’ll put this in the kitchen.”

  He followed her and shared with her the discussion he’d had with Aaron, unable to keep his frustration to himself.

  She listened in silence, interrupting only to hand him a beer. He sipped it as he struggled to put into words his emotional reaction to the whole situation.

  Without breaking eye contact, she stated, “You might have really stepped in it, you know.”

  He glared at her. “Oh?”

  “Your sister, your sister’s fiancé. You said she hasn’t totally booted him yet. The engagement is off, and he’s physically moved out, yeah. But she has to make that final call.”

  “Shit. I know.” He ran a hand through his hair. “But he’s such a putz. She can do so much better. Why the hell do women tolerate this shit?”

  “Why do men?” She took a sip of her own beer, her keen gaze on him.

  “You thought I was treating you like crap, and you still came on to me,” he reminded her, angry and unable to shelve his emotions.

  “Really? As I remember it, that erection under me was all you, honey. Before we kissed.”

  He set his beer down, his emotions churning. “Please. You were hot for it, and you know it.”

  “As hot as Aaron was for Mia, I guess.”

  “That was harsh.”

  “Yeah? Well, you’re being an asshole.”

  He contained a wince, knowing she was right. He shouldn’t have come over until he’d settled down. Then he recalled her recent column comparing men to dogs, and he couldn’t help himself. “Too bad you don’t have a collar and a leash to contain me.”

  She smirked. “Don’t you mean a newspaper? I think I have one nearby. Hey, you can use it to smack Aaron on the nose the next time he hugs your sister while making eyes at some other woman.”

  “That was just bitchy.”

  “Yep, it was.” She glared at him, as if daring him to do something about it.

  Somehow during the conversation, he’d gotten rock-hard. His anger transformed to lust from one breath to the next.

  She stared from his eyes to his lips, her breath coming faster.

  He didn’t ask. He took. Before she could snipe at him again, he pushed her back against the wall next to the refrigerator and kissed her. Hard.

  He didn’t let up, even as she squirmed and twisted in his hold to pull him tighter. Caught up in his emotions, scared of losing his sister, of losing Gwen after being such a jerk, of ruining a happiness he could feel just around the corner, he held on the best way he knew how.

  Reaching between them, he unbuttoned his jeans and pushed them and his underwear down. Her greedy hand wrapped around him, and he hissed his pleasure. “You want it, don’t you?”

  She dragged her head back, and her eyes glittered with anger. “That cock? Yeah. Your attitude, not so much.”

  Then she yanked his head to hers and kissed him until he knew nothing but Gwen. She sucked his tongue with a carnality that ruined any semblance of control he might have had left.

  He pulled her pants and underwear down and shoved a hand between her legs, ecstatic to find her dripping wet. With little effort, he pulled her pants and panties off, then lifted her in his arms and rammed inside her. Fucked her against the wall in a brutal, unending wave of lust.

  Gwen met him thrust for thrust, gripping his waist with her sleek thighs. “Yeah. Give it to me. All of it, you bastard.” She nipped his neck, her teeth leaving a bite, enough of a sting to send his need through the roof.

  “Fuck. You want it. You got it,” he snarled and slammed into her without waiting for her to come.

  She did anyway, crying his name as he shoved one final time and came, his sight going blurry as he let go of everything and basked in the pleasure of her warm, welcoming body.

  He’d never come so hard before, or so violently. At the thought, he froze. She’d been with him every step of the way—angry, horny, desperate for something out of reach… Hadn’t she?

  Ragged nails stroked the back of his neck as she kissed her way up his throat. “Angry sex. Hmm. I think I like it.”

  He sagged against her. “Fuck. I’m sorry, Gwen. I should have—”

  “Worn a condom, but we talked about safe sex already. It was inevitable, I guess.” She laughed against his neck.

  He hugged her tighter, light-headed with relief that she wasn’t upset. “God. You destroy me, you know that? I’m an ass, a total dickhead, and instead of making me leave, you started a bigger fight. You got me so that I wanted nothing more than to fuck you senseless.”

