Summer Lovin (3 page)

He shrugged. “Okay, I'll play. Where'd I get my shoes?”

“You got 'em on your feet,” Sam said and burst into belly-aching laughter at her own joke.

He didn't catch on immediately and when he did, he realized Zoe was laughing along with Sam.

Zoe shook her head and tried to control herself. Sam's old, tired joke wasn't what had her laughing but poor Ryan Baldwin and his blank, lost stare. She wondered if it was painful to be that uptight and straitlaced. Oh, well. As Sam's new social worker, a couple of days with the Costas clan would cure him in no time.

She had to admit that his sandy-blond hair and brown eyes made for a darn cute package, despite that he was a social worker and by definition a stickler for rules. She reminded herself that he was a man who would no doubt make her feel strangled and constrained way more than even the safe house had done. Still, she found herself tempted to test the waters and wondered how he'd react if she reached out and pinched his—

“He's got a stick up his butt—” Sam said in a stage whisper.

Ryan's eyes opened in shock.

Zoe refrained from laughing and instead leveled Sam with a stern glare. Thankfully Sam got the message and gazed downward, appearing contrite for Ryan's sake. Zoe knew she was probably anything but.

“Sorry,” she muttered.

“That's okay,” Ryan said.

“I've got to go talk to my friend Stacey,” Sam said.

Zoe nodded. “That's a good idea.”

Before leaving, Sam glanced at Ryan. “Nice meeting you, Mr. Baldwin. You're gonna let me stay with Elena and Nicholas, right?”

Zoe's heart clenched, not just at Sam's plea but at her sudden polite tone. That wasn't who Sam was and Zoe hated the anxiety and insecurity Sam was forced to live with every single day.

“Go have fun. Nobody's making any decisions today.” Zoe ruffled the girl's long hair, and after Sam had sped away, she turned to Ryan.

“If there's anything you can do to speed this process along, it'll be better for everyone, believe me. In the best interest of the child,” she said, parroting Katherine and everyone else in the government bureaucracy. “I mean since that's what you're all about, and we are what Sam wants…” Zoe trailed off as Ryan's expression shut down.

Apparently she'd crossed the line. The Costas clan tended to do that too often. Pleasing the social worker and worrying about conforming to someone else's standards was the one thing that had the entire family on edge. They were an out-of-the-box sort of group and nothing, not even adopting a child, could change that.

Thankfully Social Services had agreed to the foster placement and the past few months had been uneventful. Now if she could just get her mother to stall Sam's birthday present until Ryan Baldwin left, she'd feel much better.

“I'm sorry. No more pushing. I promise. So, how about a tour of the house?” she asked with forced cheer, recalling that had been one of the first things the other social worker had requested.

He seemed to relax and even crack a smile. “Has anyone ever told you you're just like your mother?”

She cocked her head to one side. “If you mean because I'm pushy, tend to ramble, and usually get what I want, then yeah, people do think my mother and I are alike.”

“I was thinking that you're both like a tornado of sorts.” The corners of his eyes crinkled. “But I have to admit, you two can be somewhat refreshing.”

“That's one way of putting it, and coming from someone more…How shall I put this delicately? Coming from someone more stuffy than I am, I think I'll even consider it a compliment.”

He laughed at that, two dimples suddenly becoming evident. With his guard down and his smile genuine and unstrained, Zoe was struck again by how handsome he truly was. It was strange that she'd notice him at all, since a “suit” was the last kind of guy she'd normally be attracted to, but what the heck. The rush of adrenaline proved she wasn't dead, as her mother accused her of being.

“I'd like to take that tour now,” he said, changing the subject back to business.

“Come.” Zoe grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the house.

She kept things light as she pointed out the spa and how it was completely separate from the house. Entrances on opposite sides of the property meant nobody could get in or out of the house from the spa. She showed him all the safety precautions they'd taken and couldn't help but show her pride in the business her family had made a success in such a short time.

He asked questions and she answered. He even laughed a time or two at her jokes. And all the while, she couldn't shake the heat his touch generated or the sense that his big hand had imprinted itself on her smaller one. She hadn't liked the other social worker's unexpected visits but she could get used to this guy hanging around.

They ended their tour in the kitchen and Zoe hopped up to sit on the counter. “So what do you think?”

He nodded in what seemed reluctant approval. “It's a different setup but you've definitely made sure the family is separate and protected from spa guests. The cowbell was a unique touch.”

She rolled her eyes. It figured. Zoe had pointed out their high-tech protection, the video cameras and the alarm system and he'd focused on Elena's personal method of insuring nobody entered the private part of the house unnoticed—a cowbell hanging over the door, virtually impossible to move or disable. She'd used the same technique on Zoe and Ari when they were younger to make sure neither sneaked out of the house or came in too late.

