A small, knowing smile. “Well, that’s wonderful. You haven’t had sex for two years, since…” Her mother’s words drifted off.
“No, I haven’t. And this was unplanned. I was…swept away, I guess.”
“Who is he?”
“The lawyer, Nick, who I told you about.”
“The one who flirted with you then attacked you in the deposition?”
“Actually, he never attacked me. It was the other lawyer who tried to trip me up to make Pax look guilty of negligence.”
“Isn’t Nick Pax’s lawyer?”
“Yes. But he treated me fairly after the hatchet job the other guy tried on me.”
“Triedbeing the operative word. I’m sure you held your own.”
“You’d have been proud.” One of the many things Eve had taught her was to stand up for herself.
“Now, about the unprotected part. You’re a doctor. In any event, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”
“I know. If I am pregnant, I wonder if I could have the child and raise it on my own like you did.”
“Of course you could. If Nick would let you.”
“Or I don’t have to have it.”
“Have you been thinking about having a baby lately?”
“Hell, Mom, that part wasn’t even why I came down.”
“Ah. You came to talk about the mind-blowing sex.”
“Yes. I didn’t know it could be like that.”
“Like what?”
“So out of control. So intense I could barely stand it.”
Another smile. “I’ve had that kind of sex.”
“With Dad?”
“Yes, before we parted ways.” Her mother and father had never married and eventually drifted apart with no hard feelings on either side.
A smile broached Noreen’s face. “I’m glad, Mom.”
“So, tell me why all this has you so upset?”
“Nick’s so arrogant. Such a hotshot.”
“Maybe like you used to be when you practiced medicine? It’s one of the reasons you quit surgery.”
The other reason remained unspoken.
“Do youlikeNick?”
“I don’t know. I don’t see many good qualities in him other than being dedicated to his job. And there was tragedy in his life. His son died on his watch. I overheard Paxton talking about it to Jackson.”
