Free Unexpected by Lilly Avalon Page A

song?”
    “ Yes.”
    She pulls out cans
of cherry filling from the cupboard and hands them to me along with
the can opener. “I just don't want to get hurt again.”
    “ Sadly,
there's nothing you can do to stop the hurt from happening. You
need to believe in true love. I kissed a lot of frogs before I
found the prince in your father.”
    I breathe out a reluctant sigh and say,
“ I guess that's true.”
    As I'm
opening the cans, she says, “What about Ryan?”
    I stop mid-turn and
look over at her. “What?”
    “ What about
Ryan?” she repeats. She brings pie pans to my side of the counter.
“He's such a sweetie.”
    I roll my eyes.
Leave it to my mom to play matchmaker less than a week after I
break up with my boyfriend. “And you're basing this on what, the
thirty seconds you spent on the phone with him?”
    She makes a face as
she pours the filling into the pie crust. “I talked to him for
longer than that.”
    “ Okay, so how
do you know?”
    “ Well, for
one, he's letting you stay with him until you get back on your
feet. Secondly, he drove all the way out here for you last week
when you were upset.”
    “ He was only
five miles away.”
    She heaves a
heavy sigh. “I'm just saying he’d be much better for you
than Drew was. Asshole.”
    “ Mom!” I peek
out of the kitchen to see where Sasha and Toby are.
    “ What? The
kids are outside. They can't hear us.”
    “ Jesus, Mom.”
I shake my head. “I barely know Ryan.”
    “ Then get to
know him. I can tell that you like him.”
    “ I do
not.”
    “ Pish posh,
you're such a dirty little liar. Look at the pinking in those
cheeks. And that grin you tried to hide when you said his
name.”
    Damnation and a half. I groan, pressing my face into my hands.
    “ Don't feel
bad. It shows on him, too, although I think he's fighting it about
as much as you are.”
    He is? “We
both just got out of a relationship. I can't
rebound with a guy like Ryan—that's just not nice.” Especially
since he's been such a great friend. “And since when are you trying
to set me up with an almost stranger?”
    “Since I noticed that he's the best thing to
ever come in to your life.”
    “ How do you
know?”
    “Mother's intuition.”
    “ Pish posh,”
I say, mocking her.
    She grabs a large
wooden spoon and holds it up at me, narrowing her eyes. “Don't you
dare 'pish posh' mother's intuition.”
    “ Fine.” I
grab the spoon from her. “Are you going to be making any more
cookies?”
    “ I probably
should. Why?”
    I slowly smile.
“Because I have a request.”
     
     

 
     
    Chapter
Ten
    – Ryan –
     
    When I get
home from work, Alina isn't there. I get out my phone and send her
a quick message to see where she's at since I'm going to be making
dinner tonight. She responds right away saying she's on her way. I
turn on the CD player in the kitchen and start prepping for
stir- fry . I have all the steak, onions, tomatoes,
and peppers cut by the time she gets back.
    She comes into the
kitchen. “Sorry, I was at my mom's this afternoon and completely
lost track of time.”
    “ It's no
problem.”
    “ I've got
something for you.”
    When I turn to her,
she's holding out a plastic container filled with cookies. Not just
any cookies, but snickerdoodles. My jaw drops. “Dude! You brought
me cookies?”
    She grins. “Of
course. Mom was baking already, so I convinced her to let me make a
batch of these for you.”
    I reach in and grab
one, then take a big bite. I moan and close my eyes. “You made
these?” She nods. I finish eating the cookie in one more bite and
reach for another.
    She holds up a
finger. “Don't ruin your dinner.”
    “ Then don't
make me delicious cookies and tempt me before I finish making it.”
I reach over and pull her in for a side hug. “Thank you for the
cookies.”
    “ It was my
pleasure.”
    I take the cut-up
meat and vegetables on the cutting board and place everything in
the frying pan. “Aside from baking, what else did you