Zoe shrugged. “What can I say? Mom and Dad have got their own ways. But they did their job as parents and did it well.”

He strode closer. So close she smelled his rich, musky scent and a warm, tingling feeling arose in her chest.

“Your family is certainly different,” he said.

“I take it you're from a more conservative bunch?” She laughed and yanked on his tie playfully before remembering who he was. The social worker who would determine Sam's fate.

She started to pull back but he touched her hand, stilling her movement, and his eyes locked on hers. The air around them grew heavy, pulsing with anticipatory awareness. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been this drawn to a man on first meeting.

Zoe had a healthy sex life but not a
love
life. That description she reserved for soul mates, people like her parents, or Quinn and Ari. In fact, she reserved the description for many people, really, with the exception of herself. She didn't know how people made a lifetime commitment and kept it. She hadn't even been able to accomplish that with a job.

She understood these things about herself and though she accepted them, she was taking steps to lead a more adult life. Her sister's marriage had made her realize it was time to make changes. Zoe supposed it was a good thing that love had never happened for her. One less decision she'd had to make and stick with, she thought wryly.

And since she was approaching her thirtieth birthday in a matter of days, she had long since stopped expecting love at all. Besides, she enjoyed her freedom too much to give it all up for one man.

She glanced at the good-looking man before her and realized that her sex life had been status quo for so long even this overwhelming chemistry came as a surprise. As a woman who liked excitement, she welcomed the rush of adrenaline in her veins and she had no trouble acting on their mutual attraction.

As long as she didn't jeopardize Sam's future in the process. Thankfully, the ringing of the telephone interrupted their prolonged silence and she reached for the phone. “Hello.”

“Elena?” a voice asked.

“No, this is Zoe.”

She gave Ryan an apologetic look and held up one finger, asking him to wait a minute while she took the call.

“It's Katherine Farr, Samantha's social worker,” the voice on the other end of the phone said. “I just wanted to apologize that neither myself nor my colleague could make it to Sam's party today.”

Zoe narrowed her gaze. “But…”

“I know you're disappointed and so is Samantha, but it can't be helped. My mother needs me for another few weeks and my colleagues will be tied up with urgent cases. I hope you understand.”

“Sort of.” Zoe shot a covert glance at Ryan beneath her lashes.

“It's a compliment and a testament to your family's skills with Samantha. She's come such a long way. I know she's safe and in good hands, so I have no problem with the final evaluation being postponed for a few weeks until I'm back.”

“Okay.” She didn't want to give anything away to her companion who stood with is back to her, staring at the photographs on the refrigerator.

“My colleagues will need to focus on the more problematic cases in order to cover my absence,” Katherine explained.

“I understand. And I hope things work out for your mother.”

“Thank you, dear. You'll relay the message to your parents?”

“I certainly will.” Zoe hung up the phone and focused on the stranger in her kitchen.

A man who'd stirred something inside her that had been dormant for too long. A man who obviously had an agenda.

She walked up behind him and tugged on his arm.

“Is this you and Sam?” He gestured to the picture of Zoe, Ari and Sam with orange spray-on tans on their faces and arms, smiling for the camera.

“We were recreating an old childhood memory,” she said laughing, before she caught herself. “Never mind that.”

He narrowed his gaze. “What is it? What's wrong?”

“
You're
wrong, Ryan Baldwin, if that's even your name. Since I just spoke to Sam's social worker on the phone and I know she couldn't get someone to replace her, I'd like to know just who the hell you are. And what the hell you're doing snooping around my family and my house.”

R
YAN REALIZED THE MOMENT
his cover had been blown and his stomach churned with a combination of relief that he could end his deception and anticipation that a confrontation was sure to follow. He'd been preparing himself the entire car ride from Boston and he was ready now.

He glanced at Zoe. Gone was the solicitous woman who'd sought to charm and accommodate him. Instead he looked into deep green eyes, which only minutes ago had flickered with warmth and interest, and that now held cold contempt.

“Who the hell are you?” Zoe asked again.

Ryan welcomed the intervention of fate. “I'm Sam's uncle.”

“Sam has no family.” She folded her arms across her chest defensively. “Care to cough up another lie?”

“It's the truth. My sister, Faith, was Sam's mother.”

“Sam's mother's name was Sara.”

He reached into his pocket for the papers he'd received from the P.I. and handed them over.

Zoe glanced through the sheets, which acknowledged her words and verified his, and paled. “I'm assuming these are copies?”

He nodded. “Feel free to keep them.”

She rolled them tight, hanging on to the documents with one hand. “Even if you're telling the truth, wouldn't you say you took your sweet time coming around?”

“Faith ran away from home when she was seventeen. I was only thirteen. She got involved with drugs and changed her name so many times, her trail grew cold. But make no mistake, Sam is my niece.”

