An Unexpected Attraction (Love Unexpected Book 3) by Delaney Diamond Page A

Caribbean Carnival in New York. Every year she flew to Florida for spring break even though she hadn’t been on a college campus since she visited Georgia Tech during senior year in high school to ‘see what the nerds were up to.’ On a regular basis, random men in bars did Jell-O shots off her stomach, and she proudly proclaimed herself the reigning queen of the wet T-shirt contest, due to all the prize money and trophies she’d collected from sea to shining sea.
    Perhaps even worse and much to Brenda’s embarrassment, her mother had been the neighborhood MILF, rumored to have slept with several of the neighbors’ husbands, and regularly flirted with the teenaged boys who practically lived in their house. No surprise, all the boys with raging hormones wanted to hang at the home where the mom flitted around in daisy dukes and fuck-me pumps.
    “I’ve known him long enough,” Samantha said.
    “He’s not even your type. He’s over seventy years old.”
    “One day you’ll be over seventy years old,” her mother shot back.
    “Yes, but I won’t be engaged to a forty-nine-year-old!” Breathe. Calm down. If she didn’t, her mother would clam up and disappear for a while.
    “Forty-year-old,” Samantha corrected.
    “Whatever.” Brenda rolled her eyes at the ridiculous idea that her mother was forty, which would mean she had Brenda at eight.
    “Are you done? I called because I wanted to share my news, but you’re being judgmental.”
    Brenda took a deep breath. “I’m worried about you. You’re moving so fast, and this man—how do I know he’s not going to take advantage of you?”
    Too often her mother let hormones dictate her actions and was no stranger to men with slick conversations and bad intentions. The slickest of them all was Tracey’s, Brenda’s sister, father. Tracey was the product of an extramarital affair Samantha had with a movie producer who’d promised her diamonds and didn’t even deliver a lump of coal.
    “You’re worried about him taking advantage of me, and his kids are worried that I’m taking advantage of him.”
    “You’re not taking advantage of him.” The very idea was ridiculous. Her mother’s tasteless behavior demonstrated a glaring lack of maturity. She was naïve and didn’t have a calculating bone in her body. “How dare they?”
    “They’d probably say the same thing if they heard you,” Samantha pointed out.
    The somber tone of her voice gave Brenda pause. Had her mother only called to share her news, or did she also need a morale boost? If Basil’s family questioned their relationship, she might be stressed and need support.
    “I’m worried about you. But—I can’t tell you what to do. Well, I can tell you, but that doesn’t mean you’ll listen.” Samantha giggled and Brenda smiled at the sound. “Have you picked a date yet?”
    “Not yet, but it’ll probably be early next year.”
    At least they weren’t rushing the wedding. Her shoulders sagged in relief. “I want to meet him. Promise me you won’t get married until I meet him.”
    “I promise.” Brenda heard the smile in her voice. “And I do want you to meet him, Bren. I didn’t expect to fall in love, but he’s everything I’ve been looking for. He makes me feel all warm and gooey inside, like chocolate chip cookies that just came out of the oven.”
    She’d inherited her love of sweets from her mother. It was one of only a few things they had in common, because over the years she’d worked hard to be as unlike her mother as possible. As a young woman, she’d suffered from snide remarks that perhaps the apple didn’t fall far from the tree, that maybe she had the same loose morals her mother did. She’d made an extra effort to stand out and apart from that type of behavior.
    “I’ll come to New York as soon as I can, even if it’s only for the weekend.”
    “Take your time. Maybe I’ll come see you, instead. Around the holidays, maybe? I’m not going to run off and get