  “Mission accomplished.” She nuzzled him. “Who won?”

  He flinched when her lips moved over a sensitive part of his throat. “Did you bite me?”

  “Yep. Nice mark you have there.” She chuckled, then groaned. “You’re sliding out of me, aren’t you?”

  “Yeah.” He sighed and withdrew, looking for something to wipe her up with.

  She found a towel and cleaned them both, not speaking. Once she’d set her clothes to rights, she met his apology head-on.

  “You had something you were saying?”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Yeah, you are. Sorry for involving yourself in your sister’s mess. Sorry for taking it out on me.”

  “Guilty.” He smiled, more than satisfied at how their evening had panned out.

  Her eyes narrowed. “But not too sorry about coming inside me.”

  “Hell, no. You felt like hot silk. I get hard, thinking about what we did last night. Now, knowing how you feel around me when I’m coming? I’m never going to be flaccid again.”

  She laughed. “Flaccid. Haven’t heard that one in casual conversation in a while. And Mia made fun of me for using quagmire.”

  He pulled her in for a kiss and a hug.

  She drew back and braced a hand on his chest. “Now hold on. I thought you came for dinner.”

  “Actually, I came for dessert, but we had that first.”

  “I knew that was a euphemism.”

  He grinned. “Euphemism is another gold-star word. Let’s see if I can top that one.”

  “Sure thing. Put that in with all the groveling you’re going to do for sexing me up after making me livid.”

  “Quite the brouhaha, eh?”

  She made a face. “Really? Brouhaha? That’s pushing it.”

  “Yeah. I know. But I love that word. Brouhaha. A cacophony of violence and—”

  “Just stop, wordsmith. It’s time to eat. And for screwing me against the wall in my kitchen, you have dish duty.”

  “And more dessert,” he said as she wriggled away from him. “That’s not a euphemism this time. I brought the makings for hot fudge sundaes.”

  She turned to stare at him with wide eyes and brought her hands to her heart. “I think I love you.”

  His chest felt tight as a part of him wanted to take the words seriously. Considering he was already starting to lean away from affection into serious crushing, her loving him would be more than welcome. Reciprocating that love with Gwen wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. He swallowed hard. Far from it.

  “But before you get giddy on me,” she warned, “let’s return to the topic at hand. How you’re going to tell your sister you might have permanently ruined her chances with her baby’s daddy without sending a pregnant woman into hysterics.”

  He swore under his breath.

  “Best case, she loves you for your loyalty and for saying what she couldn’t.”

  “Hell,” he swore again. “Worst case, she takes dickhead back when he whines to her about how mean I was. That, or she says I don’t value her own judgment when it comes to men. Which I don’t.”

  “All that circumspection after hot sex, which frankly scrambled my marbles. I didn’t thi
nk you had it in you.”

  “It was hot, wasn’t it?” he mused, moving closer to plant a kiss on top of her head. “Next time, wear the glasses.”

  Chapter Six

  All in all, Gwen thought their dinner had gone well. Unfortunately, they hadn’t been able to consummate dessert in its sexual and nonsexual forms, because Lisa had called needing an emergency trip to the hospital.

  Two hours later, still waiting to hear how things had gone, Gwen readied to call him when her phone rang.

  “Is Lisa okay?” she blurted before he could speak.

  “She’s fine.” He sighed. “Stressed out but fine. She had a few contractions, but nothing some rest and relaxation won’t cure.”

  He paused, and they both knew what he was thinking.

  “You have to tell her,” she said softly. “Just not tonight.”

  “I know. It’s like you’re reading my mind.”

  “What can I say? Great minds think alike.” He laughed, and she softened, imagining his smile.

  In a low voice, he apologized, “I’m sorry about dessert.”

  “We had that first, remember?”

  “I’m not likely to forget.” He cleared his throat. “But this is not a good time to remind me of that. My body tends to misbehave when I think of you.”

  “Good.” Back at ya. She thought about him too much. Especially for not really knowing him all that long.

  “Witch.” He chuckled. He sounded tired but good. “I still owe you that dessert. I have work to do tomorrow, stuff to catch up on. How about Friday night?”

