A/N No copyright intended don't own south of nowhere or divorce by default

Chapter 1

She couldn't believe that anyone could be so rude. Spencer stared grimly at her new client, much too aware of the look of complete scorn on her face. Granted, it was a really nice face. She was beautiful. More than beautiful in fact. Her tan face was perfectly sculpted as though drawn from marble. Her nose was long and straight, and even if they were pulled in a mocking smirk at the moment, her lips were quite full. brown hair, and a deep set brown eyes, completed this picture of perfection.

She was wearing a grey shirt that hugged her delectably muscular shoulders. In spite of the heat of her contemptuous glare, Spencer slowly, unconsciously, ran the tip of her tongue across her lower lip. For a fleeting moment, delightful, if unbidden, visions of being pinned under those muscles invaded her mind.

Her raspy voice interrupted her less than chaste thoughts. "Miss Carlin, could I please have your attention?" "Um, sorry," she faltered, her olive skin flushing deep scarlet. "I was just…" Ashley Davies, the woman she had just been mentally drooling over, gave an exasperated sigh. Way to make a first impression,Spencer, she mentally berated herself. Determined to show her that she really was a competent lawyer, Spencer leaned over and crossed her hands on the table, pushing any thoughts not directly related to this case out of her head.

"Mrs. Davies, I understand your frustration but…" "I was told that Mr . Denison was going to supervise my case," she interrupted, her expression morphing into a mix of boredom and condescension. Great she was already giving her signs she preferred a man to represent her. Spencer forced a polite smile on her face. "Unfortunately, like we explained, Mrs. Davies, Mr. Denison is out of the country on personal business." "Probably ran off with another one of his mistresses," Ashley muttered under her breath. The words were said so quietly, Spencer wasn't sure she was meant to hear them. She ignored it and continued on, trying to make her voice professional, yet firm.

"Regardless," Spencer continued, "I would like to assure you that I'm completely prepped about the case. I've actually got your papers right here." She shuffled through the folders strewn on the wooden table in front of her. Hours and hours of her time spent collating information and preparing for this meeting. "How many years of experience do you have?" Ashley shot back, the look on her beautiful face saying she'd already made up her mind about her. She wasn't sure anything she said would change it. "Look here, I don't want some fresh out of college lawyer, alright?" She pushed back her chair and started to stand up.

"Either provide me with an experienced and competent lawyer who knows what he's doing, or I'm out of here. No offense, but I'm sure the firm can offer me someone with more experience than you possess." There was that word, he. Spencer's inner feminist bristled, but she tried to push it down. "By all means, feel free to leave," Spencer said with a supremely indifferent expression. "But just to clarify: I am not some fresh out of college lawyer. I am twenty-nine, and I can assure you that I'm perfectly capable of handling this case. If you wish to question my competence, you may visit my former client. I've got the address right here." She pushed a small white card towards her.

Ashley's lips pursed as she looked down at the card. "That's the address to the White House. Are you trying to be funny, miss?" "I am not, actually," she said coldly. "I handled the President's divorce before he took office. You will notice that his former spouse did not receive any of his assets, other than the items agreed upon in the prenuptial contract. But of course," she added with a sardonic smile. "Just because I was good enough for the President doesn't mean that I'll be good enough for you." Ashley's jaw tightened.

Apparently, she didn't like to be wrong. She took a deep breath and then slowly sat down opposite her again. "I apologize," she said formally, surprising Spencer at her admission. "I didn't mean to…" "It's okay," Spencer said with a small smile. "Divorce does take its toll on you. So, tell me," she glanced down at the papers again, "it says here that you have a teenage daughter. Thirteen, right?" "Yes." Ashley's face broke in a real grin. Spencer was struck by how young she suddenly looked. "Her name is Maylis ." Spencer couldn't help but return her smile, suddenly charmed against her will. "That's a unique name." "It's French. She was actually born in Paris." "You must have been very young when you had her, though." She looked down at her file. "It says here that you're thirty-five?" "Yes. My ex-wife got pregnant while we were still dating. I'd just turned twenty-one. I wanted to do the right thing, so we got married. It was…okay at first, but then she started getting involved in those shady business deals.

