A Chance with You

by Yahrah St. John

  Raina’s eyes sharpened and she stood up from the breakfast bar. “Well if that’s the way you want to play this.” She stormed out of the kitchen.

  Spencer stared at her retreating form as she climbed the stairs to the master bedroom. The conversation had not gone as he’d intended. He’d wanted to wake up with her and make love again to her pliant body until she was moaning out his name as she’d done last night. Now any chance of that was ruined because he’d tried to strong-arm her like he did with his sports owners. And he’d failed miserably.

  Spencer left the table and took the stairs two at a time to reach Raina. He didn’t want their time together to end this way, not after all they’d shared last night. He heard running water and found Raina in the shower. She was dipping her head under the showerhead and he watched as the glistening beads of water drifted down her curvaceous body. His shaft instantly began to harden. On impulse, Spencer threw open the shower door.

  Startled Raina turned around, covering her bosom with her hands. Before she could utter a single word of protest, he climbed inside and his hands splayed over her back and pressed her body firmly to him. His mouth claimed hers with the arrogance of a pirate claiming an innocent virgin. His hard readiness ploughed against her middle, and he began rubbing against her with erotic undulations. He wanted her to feel how hard she’d made him even when he was upset and wanted to throttle her.

  “Spencer.” Raina sighed when he planted his hot mouth at the base of her throat and kissed his way down her chest. When he came to her breasts, his tongue became a wet tormenter as he worked his way from one breast to the other. He bathed her areolae until they peaked and began to pout and thrust into his eager lips.

  He lifted Raina’s hips over him. He wanted to take her right there in the shower, but he knew he had to protect them, and he had a box of condoms in a drawer underneath one of the sinks. He turned off the taps and murmured, “I want you now, please.” She answered by wrapping her legs around his hips.

  Spencer grasped her slick buttocks in his hands and pushed the shower door open with one foot. With Raina still in his arms, he walked over to the drawer and with one hand fumbled to find the box of condoms. When he did, he grabbed a foil packet and lowered their wet bodies onto the white rug at the foot of the tub.

  He stared down at Raina. Her jet-black wavy hair spread out on the white rug was oddly erotic and he couldn’t wait to take her. He wasted no time tearing open the foil packet and sheathing himself.

  He leaned forward so he could pay tribute to her body by kissing and licking her arms, her breasts, her elbows, her belly and the top of her thighs. Spencer hit every erogenous zone of Raina’s body until he came to the center of her heat. He hovered over her, teasing her. “Do you want me, Raina?”

  “Yes, yes,” she moaned.

  With his mouth he took liberties with her sex, tonguing her until he stoked the fires of her body. She began to tremble beneath him and that’s when he knew she was ready. He braced himself above her and Raina parted her legs, eager to receive him. His body sank into hers and she curled her legs around his hips, allowing her sweet haven to entrap him in pure bliss. He began to thrust deeper and deeper inside her. She matched his movements by bucking underneath him and he stroked her from the inside until he began to sway...to peak and he was finally swept away.

  * * *

  “Raina, did you hear what I said?” Summer asked.

  “What was that?” Raina asked, blinking several times. She’d been unable to focus since she’d arrived at Summer’s place to pick up Zoe. Her mind kept wandering back to making love to Spencer on the white rug in his bathroom. What the heck is wrong with me? Had she been that hard up for sex that she would let him take her right there on the floor?

  But she had. And it had been the most erotic, the most sensual sex she’d ever had. The feel of the soft fibers of the rug against her backside, the feel of his warm hands on her body, the feel of Spencer’s tongue as he licked her, the feel of his hard shaft buried deep inside her had been incredibly hot. How could she have let him make love to her when she’d been angry with him?

  “I said that Zoe was a trouper last night,” Summer repeated herself, but she wasn’t sure her best friend was listening because she had a faraway look in her eyes, which left Summer to wonder if something more had happened with Spencer other than dinner last night.