“And?” She spat out the word.

“And I want to bring her home.”

“What if that isn't what Sam wants? After years of being shuffled from foster home to foster home, she finally has a family. Here. With us.”

If Ryan had admired this woman before his revelation, her spunk fired his blood now. Even their differences didn't stop the desire racing through his veins.

“Do you really think you can show up, wave some documents that proclaim you're a blood relative and whisk her away? Think again. You're years too late to do Sam one bit of good.”

He swallowed hard, because Zoe had voiced his biggest fear. But that didn't mean he'd back down. He leaned closer, getting into her personal space. “No court's going to hold it against me because I was too young to track Sam down sooner.”

Court? Zoe grew dizzy, feeling the blood rush out of her head. Her family might pass inspection with a social worker. But if a judge was faced with choosing between this man, who had blood ties to Sam and who seemed impeccably normal, or her wacky family, the Costas clan didn't stand a chance.

She understood this just as she understood the ramifications of Ryan Baldwin's claim. A claim she intended to check out ASAP. In the meantime, while she got Quinn and Connor digging into the man's past and present, she needed to buy her and her family some time.

No way could he reveal the truth to Sam or Social Services just yet. “Please don't tell me you think you can snap your fingers and all will go your way,” she said with sugared sweetness.

He shrugged, but there was a definite arrogance to him she hadn't noticed earlier. Hadn't wanted to notice, she was forced to admit. She'd been taken in by his good looks and suckered by his claim that he was a public servant.

Now that she allowed her training to kick in and looked more closely, she realized his European suit was more expensive than any social worker could afford and his voice held a trace of a fine New England accent. Which meant he not only had the intent to fight her family in court, should it come to that, but probably the financial means, as well.

The Costas family didn't.

She gathered her wits and her defenses and pulled on every shred of self-confidence she could muster to go toe-to-toe with him. Her family and Sam's emotional well-being were at stake. “Okay, let's agree on a few points, shall we?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Go on.”

“Right now my family has custody and controls access to your niece. You need that access as well as a smooth introduction. Are we on the same page so far?”

“So far, yes.” He studied her with those astute brown eyes.

“I'm also sure you don't think we're just going to hand Sam over to a complete stranger, blood relation or not. We're going to want to know what kind of home you plan to provide for her. Fair?”

He inclined his head, but didn't answer.

She studied his expression closely. A muscle ticked in his jaw, telling her that something she'd just said had put him on edge.

She intended to push him a little further. “Are you married?”

“No.”

“Engaged?”

He shook his head.

“So you're a single guy then. Interesting,” she said, referring to more than his ability to raise a teenage girl. “You mentioned that your sister ran away when you were young but you never mentioned other family. Are your parents still alive?”

“Yes.” His expression grew more shuttered.

She narrowed her gaze. “That's it? Yes? Do they know you found your sister's child?”

“Yes.” His jaw tightened, almost imperceptibly.

“Yet they aren't here with you.”

He paused, then said, “We thought it best I come down and check out the situation first.” The tick in his jaw became more pronounced.

She made a mental note to have Quinn look deeply into their family history. If he had been thirteen when his sister ran away, what had his parents done about finding Faith
before
the trail had grown cold? Ryan Baldwin's silence spoke louder than any words could and perhaps whatever was behind that reticence would provide her with the leverage she needed to stall his revelation to Sam.

She sidled up beside him, this time more aware of his expensive cologne, a scent that under other circumstances she could definitely get used to. “I'd like to propose a deal. A quid pro quo of sorts.”

“Again, I'm listening.”

“You just can't spring this on my family or Sam. She's fragile and needs to get to know you first.”

He nodded in understanding, his expression softening. “That sounds fair. What are you proposing?”

“Katherine, the social worker, has put off the final evaluation a few weeks while she's away on a family emergency. They're so overburdened they can't spare anyone for this case. I suggest you hold off telling Social Services or Sam who you claim to be.”

“Who I
am.
”

She shook her head, refusing to accept him at his word just yet. “Whatever. What I'm suggesting is that you continue your charade. Pretend to be a social worker and come by as often as you like during these last few weeks of the evaluation period. You'll get to know Sam and see her in her element here.”

He frowned. “That sounds awfully one-sided. What do I get out of this?”

“My cooperation in getting to know Sam. If you dump this news on her, I can promise you every defensive mechanism she has will surface and your chances of winning her over will be slim. She considers me her sister. She trusts my judgment. Like it or not, you need me, Mr. Baldwin. So do we have a deal?” She held out her hand.

He hesitated for a second, before grasping her hand. If Zoe thought the first sparks between them were a fluke, she immediately discovered she'd been mistaken. The man might have lied from their first meeting, might be the biggest threat to the Costas family since her father's bout with cancer, but somehow the attraction was there, strong and undeniable.

