An Unexpected Attraction (Love Unexpected Book 3) Read Free

she’d never be able to finish. Her heart beat as fast as when she’d danced in front of the stage. Perhaps she’d had way more to drink than she realized. “Words can’t express how much you all mean to me.”
    “Awww,” Sophie said.
    Brenda placed a finger over her lips. “Shhh. This is my moment.” There were soft chuckles around the table. “Seriously, though, here’s to good friends. I love you all!”
    “Here, here!” her friends yelled.
    They clinked their glasses together again, and she took a deep swallow from hers.
    “Now sit your butt down.” Sophie pulled her back onto the seat and into a hug. “Love you, too,” she whispered. Charlie’s death had made the word love flow freely all day long.
    The waitress arrived at the table, a pretty redhead named Gina. “Can I get you anything else?” she asked. Her gaze encompassed the entire group before settling on Jay.
    “Unless you’re going to give me your number, I’m fine,” he said with a playful grin. Often the charmer and flirt, his behavior came as no surprise.
    Gina blushed. “Would any of you like more to drink? More to eat?”
    It was obvious she was interested. She didn’t take her eyes off of him. With his dark Italian looks and short beard, he exuded masculinity. He could have her in the cooler in the back if he tried hard enough. Brenda stared down into her almost empty glass.
    “Just the check,” Jay said. “I’m picking up the tab for this bunch of hooligans. Please thank the management for not kicking us out.”
    “Awww, isn’t he generous?” Nick hooked his arm around Jay’s neck.
    “I’ll pay for everybody but this guy,” Jay added, pointing at his friend with his thumb.
    Sophie tossed her cloth napkin across the table and it landed on his empty plate. “You’re terrible,” she said. Her eyes flirted with him, and Jay grinned but didn’t offer further encouragement.
    Sophie didn’t lack male attention, but she remained in an on-again-off-again relationship with a man who was no good for her, which tended to limit her dating options. Brenda had never suspected Sophie might be interested in Jay, but the moment that passed between them suggested otherwise. Unease lodged in her chest and warmed the spot right beneath her sternum, making her toss back the watery remnants of the Long Island Iced Tea.
    Gina bussed the table and Jay took the black leather checkbook she handed him. He looked inside and immediately glanced up in Gina’s direction, but she had already walked away with their empty plates.A slow, stealthy smile spread across his face. He looked very much like someone who’d received exactly what he wanted. No doubt Gina had supplied her phone number. Surprise, surprise.
    Jay’s gaze collided with Brenda’s and she froze. She hadn’t meant to stare, but that’s exactly what she’d done and quickly looked away, albeit too late.
    She’d grown accustomed to seeing women react to Jay. They were often drawn to him.
    He wasn’t overly tall, topping out a little over six feet, but when he entered a room he called attention to himself without calling attention to himself. He really didn’t do anything, except be…Jay. Casually sexy in the way that some men are. Under the right circumstances his smile turned impish, which when paired with his other physical attributes, made him spectacular to look at. Most women could easily be seduced by the slightest bit of interest from a man like him.
    Most .
    If things were different…
    Brenda dismissed her musing as that of someone who’d clearly had too much to drink. She shouldn’t hypothesize about what could have been. No point in having her thoughts go in that direction.
    Years ago that bridge had been crossed, burned, and charred to a brittle crisp.

Chapter Two
    Jay stepped onto the sidewalk with Nick and the women, pulling his jacket closed to protect against the cool, early April air. Cars drove by on the street, and there was a little bit of foot traffic