Her Best Mistake (Novella) (8 page)

“Finn,” she whispered in the short space between them, “what’s wrong? Don’t be worried about last night. I’m fine. Swear to god and hope to die.” She crossed her chest with an X, hoping he’d laugh.

He didn’t.

“I’m falling in love with you. No matter how crazy that sounds, it’s still the truth,” he said.

Lisa was stunned by his pronouncement and it showed. “But you barely know me,” she said, trying to sound logical, already building a case against it.

Finn gave her a “don’t-be-stupid” look that Lisa imagined he used on students who couldn’t keep up with his thought processes.

“I don’t want you making love with anyone else. I feel like you’re mine. That means I have to tell my brother that he
can’t
have you, and I don’t know how to do that because Eric has always been the evil twin,” Finn said, rolling to his back and staring up at the ceiling.

Lisa watched him for a moment, considering her words before she spoke.

“You know, you Roberts guys are way too intense. One date and a passionless kiss goodnight, and suddenly Eric thinks I’m the woman of his dreams. Now two days of extremely passionate, mind-blowing, and okay—maybe even life-changing sex and you’re in love with me? That is crazy. Think about what you’re saying. The idea is heart stopping and romantic, but this is probably not love, Finn.”

Lisa ran a hand down his chest and across his stomach. He felt so fine under her hands. The necessary words weren’t as easy to say to this man as she had thought they were going to be. “You know, I may not have your brains, but I know there’s a good chance this is a momentary infatuation that’s going to pass. I’m not that damn naïve about sexual relationships. I dated for a lot of years before I married.”

When Finn retained the mutinous set to his jaw and didn’t answer, it was Lisa’s turn to roll to her back and stare at the ceiling. But then she remembered that this was the intellectual brother, the one that logic should appeal to most.

“Despite the fact that it seems you’ve reduced me to your willing sex slave, I’m normally a practical woman. It’s only been three days since I crawled into bed with you. You’re going back to Egypt in two more. Your feelings will likely change once you go back to your real life, Finn. Any number of things could happen.”

Lisa let her statement trail off wistfully, a part of her hoping that Finn would be willing to pretend with her just a bit longer. She didn’t want to lose him until he left.

But she also didn’t want him ruining his relationship with his brother over her.

“Professor Roberts, no woman would expect you to change your life just because you had the most phenomenal sex of your life with her,” she teased. “I didn’t know I was that kind of woman until I met you.”

Please agree with me
, Lisa silently begged
. Don’t make us have to end this now.

Finn turned to Lisa at last, looking at her open face, her lust filled eyes.

“I spent a lot of time married to a woman who I later learned was never honest with me about her true feelings. As I came to terms with that, I realized that most people keep the truth inside, thinking that not saying it out loud is somehow better than risking the truth. I made myself a promise to be completely honest. It has kept me out of bed with women for a long time. I’ve been told I’m honest to the point of brutal.”

“You’re saying this to try and make me believe you, aren’t you?” Lisa asked.

“Yes,” Finn said baldly. “I wouldn’t tell you if I wasn’t sure. I’m falling in love with you, Lisa Dennison. Plus, I like you and want to get to know you more. Right now, I’m so in lust that I would probably do anything short of killing someone to keep you in bed with me. I have to tell Eric about us because I don’t want to keep feeling like you’re his girlfriend.”

“Finn,” she squeaked. “You barely know me. Eric barely knows me. How could this have happened in three damn days?”

He covered her body with his, his erection pressing against her navel again. She ran her hands down his back while he kissed her neck. It wasn’t rational enough to be explained, so instead he just showed Lisa once again exactly how it was.

Chapter 6

Finn looped his duffle over his shoulder, smiling tightly as the cheerful airline counter attendant handed him the boarding passes for his flight. He turned and looked at his brother, who was putting his phone in his shirt pocket. He couldn’t count the number of times he’d almost told Eric about Lisa, but then in his head he’d hear her pleading for him not to ruin his visit.

“Going to miss you, bro,” Eric said. “Quit sifting sand and come the hell home in three months. Don’t renew that damn contract.”

