Carly Phillips - Summer Lovin’

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."

RYAN 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.