Her Best Mistake (Novella) Page 3

  “Hey, Finn. You certainly look better today. I came by this morning, but you were still out cold. I left and decided to check back at lunch. I heard the shower when I came through the door a few minutes ago and knew you had finally come back to life.”

  “I do feel better today. Amazing what a good night’s sleep can do for a man,” Finn said. He ran a hand through his damp hair while thinking it hadn’t been just the shower that had revived him.

  Eric jumped up from his seat. “Hey—let’s grab some lunch. If you have some time, I’d love to take you by to meet my new girlfriend. Her office is just a few blocks away.”

  For once, Finn was relieved Eric was so absorbed in his email and text messaging. No embarrassing questions about last night were forthcoming. He had already decided that if Eric didn’t say anything, then he wasn’t going to either.

  “What new girlfriend?” Finn asked as he removed a clean t-shirt from his duffle and pulled it over his head. “I thought you kept everything free and easy, no commitments.”

  “Turning thirty shifted my thinking. We had our first real date last weekend and it went very well. Lisa is a graphic artist who works for several design companies, has her own business, and is somewhere between five to ten years older than me. She’s also just about the nicest woman I have ever met. I’m thinking about marrying her.”

  “After one dinner date you decided to marry the woman? That’s kind of quick, don’t you think?” Finn asked, the question rolling off his tongue in shock. Eric was a take-what-he-wanted type of guy, which more often than not ended up meaning taking advantage of the woman he was dating. His brother definitely wouldn’t marry a woman just to sleep with her, but Finn also hoped Eric wasn’t planning to marry someone he didn’t love in his quest for the perfect business wife.

  Even after his lousy marriage, Finn still hoped to do better next time around.

  “Once you meet Lisa, I think you’ll understand why I’m acting so fast,” Eric assured his skeptical brother, sending a final text before putting the phone in his pocket. “I feel that way even though Lisa didn’t show up for our second date last night, which could have been my fault because I changed our meeting location after I tucked you in. I guess her cell was off because I tried for a couple of hours and couldn’t reach her.”

  Finn snorted in disbelief. “Your new girlfriend stood you up? Doesn’t sound so perfect to me. Why didn’t you sleep at her place last night?”

  “Lisa did not stand me up.” Eric denied.

  “You just said she did,” Finn declared.

  “No, I said Lisa didn’t show up for drinks. That’s how I know something was wrong. I’ve known her for several months. She’s not that kind of person.”

  It didn’t escape Finn’s notice that Eric never revealed where he’d spent the night if not with his perfect girlfriend. His secrecy was not surprising and made him realize that even at thirty his brother hadn’t really changed much.

  Finn watched Eric whip out his phone again and start typing like a fiend. When his brother finally lifted his head from his electronics it was to frown at Finn. “Don’t you have some real clothes?”

  Finn looked down at his t-shirt, jeans, and sandals. “I have a jacket I can throw on over these if you’re offended by my lack of a suit. This is all I have. There’s not much use for dress clothes in the desert. I have a polo and one pair of khakis with me, which I plan to wear for my speaking engagement tomorrow at Harvard. Your fancy girlfriend will just have deal with my lack of fashion sense.”

  Chapter 3

  At Finn’s insistence they ate at a restaurant near the hotel and then walked a few blocks more to the building where Eric’s girlfriend worked. The outside was chrome and steel, but inside the office was all muted blues and grays. Finn thought it would be a very soothing place to work.

  A very polished woman smiled and stood as a barrier between them and the rest of the office. “Hello. Can I help you?”

  “We’re looking for Lisa. Is she in?” Eric asked.

  Finn watched the woman look back and forth between them, obviously not nearly as impressed with their semi-identical twin faces as Cindy the desk clerk at the hotel had been. Her serious demeanor made him grin. Maybe Eric had met his match.

  “Do you have an appointment?” Finn heard the woman ask, directing the impersonal but very polite question to Eric.