“Eric, look—we need to talk about something. I’ve been trying to tell you for a couple of days now,” Finn said. He searched Eric’s smirking face for any clue the man might already know.

“Too late for wishing, dude. You should have let me call Alicia back to reschedule when I offered,” Eric declared. “When you come home for good, I’ll set you up again.”

“Fucking hell, Eric . . .” Finn said roughly, running a hand through his hair. “I don’t want you to fix me up. I’m trying to say that I love you, but I . . .”

“Finn—chill. That’s an order,” Eric commanded, mock punching his uber serious brother in the arm. “One day you’re going to find someone great, maybe even as great as Lisa. If things work out, I may need a best man by the time you get home.”

“No. Listen, Eric . . .” Finn began.

“Bro, it’s okay. She didn’t think you were lame. I asked Lisa what she thought of you,” Eric said.

That pronouncement stopped his confession cold. “Asked her . . .? When exactly did you see her last?” Finn demanded.

“Before you came into town, but we’ve talked on the phone a couple of times since you’ve been here. She’s had something going on lately. I’m going to drop by her office today, take some flowers, maybe even lunch. The woman works too hard and doesn’t know how to play at all. I’m going to have a great time teaching her to have fun,” Eric said.

“Lisa may be too old for kids, you know,” Finn said stiffly, trying not to respond to Eric’s comments about trying to charm the woman he wanted. “What do you like about her so much?”

Eric shrugged. “Can’t explain it. She makes me smile when I see her. Ever had a woman like that?”

“No,” Finn said roughly, swiping a hand through his hair again.

He wasn’t going to be able to tell Eric the truth in the last five minutes before he got on the plane and ran away. He was a bullshit coward for saying nothing, but he couldn’t just coldly yank Eric’s dream of Lisa away. He hoped like hell Lisa had more nerve than he did, or she’d end up married to Eric before Finn could come back and stop it from happening.

Resigned, Finn leaned forward and hugged his brother, hoping he wasn’t going to lose the genuine affection between them over this.

“I love you even if you are a womanizing jerk. Be good to Lisa no matter what happens, okay?”

“She said you were too serious and intense for your own good. Still want to be her biggest fan? You need a social life, Dr. Roberts,” Eric said on a laugh.

Finn pulled away from Eric’s friendly embrace. “Tell me about it,” he said sarcastically. “When you see Mom and Dad, tell them I said hi and that I haven’t made up my mind about renewing for another two years. I’ve got a lot to think about.”

Like never seeing Lisa again
.
Like making sure she and Eric got their chance.
Maybe if he just stayed away, he and Lisa would both forget.

He gave Eric a wave and headed through security, knowing that forgetting Lisa wasn’t even a real possibility for him. She might forget him, but he was never going to forget her.

***

Lisa sat at her office desk, staring off into space, thinking about the night before. Finn had refused to hurry, refused to do anything but spend their last hours stroking her to blissful state after blissful state.

And during it, he had kept saying he loved her over and over.

How could his ex-wife have ever cheated on a man that amazing in bed? Never once in her marriage had her ex-husband shown her even a fraction of that kind of dedicated attention. She was going to remember Finn’s slow deliberate lovemaking for the rest of her life, no matter how things ended between them.

Sex with Finn was like horizontal dancing. He hummed in pleasure the whole time, and she cried like some silly teenage girl with no control over her emotions.

The last time, she had sniffed back tears like the romance heroines she liked to read about, repeating his name over and over the whole time he had moved inside her. That kind of man was supposed to be just a fantasy. How the hell was she supposed to get him out of her mind?

Now that amazing man was gone from her life and bed. He was headed back to Egypt and his dig, back to the contract he had an obligation to fulfill. And she was somehow supposed to go back to normal with no more than fond memories of a lusty week of—
damn it
—the best sex she had ever had.

When Martha came in and caught her lost in daydreams for the third time that morning, her assistant put her hands on her hips and shook her head. “The building plans are not going to draw themselves, you know.”

“He’s gone, Martha. Finn left today, and here I sit like an idiot missing him already. I thought you were supposed to get wiser as you got older. I knew he was leaving when I started this,” Lisa said, complaining.

