Her Best Mistake (Novella)
Her Best Mistake
by
Donna McDonald
* * * * *
Copyright 2012 by Donna McDonald
Cover Art by LFD Designs for Authors
Edited by Mary Yakovets
Edition License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should delete it from your device and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is coincidental.
This book contains content that may not be suitable for young readers 17 and under.
Author’s Note
Her Best Mistake
was as previously published in a collection called
Quickies Volume 1
which has since been removed from active sale so I could offer the stories individually. This version received more editing and has a fun new cover. Hope you enjoy it.
Happy reading. ~ Donna McDonald
Dedication
This story is for my husband, Bruce. I wasn’t looking for a younger man when I found you, but my attraction to you is just like Lisa’s attraction to Finn. Many say that an older woman marrying a younger man is a mistake because the age difference can pull you apart. All that might one day be true for us, but mistake or not, saying yes to you is the the best thing I’ve ever done in my life.
Chapter 1
Finn Roberts tried to stand but quickly found his legs wouldn’t hold him up. Whatever intelligence allowed him to finish two masters and one doctoral degree before the age of thirty obviously did not extend itself to helping him make good decisions when it came to his wicked brother Eric.
“What the hell was in those drinks?” Finn demanded. He grabbed the table to keep from pitching forward and falling on his face. Dizziness engulfed him and his head spun. Thirty-six hours of flying was finally taking its toll. Alcohol had only worsened the jetlag.
Eric laughed, stood, and put an arm around Finn to hold him up. “Look at you, Finn. Two girlie drinks and your ass is all but on the floor. God, I’ve missed you. I wish you’d quit digging in the dirt and come home to Boston.”
“Digging in the dirt?” Still feeling ill, Finn had to work to put the proper amount of outrage into his voice. It was matter of pride to keep up with the insult game about their chosen careers. “Well, at least it’s better than gambling for a living.”
Eric laughed as he guided a grumbling Finn out of the bar.
“What can I say?” Eric admitted. “All those people with money to invest and I just love helping them with it. It keeps me in BMWs and Italian shoes. What are you doing with all those college degrees of yours, pretty boy? T-shirts and sandals don’t exactly scream
success,
Dr. Roberts.”
Finn snorted at Eric’s criticism. “The dig site is in a very remote location. There’s nowhere in the middle of the desert to wear a damn suit. I told you I hadn’t had alcohol in two years, yet you have me doing shots within minutes of my plane landing. How do I let you talk me into acting so insanely? You’ve been doing this to me all our lives. Lord, I think I’m going to be sick. I just hope I hit your expensive Italian shoes when I spew.”
“Don’t you dare. I like these shoes,” Eric said as he laughed harder. But he halted just outside the lounge to let his brother rest. “Okay. Stop walking a minute. Get your breath.”
Finn stopped, closed his eyes, and took a few deep, steadying breaths. When he opened his eyes again, Eric was still there holding him up, eyes full of both love and mischief.
And that’s how he always did it, Finn decided. His brother wore him down with a wicked smile and love in his eyes.
“Just remember that I’m bigger than you. If I fall, I’m taking you with me,” Finn warned.
“Come on, Dr. Roberts. Let’s get your inebriated ass to the room so you can sleep this off. My condo is still a renovation construction zone, so I went all out and booked you a suite here at the Copley under my name. I’m sure it won’t have the ambiance of your desert tent, but it comes with a few perks I think you will appreciate. In the morning, I’ll come by and take you to breakfast if you’re up to it. If not, we’ll make it lunch.”
“Why didn’t you get a double room? Where are you spending the night?” Finn demanded.
“You’re such a worrier, Finn. I have plans to sleep elsewhere,” Eric explained, favoring his serious sibling with a knowing grin. “Besides, there’s only one bed in the suite. I’m not pulling out the sofa, even for you.”
Laughing at Finn’s careful steps as they staggered across the lobby, Eric patted his chest as they stopped at the front desk.
“Hold up, bro,” Eric said to Finn on a laugh. “Hey, Cindy. Got my room ready?”
“Hey yourself, Eric Roberts,” Cindy said with a welcoming smile.
She lifted her gaze from the computer to stare at the pair of handsome males leaning on the check-in counter.
Twins. Now that gave a woman wicked ideas.
Both were tall with reddish-brown hair and mile-wide shoulders. Her interested gaze took them in as she bit back a sigh. She needed her job too badly to hit on hotel guests, which was really, really too bad.