  For his part Finn looked at his feet, trying not to laugh at his brother striking out so hard. The mysterious woman must not be much of a girlfriend if the woman’s assistant didn’t even know who Eric was.

  “No—no appointment today, but will you just tell Lisa that Eric is here? I think she’ll want to see me. We have a date this evening,” Eric lied. He smiled at the woman, who huffed but reluctantly went back into the offices somewhere. Eric hoped it was to deliver the message.

  Finn crossed his arms, staring at his brother after the woman left them alone. “You lied.”

  “So? Little white lies are a gift,” Eric defended, grinning when noise from the offices rose. “See? I hear Lisa coming now.”

  There was a clicking of heels on tile and blur of more blue. “Eric, I wasn’t expecting you. . .”

  Lisa’s voice died off as she noticed there were two of him. She looked back and forth between the nearly identical men.

  “Hi, Lisa, I thought I’d come by and introduce you to my brother, Finn.” Eric smiled and waved a hand in Finn’s direction, only slightly annoyed by his brother’s gawking stare.

  Lisa smiled warmly at both men. “Twins, eh?” she asked. She made polite conversation by stating the obvious, while inside she was marveling at how much they looked alike.

  Then she noticed “Finn” was staring at her with open admiration. His gaze traveled from her toes to her hair, and back to her toes again. He was totally checking her out as if his brother wasn’t just standing right next to him and watching. Well how rude, Lisa thought, offering Eric’s twin a tight smile.

  Eric punched his brother in the shoulder, pushing him forward. “Don’t they say hello in Egypt, Dr. Roberts? This is the woman of my dreams. Shake hands with her and pretend to be civilized.”

  Lisa laughed nervously at the teasing sibling rivalry and walked closer, extending her hand to Finn. He stuck out his hand automatically, still staring way too boldly at her, still not really saying anything. What an odd man.

  Her hand slid into his, and then she sniffed. Realization widened her gaze.

  Oh, my god. Oh, no. What have I done?

  “You smell like sandy beaches,” she said in near whisper. Her hand actually quivered as she shook one of the hands that had lifted her hips. Back came the memory of those hands holding her up to him while he gave her a rocking orgasm she was still daydreaming about…

  “I mean, it’s good to meet you . . . uh . . . Finn.”

  Oh, my god. Oh, my god. I slept with the wrong man.

  “Sandy beaches? Must be my shower gel,” Finn said softly. His gaze never left her panicked one as his hand automatically moved hers up and down. That same hand had stoked him to life last night, stroked him with confidence and made him harder than he could recall ever being .

  “Lisa, it’s good to meet. . .” Finn began roughly, then stopped, not sure what else to say—what to do. She looked so shocked.

  Laughing at the awkward social moment, Eric put his hand on Finn’s back to rescue his brother from embarrassing any of them further. He laughed when Lisa and Finn actually jumped away from each other at the same time. Finn nearly knocked him down backing away from the woman.

  “Sorry. My social skills are rusty,” Finn said, excusing his nervousness.

  “I’ll say,” Eric said on a laugh, pushing Finn’s slightly larger body away from his. He looked at Lisa and smiled as he shook his head. “My semi-identical twin can’t hold his liquor or manage to talk to a beautiful woman intelligently, despite all his education. Sometimes I’m not sure he’s really my brother, much less my twin.”

  She b
it her lip as she moved her gaze back and forth between the two men.

  Think, Lisa, she commanded herself.

  She looked at Eric. Nothing. It was just like the dinner date.

  She looked at Finn and moisture gathered just like it had last night. Shocking, but still not good. Definitely not good.

  Get the hell out of here for now, her brain yelled. Lisa decided that was a good idea.

  “Eric, I hate to be rude, but I was in the middle of . . . something. Can I call you later?”

  Her eyes darted to Eric then to Finn, who promptly looked away.

  “Sure,” Eric said while at the same time answering a text on his phone. “Oh, and sorry we missed each other last night.”

  Lisa’s eyes went wide with shock.

  Finn’s heart nearly stopped while he waited to see what Lisa would say.