She gathered her composure—which wasn't easy when she
liked
the feelings he evoked—and yanked her hand back. “One more thing.”

“What's that?” he asked, flexing his fingers as if he needed to shake himself free of her touch.

She understood and had to force herself to focus on their predicament. “When Sam gets her birthday gift, you will grin and laugh and look the other way.”

“What's the gift?” he asked warily.

“You'll see.” Despite herself, she couldn't help but grin.

 

R
YAN TRIED TO MAKE HIMSELF
comfortable at the party. With the truth out in the open between himself and Zoe, he felt as if he'd just dodged a bullet and also knew for a fact that he'd bought himself some time at the Costas home. As tough as it was to admit, Zoe had raised many good points, the most important of which was that he needed her. Zoe's parents were Sam's guardians, which put them at a legal advantage. Emotionally, they also had the upper hand since they
knew
Sam and understood how she would react to his sudden appearance in her life. He'd foolishly thought he'd be rescuing her from hell and she'd greet him with open arms. Zoe made him realize Sam might well resent him for all the years she'd suffered in foster care, and now that he thought about it, such a reaction would be understandable.

No fourteen-year-old would be able to rationalize the situation enough to forgive and forget immediately, no matter how much he wished otherwise. Still, he tried to play devil's advocate, to think through all possibilities. Though there was a chance that Zoe was trying to discourage him with her warnings about Sam's defense mechanisms springing into place, he decided it was unlikely Zoe would lie about something so important.

As an attorney, he'd learned to read people and trust his instincts, and Zoe Costas, for all her family's eccentricity, seemed to be honest and upfront. Most important, it was obvious that she loved Sam—enough not to put her emotions at risk. He felt the same way and that's why he'd agreed not to rush into revealing who he was.

An hour after she'd uncovered his real identity, the last of the guests had left the party and only the family remained gathered in the family room. They were a large group, Elena and her husband Nicholas; Zoe's twin, Ari, and her husband, ex-cop Quinn Donovan; Quinn's best friend, Connor Brennan, and his fiancée, Maria; Nicholas's sister, Kassie, who owned a local diner called Paradeisos; a man named Gus; Elena's sister, Dee, and her husband, John…the list went on and on.

All except for the monkey, who thankfully had departed with her trainer, but not before dropping her pants and mooning the crowd one last time. Sam had slipped the monkey five dollars, tucking the folded bill into the white-lace panties beneath the primate's dress. Spank had changed clothing before leaving, much as a bride would prior to her departure with her groom.

Ryan had been speechless. He still couldn't believe this day, which had been filled with one shock after another. Had his family seen the spectacle of that monkey, his mother would have passed out on the spot while his father would have called for Hilton, the butler, to show the animal to the door. The only one in his family Ryan could picture enjoying the animal was Faith, and she was long gone. Only her daughter remained, her legacy and a testament to her free spirit.

With the huge family surrounding him, he sensed the surprises weren't over yet. There weren't enough chairs to hold all the relatives, but no one seemed to mind, and though he tried to give any one of the women his seat, they'd refused. He was the
guest,
they'd informed him. He knew they meant
the social worker
and all were on their best behavior.

Only Sam seemed oblivious to his presence as she bounced from person to person, begging for clues about her birthday gift. Nobody was speaking on the subject, leaving both Sam and Ryan in the dark.

Without warning, Ryan heard a drumroll and turned to see Nicholas playing a small set of drums, deliberately building anticipation.

“Come on, I want to see!” Sam said, her enthusiasm tangible and contagious.

Even his stomach churned with unfamiliar excitement. Growing up, the most exciting birthday gift his parents had ever given him was a savings bond. At least he'd had Uncle Russ, his father's brother, for the kind of fun gifts a kid needed like a bike or the latest gadget.

This large gathering and the love in the room was as alien to him as the young girl who was his niece. Not for the first time, he realized he had his work cut out for him when it came to winning her trust.

He glanced at Zoe, who sat on the arm of the sofa beside him. By the way she glared at him when she sensed no one else was looking, she obviously hadn't forgiven him for his lie. Despite the fact that they were adversaries, she hadn't thrown him out, at least not yet. Instead he sensed that for the time being, they were on the same side, though solely for Sam's benefit.

He owed her for that and as he met her gaze, an odd sense of gratitude filled him. Who was he kidding? When he looked at the raven-haired beauty, a hell of a lot more than gratitude washed over him.

“Introducing Sam's birthday gift and the newest member of the family!” Elena said, interrupting his thoughts as she walked into the room, holding a leash in one hand.

“Ooh, what is it?” Sam asked.

Ryan tried to see, but she darted in front of him, blocking his view. He heard a loud squeal that could have come from Sam, but his gut instinct told him the sound was from an animal.