A Chance with You

“That sounds reasonable enough, Chad, but what if I am the girl’s father?” Spencer inquired. “What then?”

“Then you’d better be ready to pay up. Raina Martin is requesting child support and is open to visitation rights.”

“Visitation rights?” Spencer said. “If I’m the father, why would I leave my child to be raised by someone other than me?”

“You’re right. The courts do prefer to leave a child with the birth parents, but you didn’t even know she existed. And listen, at this point, this is all purely conjecture. You need to take the test.”

“I’ll give it some thought,” Spencer said and quickly hung up the phone. But he was going to do more than give it some thought. He was going to find Raina Martin and give her a piece of his mind for her deceptive ways. Allyson had given him Raina’s business card and he was about the pay the lady a visit.

She may not be a gold digger, but she wasn’t a saint, either. Why else would she have catered the very same party he was attending? There was more to the story and he intended to find out what.

* * *

“I think we have some really good ideas for the Hudsons’ dinner party in South Beach,” Raina told Summer as they sat down at the kitchen counter, writing out the menu for their next event later in the week.

“Yeah, yeah,” Summer said. “So when are we finally going to talk about what’s really on your mind?”

“What do you mean?” Raina’s brow furrowed.

“Spencer Davis ring a bell?”

Raina rolled her eyes upward. “Do we have to?” She was doing her best to avoid thinking about the sexy former basketball star. But he’d never been far from her thoughts. The other night, she’d had an erotic dream about making love to him. Raina knew a man like Spencer would know how to please a woman until her toes curled.

“Yes, we do,” Summer said, swinging her bar stool closer to Raina until she was inches away. “You can’t deny how affected you were. I haven’t seen you blush like that ever. You were a nervous wreck.”

“That’s the problem,” Raina replied. “It should have never happened. I should have kept my distance.”

“How would we know he’d be at a charity event for Parkinson’s Research?”

“I doubt he’ll see it like that. He’ll probably think I had an ulterior motive.”

“For what? To meet the man that might be your niece’s father. Oh, the horror!” Summer grasped her chest in mock terror. “You didn’t do anything wrong. And if I recall, he kept coming back for more of your decadent delights.”

Raina laughed at the innuendo. “Well, our food is the best!” She smiled at her best friend. “But right now he’s getting served by my attorney, so I doubt he’ll want to get to know me any further.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” a masculine voice said from behind Raina. “In fact I’d like to know exactly why you think I’m your niece’s father.”

Raina’s breath hitched and her skin colored to crimson. She looked to her best friend with pleading eyes, but Summer’s eyes were large with alarm and she just shrugged her shoulders.

Reluctantly, Raina spun around on her stool to face Spencer Davis.

Chapter 3

“Raina Martin,” Spencer said her name with a smile rather than the indignation Raina had expected.

“How did you find me?” Raina asked, her throat parched.

“You’re not the only one who can locate people,” Spencer replied. “You’ve made quite a reputation for yourself.”

Raina frowned.

“In a good way.” Spencer held up her business card. “Allyson gave me your card when I asked her for your info after such delicious canapés.”

“Y-you sought me out?”

His dark eyes watched hers from across the room as he walked farther into the kitchen, filling the small space that housed stainless steel refrigerators, commercial stoves and an abundance of pots, pans and cutlery. She knew she must have looked a wreck wearing a stained chef’s coat and jeans with her hair in a ponytail.

“Does that surprise you?” he asked, raising a brow. “I did ask you on a date and you turned me down. And I don’t take no for an answer. But then imagine my surprise when my attorney is served with paternity papers on the very same day I planned on contacting you.”

“Umm...I—I’m just going to go to the store for some supplies,” Summer said, pointing to the back door. Neither Raina nor Spencer turned to watch her grab her hobo purse and keys from a nearby hook and scurry out the door.

Raina swallowed the lump in her throat. “That must have come as quite a shock.”

“Yes, it was. It was very disappointing.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because I thought you didn’t have an ulterior motive like most women who meet successful athletes...former athletes.”

“But you think I have one now?”

“Perhaps.”

“And what would it be?”

“I haven’t figured that out yet.”

“Well, you’d be wrong. I don’t have one,” Raina replied, standing up to face him. When she did, Spencer towered over her and she was slightly awestruck.

“Why didn’t you tell me who you were?”

“It was hardly the appropriate time or moment to tell you that I thought you’d slept with my sister and had fathered her child. Might have been in poor taste, don’t you think?”

Spencer smirked. “Touché. But that begs the question—what do you want from me, Raina Martin?”

“It’s quite simple. DNA,” Raina replied honestly. “I need to know if you’re Zoe’s father. And if you are, then I’m looking for help raising your daughter. I never thought I’d be a single parent. Wasn’t my heart’s desire, you know? I...I never thought my twin would die.” Raina’s voice cracked. “B-But it was my sister’s last wish that I take care of Zoe, and I’m doing what I think is best for her. She needs a father.”

“And financial support?”

“Do you honestly think that all I’m after is your money?”

Spencer knew she wasn’t, but he said, “I don’t know. Most women are.”

“Well, I’m not most women.”

That’s what he’d known the other night. It was why he’d sought her out. It was why the paternity wrinkle had put him in such a pickle. “And what if I’m not Zoe’s father?”

“Then I’m back to the drawing board,” Raina answered.