“Getting wiser is a myth. I hate to be bringing you more bad news, but I couldn’t stop him from coming over,” Martha said, watching her boss’s face light up with hope.

“Finn’s coming over?” Lisa asked, wondering if he had changed his mind about going back.

“Not the t-shirt guy, honey. The other one—the suit with the phone,” Martha declared. “He’s on his way over with a picnic lunch surprise for you. He was determined. Short of telling him the truth, there wasn’t much I could say to stop him. ”

“Oh, hell,” Lisa said, putting her face in her hand. “I have to tell Eric that I’m not interested. I stopped Finn from telling him about us, but I really can’t let his pursuit of me go on when I don’t like him that way.”

They heard a chime as the office door opened.

Martha sighed with resignation and headed out to the greeting area.

Moments later Lisa sighed as a smiling Eric walked into her office.

“Surprise,” he said, brandishing the picnic basket. “Finn left for Egypt today, and I’m free for lunch.”

“Hi, Eric. I’m glad you’re here. We need to talk,” Lisa said sadly, sighing again.

Eric narrowed his gaze. She had been expecting him? Strange. “Talk about . . . what exactly?”

“Eric,” Lisa said his name, gazing into his eyes. They were familiar, but they were not Finn’s. She was never going to be able to spend time with Eric again without being reminded of the other version that she liked better.

Setting the picnic basket on the floor, Eric fished out his phone when it rang. Instead of answering, he sent the call to voice mail, and flipped the silence-only switch on the side. “Now you have my full attention. What do you want to talk about?”

“Eric—look . . . you know that night we missed connecting for drinks at the hotel?” Lisa began, waiting until he nodded to continue. “Well the truth is I met someone else that night.”

Eric leaned his elbows on the chair arms and touched his fingers together in contemplative gesture. It was his way of shifting all his attention to a problem. And this was definitely a problem. “Okay. I guess I don’t mind a little competition. Who’s the guy?”

Lisa shook her head. “That’s just it—there’s no competition. He’s pretty much all I can think about now.”

She picked up her drawing pencil, twirled it in her fingers as she considered how much to reveal. There was a good chance she would never see Finn again, no matter how much she missed him. Long distance relationships rarely worked. Did she have to go into it that deeply and tell Eric who it was?

“You and I—we never really connected. Eric, you’re a very nice guy, but not meant for me,” Lisa finally said. “I’m sorry. I should have told you sooner, but I was pre-occupied this week.”

“So what’s so great about this other guy? Is he older than me?” Eric asked, not deterred yet.

“No. No, he’s a younger man too,” Lisa admitted. “But it wasn’t his age that drew me. He’s intense, serious minded. And I . . . it’s probably not going to work out with him either, but I can’t date you when it might. I hope you don’t hate me for ruining your lunch plans. I do appreciate the thought.”

“Is he better looking than me?” Eric demanded, grinning at his own question when she rolled her eyes.
Damn
—he was going to miss her. He had really liked her sense of humor.

“No. The man is not really more handsome than you,” Lisa said easily. “And he’s not as nice or as well off or as personable. But I still like him better. He makes me feel alive again. When you find someone who makes you feel that way, you’ll understand why I’m doing this.”

“Probably not,” Eric said on a laugh. “You’re the perfect woman. I was planning to marry you.”

“Oh God—spare me. That was never going to happen,” Lisa assured him as she snorted over the bold statement. “Trust me, I am far from the perfect woman. The perfect woman would for damn sure not be interested in another man while you’re planning picnic lunches.”

“Well, maybe if you get tired of him, you can give me a call,” Eric suggested. “It’s not like you’re sleeping with him yet, right?”

Lisa said nothing. There was a limit to what she was willing to admit.

Eric frowned. “So, what? You
are
sleeping with him? I thought you didn’t move that fast.”

“That’s a rather personal question given the fact you and I only had a single, casual dinner date that ended in a chaste, unmemorable kiss,” Lisa protested. “You strike me as the kind of man with a booty call list a mile long, so no judgment is allowed. The chemistry just wasn’t happening between us. I suggest we admit it and move on.”

“Seriously—I was planning to marry you,” Eric said again, not willing to admit anything to a woman he wanted a chance with.