  “I’m pledged to Trent’s eatery. He’s having a promotional thing to celebrate four years in business.”

  “Oh, right. He told me about that.”

  She thought about it and decided it was okay to like Conlan. Okay to want to spend time with him too. “We could go together.”

  “I like it. I can pick you up, then we can swing back to my place for some sundaes.”

  “So I have to pack a bag.”

  In a lower voice, he said, “You won’t need clothing.”

  She grinned. “I meant a bag of the goodies we never got to eat.” Feeling naughty, she added, “I’m a fan of chocolate. Nothing better than melting it and licking it up.”

  “Cut it out,” he warned. “Jesus, I can’t be walking around with a hard-on. My sister will definitely notice something’s up.”

  “Literally.” She laughed. “Okay, Romeo. Go take care of your sister. I have some prep to do for my spot on TV. Karen filled you in on that, right?”

  He blew out a breath. “Yeah. We each do a separate spot, and in a few weeks, we’ll come together. She wants me to be confrontational. Man’s point of view.”

  “And I’m supposed to defend all women everywhere from you dogs.”

  “Touché.” He gave a low, sexy laugh. “Wear the rose dress. Trust me; you’ll get a lot more viewers. But lose the high hair and zombie makeup.”

  “Thanks for the tip. And here I thought you were just a pretty face. Not a fashion mogul.”

  “Ha-ha. I have to go. Lisa’s back.”

  “Okay.”

  “Wait.”

  She waited for him to say something else. When he didn’t, she prodded, “Waiting…”

  “I’ll miss you. See you soon. Friday at six work?”

  She blinked hard. I’ll miss you too. “Sounds great. See you.”

  Disconnecting and floating back to earth, she cleaned up the house, making sure to leave the kitchen spotless, and took an early night. Mind-blowing sex in the kitchen. She’d definitely left her man-hating phase far behind her. Giggling with exhaustion and flat-out satisfaction, she dreamed about Conlan, for once excited to be with a man again.

  * * * *

  Her brief interview for the local news surprised her by being fun. She’d worn the tight-fitting red rose-print dress and had received more than her share of compliments. A hint of makeup that the television staff upgraded, as well as wearing her hair down straight, made her look more sophisticated, less crazy. Her moderate heels added the right amount of sass. Even Mia had given her stamp of approval.

  After telling the moderator how much better women were than men at handling relationships, and comparing herself as the trainer while assigning Conlan to the role of trainee, she thought she’d sufficiently given the viewers some hints at the conflict sure to rise when she and the Insider’s go-to man for relationship advice came together on their joint project.

  He Said-She Said would have its own daily run in the paper, as well as a huge spread in the Bend Voice. Next week they’d air Conlan’s interview, and the week after, a segment where they both answered questions from viewers on live TV. Together.

  Part of her was unnerved to act in front of tens of thousands of viewers, while the rest of her knew how beneficial the programming would be for her livelihood. More viewers meant more readers for her blog, hence more money in advertising. Ka-ching.

  The segment wrapped up, and after making sure they had everything they needed, she turned to leave. She’d made it to the outer lobby of the studio before she stopped in her tracks. A pregnant woman looking a lot like Conlan stood by the security desk.

  When the woman saw her, she smiled.

  Oh boy. Is she here to talk about Aaron or Conlan? Nervous, though she could always outrun the pregnant woman if trouble drew too close, Gwen pasted a smile on her face and walked toward Lisa.

  “You must be Gwen Wilcox.”

  “I am if you’re happy to see me.”

  Lisa smiled, but underneath the humor, Gwen saw tiredness as well as a sense of recognition when she lingered on the dress.

  “I am. Could we go somewhere and talk, do you think?”

  Gwen nodded. “Sure. We should go somewhere so you can sit down, anyway. You are Lisa, Conlan’s sister, right?”

  Lisa flushed. “I’m sorry. Yes. I’m Lisa Dawson.” She held out a hand, and they shook before leaving the building. “Would you mind coming to my house? I’d like privacy to talk, and you seem to be an impartial observer. My girlfriends are no help, and my brother…” She huffed. “I want to brain him as much as I want to hug him.”

