Tangled Web (18 page)

Samantha nodded. She decided she didn’t want
the dirty details, at least not of this particular angle--not now,
at any rate. She’d already asked more than she needed to know.
“Okay, Mr. Craig. I mean, Ryan…” She paused to get her bearings.
Rarely did she call clients by their first names--using titles and
last names always carried an air of professionalism and forced the
relationship to be strictly business--which is why she’d always
done it before…she felt it instilled confidence in her clients that
she would represent them well. So why had she broken that barrier
here? She knew full well why. The feminine side of her wanted to
pick this guy up, just like she would have picked up a good-looking
stranger in a bar. She took a deep breath, hoping to contain
herself, and continued. “Why, exactly, are you contesting
paternity?”

“Because I’m sure the baby’s not mine.”

“Is there any possibility?”

Ryan looked up from his hands again and
straight into Samantha’s eyes. “Well, yeah…”

“Okay.” She jotted on the pad, then looked
up. “Why don’t you tell me a little bit about your
relationship?”

He almost grimaced as though he felt
uncomfortable talking about it. “I met Rachel a couple of years ago
through a friend. I’d just gotten divorced six months earlier and
really didn’t feel like dating. But she seemed nice, and…she was
attractive. Two years later, we’re living together, and she’s
talking marriage. But we’ve had a lot of problems--a
lot
of
problems--and I have valid reasons to suspect the baby’s not
mine.”

Samantha couldn’t help but notice that he’d
said, “We’
ve
had a lot of problems,” indicating to her that
it might not be totally over for them. She felt her heart drop into
the pit of her stomach. If he were still involved with the woman
named Rachel, what choice would she have but to cool her heels?

She needed to focus on the interview, not
her out-of-control emotions. She was definitely losing it. The guy
was fresh out of a relationship that followed a divorce and she
still couldn’t contain herself? What was it about this guy? She sat
up a little straighter. “Do you think Ms. Evans would voluntarily
submit to genetic testing?”

Ryan frowned. “I really don’t know.”

Samantha set the pad and pen down and folded
her hands in front of her on the desk, assuming her usual
professional persona. “Well, fortunately, the law is on your side
in this case. If you’d been married, you would be the presumed
father no matter what the circumstances. That would make things a
lot more complicated, time consuming, and costly. But in your case,
we’ll want to do DNA testing to determine if you’re the child’s
father. If you are, then we can also file motions for visitation,
custody, that sort of thing…and she’ll probably also demand child
support. If, on the other hand, you’re
not
the father, then
you’ll know for certain, and you can break off ties completely…if
that’s what you’re wanting to do.”

Ryan nodded his head. “I’ve seen this happen
to other guys before--so I kept expecting her to do this herself
and ask for child support; but she hasn’t, and now the baby’s
already four months old. If the baby’s mine, I want to know. About
how long will this all take?”

“That depends. If Ms. Evans doesn’t
voluntarily agree to testing, we’ll have to present your case to
the court, and they will order the tests to be done. That will drag
it out, but it does happen. If she agrees, this could be over in
about a month.”

Ryan again looked down at his hands,
absorbing the information Samantha had given him. In those moments
of silence, Samantha again found her mind wandering back to the
magnetic sexual attraction she felt for him. She was shocked at
herself--she hadn’t felt this strongly attracted to anyone in years
and definitely had never felt this way about a client. She’d been
interested in plenty of men, but not like this. She almost felt
like she could jump across the table and just start ripping his
clothes off.

Of course, she didn’t. But she wondered why
she felt that way. Was it--perhaps--that he was attracted to her
too and, somewhere in the intuitive parts of her mind, she sensed
it? Did he feel the same way? Was there some mutual feeling between
them that intensified her emotions? Could that be why she could
almost literally
feel
his masculinity across the table…why
she could almost see him take her in his arms, could almost taste
his kiss, feel his warm breath against her neck?

He looked up again into Samantha’s eyes, and
she almost felt guilty, as though she’d been caught with her hand
in the cookie jar. “Okay.” Was she just imagining the look in his
eyes?
Was
the feeling mutual? “How do we start?”

