her shoulder, but she jumped away from him. “All I’m saying is that this photograph isn’t proof enough that I slept with your sister and fathered a child. All it does is prove we went out once. But then again, I wasn’t celibate back then, so I’ll agree to your paternity test just so we can squash this and move on. I know I’m not Zoe’s father.”
Raina spun around on her heels. “How can you say that with such certainty? You clearly were no angel back then. And the internet said you were known to drink to excess. How do you know who you slept with?”
“Trust me when I say that I don’t casually go to bed with a woman without protection. It’s just not safe. And further, I would think your sister would have remembered sleeping with me and might have mentioned it.”
“Because you’re that unforgettable?” Raina asked, raising a brow. She was sure he was. Her female intuition told her that once Spencer Davis made love to a woman, she would never forget it.
Spencer walked toward her, grasped a few tendrils of Raina’s hair and spun them around his finger. “Don’t you think so?” he asked huskily, leaning over her.
Raina’s breath caught in her throat and she couldn’t find the words to speak. She could feel his breath against her skin like tiny puffs of air and it was like a sensuous caress, one that she wanted to go on. But she couldn’t do this. Spencer Davis could very well have been involved with her sister and any attraction that she might feel was wrong until they found out the results of the paternity test.
On the one hand, she wanted Zoe to have a father, but on the other, she was hoping the test would be wrong. She was hoping Spencer Davis wasn’t the type of man to knock up her sister and not even realize he had a child.
“Don’t try and put the moves on me, Spencer Davis,” Raina said, stepping away from him. “I told you before that I’m not interested.”
Spencer raised an eyebrow as if he didn’t believe her. “All right.” He held up his hands. “But this isn’t over between us. The test will show you you’re wrong and I’m not the father. But just in case I’m wrong—know this, Raina Martin. If Zoe is my daughter, I will be seeking full custody.”
Raina’s mouth dropped open in shock just as Zoe came flying through the kitchen door with Raina’s mother following right behind her.
* * *
Spencer backed away from Raina. He knew she was as attracted to him as he was to her. He’d felt it, sensed it, but now wasn’t the right time to make his move. There was too much unresolved conflict between them. But once the test results showed he wasn’t Zoe’s father, he would have a chance to find out exactly what it was about Raina Martin that intrigued him so.
As the young girl came through the kitchen doors, Spencer looked at her closely. Memories of the night he’d met Alexa Martin came flooding back. And he knew who Zoe’s father was: his brother.
Spencer bent low to the ground until he was the little girl’s size so he wouldn’t scare her with his height. He peered at her, memorizing all her features. She was Cameron’s spitting image; she had his same nose, chin and big brown eyes. She was his niece. “Hi, Zoe.”
Zoe looked at Spencer and then at Raina as if to ask, “Who is this?”
Spencer assumed the older woman was Raina’s mother. She looked at her daughter questioningly. He figured she wanted to know who this strange man was who was speaking to Zoe.
“Zoe, this is...uh...my friend...Mr. Spencer,” Raina offered, tripping over her words. He was sure she didn’t know what to call him. She couldn’t very well tell Zoe he could potentially be her father.
“Mr. Spencer, I’d also like to introduce you to my mother, Mrs. Martin.” Raina’s mother raised an eyebrow. Clearly, she recognized his name and knew who he was, but she remained silent when Spencer nodded his head in greeting.
“Zoe, say hello,” Raina said in an attempt to break the awkward silence.
“You can just call me Spence,” Spencer said to Zoe. “Can you do that?”
Zoe nodded and smiled. “Hi, Spence. It’s nice to meet you.” She offered her tiny hand to him, which he shook gently. “How do you know my auntie Raina?”
Spencer looked up at Raina and smiled. “We go way back.” All of three days. “And it’s nice to meet you, too. Did you just get off from school?”
“Yes,” Zoe said and began rambling on about her day at school as if she’d known him for years. Clearly she had no fear of strangers and was quite friendly and sociable. He remembered Alexa was the same way.
Spencer humored Zoe and sat down with her after Raina had consented to milk and cookies for an after-school snack. They sat down at the small pedestal table in the back of the kitchen while Raina and her mother watched them from across the room.
“You’re awfully tall. How tall are you?” Zoe inquired, noticing how uncomfortable it was for him to sit in an average chair.
“I’m six foot four.”
“Are you a giant?” Zoe asked, dunking her cookie in the milk. “Like in the fairy tales?”
Spencer laughed heartily as he followed suit and dunked his cookie, too. “Sometimes it feels like that,” he answered honestly. Especially in the sixth grade, when he’d skyrocketed above all the other boys in his class. It had gotten better once he’d gone to high school. When he’d joined the basketball team, he’d finally found a place where he fit in.
“Did it make you sad to be different?” Zoe inquired.
Spencer was surprised by the thoughtful question from the six-year-old. What was the saying? Out of the mouths of babes...“It used to, but not anymore.”
“Zoe, stop questioning the man.” Raina came forward to break up the moment he was having with Zoe to stand directly behind him. Spencer got the vibe that it was time for him to leave and then Raina confirmed it. “Plus I think Mr. Spencer has to go, don’t you?”
Spencer turned around to look at Raina. Clearly she didn’t like the bond he was forging with Zoe. But why? She was the one who’d started down this road. He would have thought she would be encouraging it, especially since she thought he was Zoe’s father.
“Yes, I guess so.” He rose awkwardly from the small table to stand over the little girl and Raina. “Princess Zoe.” He reached for her hand, kissed it and bowed with a flourish. “I look forward to getting to know you better.”
Zoe chuckled at his grandness and said, “You’re funny, Spence.”
“Goodbye, Zoe.” Spencer turned on his heel to go. “A word, Raina?”
She must have heard the commanding tone in his voice because she followed him into the retail area of their catering shop.
“Yes?” Raina snapped, her arms folded across her chest.
Spencer was irritated by her hostile behavior. “You started this, Raina. Don’t be upset with me because I’m running with it,” he responded. “I’m trying to get to know the little girl you claim is my daughter, so a little less acrimony would be good here.”
His response knocked some of the wind out of her sails and Raina unfolded her arms and her shoulders relaxed. She blinked several times and said, “I’m sorry. It’s just that Zoe responded to you like she’d known you for years and with me...” Her voice trailed off.
“Of course she’s going to be harder on you,” Spencer said, softening his voice. “You’re in the trenches day in and day out. You’re the one she’s going to take out all her hurt and loss on.”
Raina looked up at him as if she was surprised that he could understand what she’d been going through. But isn’t that what she is looking for, someone to take the load off her with Zoe?
“It’s been hard on her, losing