  “Oh, I’m so glad she was no trouble,” Raina said, grabbing Zoe’s overnight bag and slinging it over her shoulder. “I appreciate you taking her last night. My parents had a prior engagement they couldn’t get out of.” She turned to her niece, who was still sitting on the sofa playing a video game with Ryan.

  “It was no trouble at all,” Summer said, grabbing Raina’s sleeve and pulling her into the foyer of her apartment. “So you want to tell me what happened last night?”

  “What do you mean?” Raina asked absentmindedly.

  “Never mind. We’ll talk tomorrow when your head isn’t in the clouds.”

  “Oh, great, thanks,” Raina said. “Zoe, let’s go. I have a lot of errands today.”

  A few minutes later, they were in her car. Raina’s cell phone rang. The display read Spencer’s number and Raina’s heart began to pound frantically.

  Spencer Davis was making her do all kind of firsts and behaving erratically. She needed some time to process everything that was going on between them. Not to mention she was sure Spencer was not about to back off from seeing Zoe or telling her his true identity. So she let his call go to voice mail. She would talk to him in due time. For now, she needed to put everything that had occurred between them in perspective as well as set up a meeting with her lawyer. She needed to know exactly where she stood.

  * * *

  Spencer clicked the end button on his cell phone. He’d gotten Raina’s voice mail. She was avoiding him, and he didn’t like it. He needed to talk to her, hear her voice and let her know that there was more than enough room in Zoe’s life for the both of them. There didn’t have to be one person or the other, but she was stubborn.

  He’d thought after they’d made love on the bathroom floor that her attitude may have changed, but he’d soon realized his mistake. Afterward, they’d stayed joined for several long minutes before she’d disengaged herself and headed back into the shower. She’d told him she’d like to take a shower alone and he hadn’t argued. When she’d reemerged; she’d told him that it was clear he had a way with women, with her, but that he would not be able to seduce her into compliance. Then she’d quickly left his penthouse.

  Spencer felt they were in no better place than they’d been in earlier and perhaps worse because she probably felt like she was powerless when she was around him, which he didn’t want. He wanted her to want to be with him. Raina was the first woman who’d ever made him think about the future and what it would be like to have her in his life. But how could he convince her that they had something special? He would have to figure out a way to get through to Raina and break down the defenses she had around her heart.

  He was at a loss and needed someone to talk to, so he dialed Ty’s number. Ty answered after several moments. “Hey, what’s up?”

  “You busy?” Spencer inquired.

  “No, Brielle and I just came in from running and I was about to hop in the shower. What’s going on?”

  “Raina Martin.”

  “Ah.” Ty sighed on the other end as if he knew what Spencer was about to say. “The chef you met that night at the charity event. So she’s got you all twisted, huh?”

  “Man, you don’t know the half of it.”

  “Talk to me.”

  “Well, you remember she turned me down, right?”

  “Yeah, what about it?”

  “A few days later, I got served with paternity papers by who else?”

  “Raina?” Ty asked disbelievingly.
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  “One and the same.”

  “Dude, did you forget you’d tapped that?”

  “Of course not,” Spencer replied huffily. “She was trying to find out if I’d fathered her sister’s child.”

  “And did you?”

  “Hell no!” Spencer yelled. “But—” he paused for several beats “—Cameron did.”

  “Get out of here!”

  “No joke.” Spencer couldn’t believe the turn of events, either. It was as if fate had played some cosmic joke on him.

  “Your brother? Are you sure? Did you have a paternity test taken?” Ty started firing questions at him.

  Spencer nodded on the other end as if Ty could see him. “Yup, I humored her and took one myself since Raina believed me to be the father, but then I secretly had one done with Cam’s DNA and it was a match.”

  “Oh, Lord. Wait a second, why was Raina asking you to take the paternity test? Where is her sister?”

  “She died a few months ago of cancer.”

  “Wow! That’s rough. Poor thing is an orphan. So what now?”

  “I don’t know, man. That’s why I’m calling you,” he responded. “In the short time I’ve known Raina we’ve become rather...er, close...if you know what I mean.”

