Her Best Mistake (Novella) by Donna McDonald Read Free Book Online

either.”
    Finn watched her take a giant gulp of water, continuing to glare at him, which only ratcheted up his arousal another fifty notches or so.
    Frustrated with the conversation and the situation, Lisa found herself just blurting it all out. “Look—after the first few minutes, it wasn’t just the way you smelled. It was the way you acted with me. It was how careful you were, how sweet you were, how you rolled us over in bed looking for condoms. You were every fantasy come true for a short while, and I just wanted to keep on feeling that way for as long as I could. That’s not a damn crime.”
    She dropped her gaze, unable to look at him a single moment more.
    Finn walked to the chair where Lisa sat, decision made long before he got there. He didn’t ask permission, just pulled her all the way up into his arms which had been aching to hold her again. He lifted her hips and guided her legs around him before she could really protest. Then he spun them both, dropping back into the chair with her straddling his lap.
    Lisa started to complain, but his eyes were soft, regretful, and full of heat for her. The finger across her lips to keep her from speaking wasn’t even necessary, but desire chose to arc across even that small touch.
    “Ssssh . . . don’t say anything for a minute,” Finn begged softly, running his thumb along her bottom lip because he just had to stroke her somewhere. “I have to hold you to confess the rest.”
    “The rest?” Lisa squeaked.
    Finn nodded gravely and took a deep breath. “Eric’s my brother and I love him, but he can be a damn pain in the ass. He acts and doesn’t bother with the details. I don’t know how he is so successful when he spreads confusion wherever he goes.”
    Lisa heard love in Finn’s voice, but also an understanding of who Eric really was. She laughed without humor. “I wouldn’t know much about Eric’s strengths or weaknesses. I never got to know him that well.”
    Finn leaned his head back and met her gaze, frowning. “The key at the front desk wasn’t for you. The hotel clerk made a mistake too. Eric was setting me up with a booty call friend. I was supposed to pretend to be him when she got here. He frequently tries that sort of thing when I visit, especially since my divorce. But I swear I have never taken advantage of it. Never . . . but. . . well, shit . . . that’s who I thought you were last night.”
    Lisa blinked, her brain slow to take it in. Booty call? She’d thought Finn was his brother, and Finn thought she’d been a booty call friend of Eric’s?
    Finn sighed. “Look, I begged Eric to call it off. Now I think he probably did because no one came but you. Eric didn’t say anything to me about it today and I didn’t ask. The truth is you crawled into bed with me, put your hands on me, and I came back to life. It had been a damn long for time me too, and after a certain point I didn’t really care who you were either. I just wanted it not to end. You can’t imagine how wonderful it was to know you wanted me.”
    The brutal truth from a brutally honest man, Lisa thought, not completely sure how she felt about Eric having booty call women in the first place. Why the hell had he been dating her then? She turned her face away, unable to look directly at Finn anymore.
    “I’m sorry,” Finn said. As Lisa’s silence stretched on, he squirmed a little under her in the chair. At least she wasn’t bolting for the door. Not that he’d let her leave, but he took her silence as a good sign. It meant she was still thinking about what he had said.
    “Look,” Finn said finally, “I’m telling you the truth because I want you to believe that I didn’t intend anything to happen. When you touched me, I acted because in that moment I wanted you badly. Even today, after knowing what I know, I still want you. Being sorry would mean having to forget it happened, and I don’t want to go back to being dead.”
    “So, let me get this straight . . .