After that wasn't exciting enough for her, she moved on to straight up crime." She shook her head. "Despite my father being very successful, I'm a self-made billionaire, Miss Duarte. My wife all but slept on money. But it still wasn't good enough for her. She continuously craved more. So she got involved with drug dealings. She was also a full-fledged alcoholic. I can't count the number of times she brought women and men home to screw them in our marital bed.

Her arms are littered with track marks and while her beauty has held up on the outside surprisingly, her insides have to be slowly rotting." Spencer winced at the sad, sordid picture she was painting. "I'm so sorry." "Yeah, well," Ashley muttered. "After a time I stopped caring about her. But my daughter is who I was mostly worried about. We both moved out of my family home because I didn't want her to be exposed to those lowlifes that Madison brought home on a daily basis. But when I filed for divorce, Madison immediately requested custody of our daughter. She couldn't care less about Maylis. She just wants to hit me at my weakest spot. Please," her intense gaze burned into hers, "let her have anything. Just give me my daughter." "Mrs. Davies…" "Ashley," she corrected gruffly, her raspy voice still thick with emotion. "Ashley. I will ensure that you have full custody of your daughter while protecting your assets." She looked at her straight in the eyes, knowing that she shouldn't be making promises she might not be able to keep. Over eighty percent of custody cases granted guardianship to the mother, unless she could prove gross negligence on this Madison's part.

"You can count on me." "I hope so." Ashley held her gaze for a second longer than necessary. She felt a spark of electricity arc from her brown eyed gaze to hers, jolting through her system, making her body tingle in awareness. Surprised by the warmth that coursed through her body, Spencer shook her head and lowered her eyes. Her fingers shook as she handed her a couple of documents to complete, and she quickly withdrew them to her lap, cradling them in her hands and trying to still them.

The effect this woman was having on her unruly body was disturbing to say the least. Spencer took a deep breath, trying to gain some measure of control. Ashley filled out the papers quietly, not seeing her trembling fingers; the veil of formality was back. "That's it, then?" The words were off-hand as she was focused on looking over the forms she had just given her. Distracted. "For today," she nodded, gathering the papers, thank goodness. Maybe a little time away from this enigmatic woman would give her hormones a chance to behave themselves. "I'll have these filed and my assistant will be in touch soon to confirm the date of our next appointment."

She stood up and held out her hand with a polite smile. "Nice meeting you." "Likewise," she took her hand and shook. Another thrill, like a thousand shivers all at once, ran down her spine as her hand touched hers, entranced by her and her tan skin wrapped around her own pale hand. Spencer held her breath as she watched the faint ripple of her shoulders underneath her expensive suit as she walked out of her office. "Nice meeting you?" She berated herself under her breath. "Way to go, Spencer." Feeling suddenly flustered, she took out her compact mirror and snapped it open.

Her olive skin was uncharacteristically flushed and her blonde hair stood up on one end where she'd raked her fingers through it. Her lipstick was pale and faded from constantly chewing on her lower lip. Muttering under her breath, she smoothed down her hair and applied a fresh coat of her lipstick. Spencer had seen her share of hot women over the years; she'd certainly worked in close quarters with some of those beautiful women.

They were some of the most established women in the country. But no one ever aroused such intensity of emotion in her. She didn't know what it was about her granted, she was exceptionally pleasing on the eyes. But she was also cold and arrogant and somewhat…unattainable. The few minutes that they'd spent together had been more than enough for her to see the walls that she'd built around herself. Ashley Davies was a woman who closely guarded her emotions and she knew it. It's just a silly crush, she told herself firmly, as she started to gather her papers for her assistant to file with the court. Just a crush. You don't even know her. It's just a crush.

Should I continue