Carly Phillips - Summer Lovin’

She met his gaze and smiled, a full, honest, interested smile. Ryan didn't find trouble often, but he'd found it with Zoe Costas.

"Do you want to meet Sam? See for yourself how happy she is with my parents?" Her voice was a touch hoarser than before. The desire and awareness between them might be unspoken but it was now a tangible thing.

He nodded. "I'd like to meet her."

"Sam!" Zoe called and the girl came running.

Her eyes lit up as she reached Zoe. "Hey, sis. Having fun?"

Sis. He shuddered at the memory the word evoked and at the fact that his niece obviously already felt like part of the family.

"The best. I want you to meet someone." Zoe gestured toward Ryan.

He straightened his shoulders, suddenly feeling stiff and uncomfortable as Sam looked him over from head to toe, then frowned. "I hope he's not your boyfriend." She wrinkled her nose in the disgust only a teenager could demonstrate.

Clearly he'd come up lacking. He tried not to let it bother him since she didn't know him yet.

"Sam, that's not nice," Zoe chided. "And Mr. Baldwin happens to be Katherine's replacement. He's your social worker, not my boyfriend."

"Oh, man, I'm sorry." The young girl glanced down and began fingering old keys that dangled from a chain around her neck.

Scared? Chastised? He wasn't sure but finally she looked up again, meeting his gaze.

"Hey, mister, I bet I can tell you where you got them shoes," Sam said, her joke an obvious attempt at bravado in the face of her mistake.

He shot Zoe a questioning look.

She grinned, clearly amused but not giving away any of Sam's secrets.

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."

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?"