Free Her Best Mistake (Novella) by Donna McDonald Page A

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