  “I was afraid of that.”

  “Yes, well, he explained about Aaron. I know he didn’t want to upset me, but it’s not like I’m going to get any happier about Aaron cheating on me.”

  “Er, well, your ex and I didn’t do anything. I wasn’t even at that party when he—”

  Lisa held up a hand. “I know. I’m not mad at you at all. It’s just, well, this sounds pitiful.” To Gwen’s horror, Lisa started to cry.

  “Oh, Lisa. Come on.” She helped Lisa to her own car and settled the woman inside.

  “I’m sorry. It’s the baby. Makes me emotional all the time.” Lisa dug in her purse and pulled out a bunch of tissues.

  “Trust me, you have every right to cry. My ex cheated on me with a good friend five months ago, and I bawled like a baby for weeks. Of course, I also had to be talked out of setting his stuff on fire. I ended up sending him to jail instead.”

  Lisa blew her nose, then gave her a watery smile. “You’re someone who’ll understand.”

  Gwen nodded. “Yeah, I will.”

  “I’m okay now. Follow me home, will you?”

  “Sure.” Not like Gwen had anything else pressing. She just hoped Conlan wouldn’t be mad at her for talking to his sister. It wasn’t as if she’d instigated the conversation. Truth to tell, she felt for Lisa and wanted to help her. That, and Lisa was an insight to Conlan that Gwen would be a fool to pass up.

  After Lisa left the car and started her own, Gwen followed her to the west side, just a few short miles from her own house.

  Once inside, she sat while Lisa insisted on making them herbal tea. They sat in the dining room, and Gwen helped herself to a cup of peppermint tea.

  “I confess, Gwen. I wanted to meet you to talk about Aaron and Conlan.” Lisa smiled, a genuine show of pleasure. “I think my brother is h
ead over heels for you.”

  Gwen’s heart raced, and she did her best not to jostle her cup as she took a sip of tea. “Oh?”

  Lisa sighed. “My brother, you, me, we’ve all been a victim of someone else’s lies. It took him half a year to bounce back. From what you said, it took you just as long. But I can’t just ‘bounce back.’” Lisa rubbed her rounded belly. “Not with the baby on the way.”

  “Aaron might be a jerk, but because of him, you have a gift.” Gwen reached across the table to grab Lisa’s hand. “You don’t know me from Adam, but I have to tell you that from what I know of Conlan, you have one firm guy to lean on when the baby comes. He sure loves you.”

  Lisa smiled and looked ready to cry again. “I know. My dad too. He’s on vacation right now, but he’s so sweet. I just hate feeling like a failure.”

  Lisa cried, pitiful sobs that wrenched at Gwen’s heart because they were so soft, so wounded. “Oh, Lisa. It’ll get better. Getting Aaron out of your life will make everything—”

  “That’s just it. I’m not sure what I want. I know he cheated on me months ago. That you aren’t the only craigslist ad he’s posted. He flirts, and he’s fun. I know why women want to be with him.”

  “Um, yeah, about that.” Gwen hated that Lisa thought she’d actually tried to date her fiancé.

  “He hurt me, but he can also be so loving. I sound like a total wimp. Heck, you nearly set your ex’s things on fire. I kicked mine out of the house. But I’m not sure…”

  “Even after what Conlan told you? Lisa, this is none of my business, but if a man clearly can’t commit to me, and he doesn’t want my baby, I’m not staying with him.”

  “What?”

  Gwen frowned. “You know. That Aaron doesn’t want the baby. He’s not ready…? Conlan talked to Aaron the other day. You said he told you.”

  Lisa’s lips pinched.

  Shit.

  “Conlan told me about what happened with you and your cousin, the mix-up at Donton’s. What’s this about my brother meeting with Aaron?”

  “Ah, I don’t think it’s my place to—”

  “Tell me.” Lisa turned their grip around so that she was holding on to Gwen’s hand. The little pregnant lady had fingers as tight as a vise.