Samantha again had to collect her thoughts,
but her job was second nature to her, so it didn’t take much
effort. “I’ll send a letter to Ms. Evans, asking for her
cooperation. She and her son will have to submit to the testing.”
Ryan arched his eyebrows. “Don’t worry…it’s pretty painless in this
day and age. No blood draws. They gently scrape the inside of the
cheek to obtain some cells. That’s all they need.”

His expression softened. “Good. No sense in
hurting the baby. It’s not his fault.”

Samantha’s heart ached. Another reason to
find this guy attractive--he had a sensitive side. Then she
mentally forced herself to be an attorney rather than a lustful
woman for a moment. She turned around, tapping a few keys on her
computer and printed out a piece of paper. She swiveled back around
in the chair and handed the sheet to Ryan (yes, he was still as
good looking, and she still felt as drawn to him as she had
before--now she knew that for certain). “This is the lab where
you’ll need to go for your test. Call the number there.” She
pointed to the phone number on the page. “They’ll set an
appointment with you to collect your DNA. If you’d rather, I can
have my assistant set the appointment for you, but it might be
easier for you so you can work it around your schedule.” He nodded
his head. “In the meantime, I’ll draft this letter and send it via
certified mail to Ms. Evans.”

He nodded and took a deep breath. “Anything
else?”

Samantha shook her head. “Not for now. I’ll
be in touch when I’ve heard from Ms. Evans.” She stood and extended
her hand. Ryan shook it, standing, and she felt something…that
strong hand belonged on her body. Her lips curled in a slight
smile. “It was nice to meet you, Ryan. Please feel free to call if
you have any questions. You’ve got my card, right?”

“Yeah. Thanks. Did I give you Rachel’s
address?”

“I believe that’s in the preliminary
paperwork you filled out when you first came in. Let me check,
though.” She opened the thin file on her desk--Angela, the office
secretary, had already typed a label and organized a few sheets of
paper inside. Samantha flipped through the pages to see what
information had been collected…but there was no address inside for
his ex-girlfriend. “No, we don’t have it here.”

“Okay. I’ll call you later with that.”

“I can get started on the letter and add the
address when you call.”

She walked him out of her office into the
small lobby area. “Talk with you soon,” she said as his lips
stretched into a faint smile. He nodded his head and walked out the
front door. The “lobby” was really nothing more than a sofa, two
chairs, two end tables, and a large, leafy plant in one corner.
Their office was in the middle of a strip mall, so windows weren’t
plentiful; however, the lobby had two plate glass windows on either
side of the glass door. The sign “Solano and Paulson, Attorneys at
Law” was not visible from the lobby; it was posted on the building
well above the windows, so the view of the paved parking lot was
free and clear. Samantha watched Ryan walk across the lot…his gait
was steady but confident. He was tall, and she was able to tell
when he’d stood next to her--well over six feet (his exact height,
she couldn’t guess)--but he seemed of average height out there with
nothing to gauge it by. She continued watching as he entered a
black truck in the middle of the lot. The truck seemed fairly new.
Quite often, she would peek at what vehicles her clients drove,
assessing if they could afford the bill easily. He’d do just fine,
considering his vehicle wasn’t old and beaten up. But she hadn’t
been watching him for that reason today…her reasons right now were
very personal--she wanted to get just one last look.

