SH Medical 07 - The Detective's Accidental Baby by Jacqueline Diamond Read Free Book Online Page A

the angry remark at the hospital. “Dad told Mom I should have noticed Jordan wasn’t fit to drive.”
    “What did he expect you to do about it?” Lock muttered.
    “Stop him.” To Erica, her voice sounded small, like a child’s. Sometimes she felt that way when she thought about her big brother.
    “Seems like your parents were part of the problem.”
    “They didn’t encourage Jordan to use drugs,” she pointed out.
    “But they failed to hold him responsible for his actions. How dare your father even hint that you were at fault!” Lock said in an offended tone. “That’s typical of an enabler.”
    Erica wondered if he was speaking from experience. “This sounds personal.”
    He rested his forehead against her temple, as if he could merge their thoughts. “My adoptive parents were drug users. They always found someone else to blame for their problems. And you know where they learned to do that? From their own parents.”
    “Your grandparents used drugs, too?”
    “My mother’s mother abused alcohol. And she refused to hear any criticism of her precious daughter.” His chest rose and fell heavily. “She had the nerve to say that the responsibility of raising a child put too much stress on her poor little girl. That was when I was eight, right before the police hauled my mom off to jail and sent me to foster care. By then, my dad was long gone.”
    “Did your grandmother try to take you in?”
    “As far as I know, she never offered.” Lock blew out a long breath. “It infuriates me that you’ve carried a burden of guilt about your brother.”
    “What about you?” Erica said. “You must be carrying a burden, too. Why else would you still be so angry?”
    He drew his head back a few inches. “That’s a conversation for another time. This is your turn to get sympathy.”
    Lock couldn’t fool her. He was avoiding the subject because of the pain. “That bad, huh?” She kissed his cheek.
    “Worse.” He tried to toss off the word with a smile, but his voice caught.
    “I understand that darkness. It becomes a part of you.” Erica had never shared this before with anyone. “Some people think that if you focus on positive thoughts, you can banish the pain. You might bury it for a while, but it hangs on.”
    “I got some therapy four years later, after I found the right foster family,” Lock said raggedly. “It helped, to a point.”
    She ran her hand over the emerging bristle on his jaw. “I’m tired of dwelling on the past. I want to feel alive, right now.”
    He raised her palm to his lips. “Well, if it helps, I’m definitely starting to feel alive.”
    Erica was, too, in places that hadn’t stirred since her husband’s betrayal. Now her hunger grew as, beneath her, Lock’s body stiffened against her sensitive core. His mouth covered hers, parting her lips with heated urgency.
    Her breast pressed against his chest, the excitement buoying Erica. Eagerly, she unfastened his shirt and stroked his muscular chest. Deft hands lifted her jersey and sports bra over her head.
    “Smooth move,” she was saying when his lips found a nipple, drawing a startled gasp and sending desire arrowing through her. Her back arched in invitation.
    Lock shifted her off his lap and onto her side, then stretched out beside her. “You like smooth moves, do you?”
    “I love them,” Erica said breathlessly, and reached to unbuckle his belt.
    “You’ve got a few yourself.” Eyes half-closed, he lifted his body and poised above her while she freed him from his fastenings. His arousal was glorious to look at. Erica’s center turned liquid, and when he stripped away her pants and undergarments, she was ready for him, feeling as if the sun had come out, thawing the fertile earth after a cold winter.
    “Whoa. Not planning to be a mommy, remember?” He sat back, found his wallet and extracted a condom.
    Erica couldn’t believe she’d overlooked protection. She’d almost forgotten what it was like to sleep with