“You never said you were a twin,” Cindy teased, swallowing her disappointment as she made the men a key card.
“Twin? This guy? You’re kidding, right? This is just some drunk I picked up in the hotel bar. But since I’m feeling sorry for him, I’m going to let him sleep it off in my room,” Eric stated, snorting over Finn’s low ‘duplicitous bastard’ comment. No other male he knew could swear as poetically as his Harvard professor brother.
Cindy giggled before sliding a room key through the scanner. She handed it over to Eric, laughing softly. “Here you go.”
“Give me two more and something to write on,” Eric requested.
“Okay,” Cindy said, sliding two more key cards. Really they were only supposed to give out two total, but this was Eric Roberts. He was a regular at the hotel. Not that he was ever lacking for company when he came around, but a girl could always dream.
“Why do you need three keys?” Finn demanded, cringing on the inside.
Oh, shit. Surely he didn’t.
Eric grinned and patted Finn’s chest. “Not now. Thank me later.” He turned back to Cindy behind the desk. “There’s going to be a beautiful brunette walk in here later and ask for a key to my room. I want you to give it to her for me along with this note, okay?”
Finn watched as Eric passed the note he’d written, a key card, and a twenty to Cindy.
“No problem at all,” she promised, winking at his grin.
Finn rolled his eyes as he let Eric resume dragging him across the lobby. Once in the elevator, he leaned back against the wall, hoping it would stop his head from spinning long enough to make his case.
“Eric, tell me you did not fix me up with one of your booty calls. I was jet lagged when I got here, and now I’m drunk too. Even if I was interested—which I am not—I would be of no use to any woman until I acclimate to being back in Boston. My body is still on Egypt time.”
Eric turned and put his hands on Finn’s shoulders. “I love you, Finn, and I know you. You’re still living like a monk out there in that desert you call a job. Alicia is fun and uncomplicated. You’ll like her. She doesn’t mind being the one in charge, so it won’t matter if you’re not a hundred percent.”
“Damn it, Eric—”
“Don’t worry, Professor, I didn’t use your name. Pretend to be me for once and see how a real man lives,” Eric ordered.
“You’re disgusting, and yet I know women fall all over you. I don’t get it. Call and stop her from coming, Eric,” Finn demanded.
Eric sighed dramatically, shaking his head no. The elevator finally stopped at the top floor. He put an arm around Finn again as they exited into the hall.
“Please, Eric,” Finn begged, not caring that he sounded pathetic. “Call off your friend. I really don’t want to deal with one of your fix-ups today. I need to shower and then sleep; otherwise, I’m going to be seriously sick. I’m really, really tired.”
Finn watched Eric studying his face, which he knew had to be showing the wear and tear of his long flight, plus all the work he had done on the plane.
“Okay.” Eric conceded. “Maybe this weekend before you leave, eh?”
Finn sighed but nodded, trying to look as disappointed about not scoring as his brother would expect him to be. He knew Eric well, and knew that he had to at least pretend to go along with next week in order to get out of today.
Chapter 2
When her cell phone battery failed for the hundredth time, Lisa chastised herself for not letting her assistant order her a new one. Trying to make sure she hadn’t missed him, she resorted to just looking in the hotel restaurant and bar, even though she didn’t see Eric Roberts waiting as he promised.
She and Eric had met a few months ago during a conference at the Copley. They had clicked about business matters that day and gone to dinner once since. She hadn’t been surprised when he’d called and invited her to meet him there for a drink today. He’d said something about his brother maybe joining them, but she didn’t remember the details.
Since the Copley was within walking distance of her office, she’d agreed hastily without really thinking about whether it was a good idea or not. The date hadn’t really peaked her interest much, but Eric Roberts was handsome, charming, and mostly good company when he wasn’t distracted with his phone. She had concluded that either his business was demanding, or he was one of those people who had more of an online social life than a face-to-face one. After their one date, she hadn’t learned enough to judge his true character, but she also hadn’t learned anything that made her not care either.
In the last week, she had gone over and over why their date had not exactly left her pining to see him again. She probably should have said no to drinks, but since she was already here at the Copley, she might as well make the best of it and put out an effort to find him. It was the least she could do since her phone wasn’t working. For all she knew, Eric could be trying to reach her right now. She frowned and sighed in frustration.
After ten minutes of checking everywhere she could think to look in the hotel, Lisa decided she’d had enough. On the off chance Eric had had an emergency and left unexpectedly, she went to the front desk to check for any messages for her.