She continued watching as his truck drove
off. Then she turned slowly and saw Angela sitting at the desk on
the other end of the tiny lobby. Angela was a pretty
African-American thirty-something woman who basically served as the
right hand of Samantha and her partner Adam. Angela knew every
client by name, the basics of each case, and what needed to be
done. She kept the office running smoothly and made sure it was
well organized, even when the partners couldn’t be trusted to do
so. And she was a hell of a typist…Samantha had once thought fifty
words a minute was a decent typing speed, but Angela had been
clocked at well over one hundred on a good day. Samantha sometimes
teased her, telling her that she could see smoke rising from the
keyboard when Angela was typing. And Samantha knew Angela could
multitask too…she answered the phones, set up the files, set
appointments, greeted clients, kept the file room organized, and
she made a great cup of coffee. And she did it all with a smile on
her face and a pleasant tone in her voice. So, a year ago, when
Angela had turned in her two weeks’ notice (she’d said she wanted
to start a family), Samantha and Adam had given her a hefty raise
and promised her as much maternity leave as she needed, as long as
she stayed. They planned on hiring a temp or two during her
absence, but the thought of losing Angela for good sent chills up
Samantha’s spine. She knew the office would be lost without her.
Yes, they could find another secretary / assistant, but Angela was
so good, she had made herself impossible to replace. She made
certain that Samantha and Adam never missed a court appearance, and
she maintained the air of professionalism in the office by keeping
them on time for appointments and making sure they were always
prepared. She was like a third partner and sometimes like a mother.
Samantha couldn’t envision their office without her.

At this very moment, however, Samantha
wished that Angela had actually been on maternity leave. Angela had
seen everything (just like she always had), and Samantha could feel
her eyes on her. Now Samantha wished she could just fade into the
beige carpet she was standing on. Instead, she smiled at Angela and
started to walk back to her office as though nothing had happened.
But Angela wasn’t going to let her off that easily.

Angela had a devilish grin on her face as
she asked Samantha, “What was
that
all about?”

Samantha tried to put on an innocent face.
“What do you mean?”

“Girl, I wasn’t born yesterday. I saw you
checking him out.” Samantha tried to look shocked but found herself
smiling instead--she’d been caught, and there was no denying it
now. “He
is
cute, isn’t he?”

Samantha shook her head. “You have no
idea.”

Angela laughed. “I might be married, but I’m
not blind.”

Samantha chuckled along with her. “Gotcha.”
Samantha felt herself wanting to talk about what had happened.
“But, you know, it’s more than that. He’s…” She found herself
unable to describe what she felt.

Angela lowered her voice. “Samantha, what
are you thinking? You can’t get involved with a client.”

“I
know
that. But I can look, can’t
I?”

Angela frowned. “You definitely did your
fair share of that.”

Samantha was starting to wonder why Angela
was acting like a boss rather than an employee; but she realized
that even though Angela was a few years younger than she was and
really had no right to speak to Samantha that way considering she
was Samantha’s employee, she only had her best interests at heart.
Angela knew that Samantha couldn’t properly handle Ryan Craig’s
case if she was involved with him. Samantha nodded and smiled. She
definitely didn’t want to hand the case over to Adam, even if she
did find this guy impossibly attractive. This was
her
case.
She planned on saying nothing more; fortunately, she didn’t have
to. At that moment, the women could hear Adam though the closed
door of his office…his voice was raised enough that even if they
had still been talking, they would have paused to hear what he was
saying.

“Goddammit! That is unacceptable, and you
know it!”

Samantha furrowed her eyebrows and asked
Angela, “Anyone in there?”

“No.” She looked down at her phone. “He’s on
line two.”

“Who’s he talking to?”

“DA. Trying to get a plea bargain on the
Newman case.”

Samantha nodded as Adam’s voice drifted back
into the lobby. “If that’s the best you can offer, I’ll see you in
court tomorrow.”

Angela’s lips curled into a slight smile.
“He hung up on her,” she said as the little red light on the phone
extinguished. “I’d say he’s just a little angry.” Her dark brown
eyes twinkled at Samantha, her cheeks rounded in a smile.

Adam stormed out of his office door to the
front desk. His jaw was clenched. His voice was lower but still
held some tension. To Angela he said, “Prep the Newman file. We’ll
be choosing a jury tomorrow.” He turned to walk back to his office
and hesitated, looking at both women. “What’s going on?”

Again, Samantha resumed the innocent look.
She shook her head, feigning ignorance.

Angela wasn’t letting her off the hook,
though. “Samantha’s client just left.”

Adam looked confused. “And?”

Angela’s large smile returned, her white
teeth gleaming. “And he is quite hunky.”