  “My phone is still not acting right. Besides, something unexpected came up that I had to take care of. . .” she began.

  Then she blushed at how those words could be construed by Finn. She watched him smile wickedly at her confession, boldly doing so without any remorse that she could see. She fought back a sigh, not wanting to have to explain her frustration to Eric.

  “Martha’s been nagging me about getting a new one. I guess I should have listened,” Lisa said.

  Finn pretended to have a sudden interest in Lisa’s shoes as he considered how to handle their mutual revelation. Something came up, she had told his brother. Well, with her help something had certainly come up.

  Her excuse was an honest one and as close to the truth as the sexy-as-hell woman could get without blurting out what had happened. He admired that Lisa could think of anything to say given what they had discovered. In fact, he was fucking speechless to know he’d slept with the woman his brother had just a short while ago talked about wanting to marry.

  He remembered Lisa’s love bite on his backside, her hand stroking him until he’d kissed her deeply and distracted her. He hardened instantly thinking about it again, like he had every time he had thought about it all morning. Finn also knew it was reflected on his face when Lisa flushed another shade darker while holding his gaze. She was fighting hard not to look at his crotch for evidence of his reaction to her words. He smiled again when she fled without further goodbyes.

  As they hit the street outside, Eric looked at Finn with a serious face. “Do you think Lisa is upset at me or something? She was acting really strange. Maybe I should have called before we came by. I’ve never dated anyone as nice as her before. Most women tend to like being surprised at work.”

  Finn watched Eric messing with his cell phone and knew that his brother had totally missed the nuance of what had just happened. He was both glad and mad about it.

  “You’re the expert on women,” Finn said, unable to keep the sarcasm from his tone. “I could never tell what my ex-wife was thinking in or out of bed. I’m pretty sure that’s why Megan divorced me.”

  “No, Megan divorced you because she was into sleeping with lots of other men and you expected fidelity. Fortunately, I love you more than her and chose not to be one of them,” Eric said.

  Finn watched his brother tuck his phone into his pocket for the hundredth time in the last hour. Great, he thought. The one time Eric decided to be honorable had to be with a woman Finn hadn’t cared about during the last couple years of his marriage. He also hadn’t slept with Megan himself after he had found out she was a habitual cheater.

  “I know I usually bed women quickly, but I’m not sleeping with Lisa yet. She doesn’t move that fast. She put that out there for me on the first date. She has boundaries and I respect that about her. We’re still in the dinner and kissing goodnight phase,” Eric explained.

  “Good to see you finally learned to treat a woman respectfully,” Finn observed dryly, feeling like a hypocrite.

  “Well, don’t get crazy on me. I have lots of women I can call for a good time, and I still do that whenever I want. Where do you think I spent last night? It’s just my instincts tell me Lisa is going to be worth waiting for. She may even be the one,” Eric said.

  Finn snorted. Let’s just pile the guilt higher, he thought. So Eric’s perfect girlfriend had gone to the next phase of their relationship with him instead of Eric. The only thing that eased his guilt at all was hearing that while he had been with Lisa last night, Eric had been cheating on the woman he thought was above such things.

  But why had Lisa Dennison climbed into bed with him?

  The only conclusion that made sense was that Eric had no idea who the woman actually was or what she wanted out of a relationship.

  “Lisa is certainly more interesting than your usual female,” Finn said, meaning it sincerely.

  “I’m sure she could even keep up with your brain, Dr. Roberts. But hands off, bro—I met her first,” Eric said on a laugh.

  Finn sighed and kept on walking.

  ***

  Back at the hotel and out of his brother’s company, Finn dropped down on the small sofa in the sitting area of his suite. Looking around at the opulence Eric had generously provided, Finn pondered just how badly he had wronged his brother, even if it had been accidentally. Lisa Dennison had not been Eric’s booty call woman even though he had pretty much treated her like that.

  As he stared at the incredible luxury surrounding him, Finn saw the note left neatly on the desk. Rising to walk over to read it, he shook his head at the feminine handwriting, mostly hidden by the two elegant pens lying across the hotel tablet.

