Free Her Best Mistake (Novella) by Donna McDonald

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