  “I do.” Ty didn’t need it spelled out for him. His boy Spencer was a ladies’ man, though he had been reformed the past few years. “Add the fact you and she now share a niece and that sounds rather complicated.”

  “Ya think?” Spencer snorted. “And Raina wants to put her head in the sand and not deal with the facts. She’s Zoe’s guardian now and is making all the decisions, but Zoe is my niece, too. And I want to get to know her. She’s Cameron’s child, for Christ’s sake, and my only living relative.”

  “Listen,” Ty said reasonably. “Didn’t you just say a lot has happened in a couple of weeks? Perhaps she just needs time for her brain to catch up with her emotions. She didn’t strike me as a woman who acts on impulse.”

  “And what am I supposed to do in the meantime?” Spencer inquired. “I’ve already wasted precious time with Zoe. She’s already lost her mother, and when she learns she doesn’t have a father, either, she’ll need me.”

  “Then be there, but don’t just insert yourself into their lives.” But Ty was talking to deaf ears. Spencer only knew how to attack life at full force. It was how he’d always been on the court when he’s played basketball. He would attack the boards hard and get those extra points that the team desperately needed.

  “You make that sound easy,” Spencer said.

  “It can be,” Ty said. “You weren’t even thinking about dating, much less a relationship, and now that you’ve met Raina, all of a sudden you’re ready to attack her with everything you’ve got. Slow down and let her catch up to you.”

  “I hear you,” Spencer said. “And I’ll try.” He ended the call. He’d reached out to Ty for some sound advice, but he wasn’t sure he could follow all of it. If he backed off now, it might make Raina think Zoe wasn’t important to him. Worse yet, she might think he’d used her for kicks and was done with her. No, he had to continue on the same course, just with a little more diplomacy.

  Chapter 8

  “Do you really think Spencer has a chance to win custody of Zoe?” Raina asked her attorney the following day, her anxiety rising. She’d made the mistake of allowing her parents to attend the session with her and matters had gone from bad to worse.

  “You’re on solid standing, Raina,” her attorney replied. “You’ve had a relationship with Zoe since she was a baby and you were legally named Zoe’s guardian by the court after Alexa’s death.”

  “But,” her mother interjected, “what aren’t you saying?”

  Raina wished she’d come by herself to the meeting, but after she’d told her parents the situation and that Spencer was Zoe’s uncle and not her father, they’d been determined to accompany her. Her mother had been so scared of Spencer taking Zoe away that she’d become hysterical. Raina had figured the only way to calm her down was to have her hear it from the horse’s mouth that Raina had a good case if it should go to court.

  “I’m going to be honest with you, Mrs. Martin. Mr. Davis does have some rights here. He could claim that Alexa purposely kept the fact that Zoe was his daughter from his brother.”

  “But that’s not true.” Crystal cried into her tissue. “My baby would never have done that. If Cameron Davis didn’t know he had a daughter, it was because he didn’t deserve to know or didn’t want to know.”

  “We don’t know that for sure, Mama,” Raina said. “We don’t know what happened between Alexa and Cameron.”

  “Why are you defending him?” her mother responded harshly.

  “I’m not,” Raina replied, wringing her hands. “I’m just saying that at the time, Alexa wasn’t always forthcoming. You remember how wild she was. She was a party girl.”

  “Exactly,” her attorney said, pointing to Raina. “If Mr. Davis does some digging, he could pounce on that.” At Crystal’s sobs, he tried to sound more reassuring. “Listen, Mrs. Martin, it is highly unlikely Mr. Davis would ever win custody of your granddaughter.”

  “But he could take Raina to court,” her father finally spoke up. He’d been listening quietly and absorbing all the facts.

  “Yes. Most likely he would end up with visitation rights.”

  “Visitation!” Her mother jumped up. “He doesn’t deserve visitation. His brother wasn’t even a part of Zoe’s life. They’ve done nothing for her like we have.” She motioned to her husband, leaving Raina out. “They haven’t consoled Zoe on losing her mother. We’re Zoe’s family.”