  That she had bothered to leave a note was charming enough, but it was Lisa’s words that had him sighing in real agony. Once again he found himself wishing like hell that things could have been different.

  Sorry to leave while you are sleeping. If I stay, I would just have to wake you up again, and you really seem to need to sleep tonight. Being with you was the best surprise I’ve had in a very long time. You were wonderful in every way. Thank you. ~ Lisa

  Finn re-read the note many times. Then he folded it carefully, tucked it into the side pocket of his duffle bag and zipped it closed.

  The grateful words were his. Lisa might not be, but last night was. Though tired and partially drunk when he’d been with her, Finn still remembered all the important parts. He remembered how aroused she had been and how she had kept holding herself back from rushing, even though she had wanted to rush.

  Then when she had finally given in to the need to rush, she had stopped to wait for him.

  And he remembered exactly how many strokes it had taken to get inside Lisa Dennison all the way, including the last hard slide home she had begged him for.

  It was damn unfair that the most amazing sex of his life was with his brother’s dream girl. Shit. How had it happened? He was not that kind of guy, much less a shitty brother. It made his head hurt something fierce even thinking about what he had done to Eric . . . and to Lisa.

  Kicking off his sandals, Finn stretched out on the sofa, focusing on his breathing and on blanking his mind. He would think about it all later, he decided. The pain in his head immediately eased with that decision, and seconds after he felt himself drifting into sleep again.

  Chapter 4

  Lisa tapped on the door of the suite. When there was no answer, she almost turned to leave but then reminded herself she was not that kind of person. She had made a mistake and now she had to try to make it right.

  Taking the key card from her wallet, the key card that she was happy now she had neglected to turn back in, she slid it through the lock and stepped into the suite.

  You just want to see him again, a voice inside her insisted. You want to see if he’s naked and waiting for you.

  The first thing she saw inside the room was the object of her thoughts. This time he was stretched out on the sofa, feet hanging over it while sound asleep. But unfortunately he was not naked. Lisa sighed with regret as she closed the door softly behind her.

  Then she smelled him again. That damn shower gel or whatever
it was.

  Her toes curled and arousal hit instantly. Moisture gathered and this time her nipples pressed against the rough lace of bra. She looked down at her breasts in disgust.

  Hello, girls. Where the hell have you been hiding for the last few years?

  She dropped silently and dejectedly into a chair across from the man she now realized was Finn Roberts. She watched him sleep while she tried to decide what to do.

  Finn looked like Eric in many ways, but now she could see there were some significant differences. They were semi-identical twins, Eric had said. Finn was a lot taller, probably three inches.

  Then there was the way he stood, the way he spoke, the way he looked at her. The way he was looking at her now.

  Shit. I’m busted.

  Lisa sighed as his curious gaze met her guilty one.

  Maybe, Finn thought, he should be shocked at her boldness in coming into his room uninvited, but instead he was just happy as hell Lisa Dennison had returned. The illogical thought had him smiling.

  “Hi,” Finn said, surprised at both the excitement and the happiness in his voice.

  “Hi,” Lisa replied reluctantly, mad that all the butterflies in her stomach lifted into flight at his smiling hello.

  They stayed like that for a few minutes, looking at each other in shock. Lisa shook her head again, mostly because she was still at a loss for the right words to explain what had happened.

  “So should I apologize?” Finn finally asked, figuring one of them needed to say something.

  “I don’t know. Have you done something you regret?” Lisa asked, trying to make a joke and failing.

  “Well, last night I made love to an incredibly beautiful woman who it turns out is my brother’s girlfriend. I guess I should be sorry for that. But seeing you sitting across from me and wanting you all over again, I can’t seem to work up the proper guilt,” Finn explained.

  Well, that was certainly putting the truth out there, Lisa decided, feeling her heartbeat double. The inner voice inside her was doing a happy dance. She ordered it to calm down and grow up.