  “I’m sorry,” the attorney replied.

  “I guess visitation isn’t so bad.” Raina tried to look at the positive. She would still retain primary custody and keep her promise to Alexa to take care of her child.

  “Are you so ready to turn Zoe over to that man that you’ve lost your mind?” her mother wailed.

  “Crystal!” Her father sat up and her mother looked down as if she’d been scolded.

  Her mother’s words stung and Raina tried not to feel hurt, but it was hard not to and a hot tear rolled down her cheek. “You have not been raising Zoe by yourself, Mother. I have been taking care of her since Alexa’s death. Hell, for longer. Since she was hospitalized, so don’t you dare act like I’m ready to abandon Zoe. And as for Spencer, he’s done nothing but be cooperative, even when we accused him of being Zoe’s father. He took the paternity test voluntarily.”

  Her mother was only mildly embarrassed by her outburst and commented, “But didn’t you say he secretly ran an unauthorized test with his brother’s DNA. Can’t we require a new one?”

  “Absolutely,” the attorney replied. “We can demand one. But if it yields the same results, I would suggest you consider settling on a visitation schedule with Mr. Davis.” He looked directly at Raina when he spoke. “Why incur unnecessary legal fees?”

  “No!” Her mother rose.

  “Mother, please,” Raina implored. She hadn’t quite decided what she wanted to do, but she certainly wasn’t going to be walked over by her parents or Spencer.

  “Mrs. Martin, this is Raina’s decision.” The attorney spoke quietly. “Ultimately, she’s Zoe’s legal guardian.”

  “I know you’re upset with me,” her mother cried and bent down on her knees. “And I know I spoke harshly. You know I didn’t mean it.” She looked up into her eyes. “Please don’t do this, Raina. Fight. Fight for Zoe. You owe Alexa this.”

  * * *

  Raina stared at her niece through the windows as Zoe danced her way across the hardwood floors in her weekly jazz dance class. Zoe was quite the little performer and loved to be seen. She was glad Zoe had an outlet considering everything she’d been through. Other than a few crying
spells, Zoe was holding up surprisingly well. What was the saying, kids are resilient? Raina was finding that to be true.

  Raina wished she could say the same. Ever since her night with Spencer, she’d felt anything but resilient. Instead, she felt like she was a pile of mush. The man was captivating her dreams at night and invading her days with visions of their lovemaking. So much so that she was having a hard time focusing. Summer had commented as much earlier that day as they’d prepped for an upcoming catering event.

  Summer had finally gotten Raina to spill the beans and reveal that she and Spencer had spent the night together. Summer hadn’t been surprised by her spontaneity, and she was excited that Raina was finally living a little. Raina, on the other hand, wished she’d shown more reserve. Spencer probably thought he had her wrapped around his finger. She hadn’t just slept with him on the first date, but multiple times and on his bathroom floor! Raina colored as if any of the other mothers who were watching their children could read her thoughts. It was happening again; her mind was wandering to him.

  Raina thought about what her attorney had said. She was on sound footing because Alexa was Zoe’s legal parent and Cameron Davis wasn’t even listed on the birth certificate. Add to that Alexa had a will that stated she wanted Raina to raise Zoe and Raina had been given legal guardianship by the court, which made for a very good defense. But the paternity test Spencer had done would easily show Cameron was the father. And although Spencer may not have known Zoe or had a relationship with her, he could make a very good case for visitation rights or even shared custody.

  Could Raina let that happen? Alexa had left Zoe in her care, and she didn’t want to let her down. Raina felt guilty for opening up this can of worms. She’d just been trying to give her niece the one thing she craved: a father.

  “Zoe is great, isn’t she?”

  Raina’s stomach flip-flopped at the sound of Spencer’s voice behind her. It was as if he’d materialized right out of her daydreams. What the heck is he doing here? Perhaps she was imagining it. She closed her eyes to banish the voice from her head, but he spoke again.