A Heart Decision (3 page)

Great. Now they seemed determined to turn this
birthday shindig into an engagement party.

His stomach knotted as he reluctantly sat next to
Annie. Maybe he could fake an illness and just leave. The only
problem was, knowing Sabrina, she’d probably follow him home to
take care of him.

As soon as she settled between him and BJ, Tyler
rose, holding a full champagne flute, and cleared his throat to get
the guests’ attention. “When Luke and I headed off to the
University of Pittsburgh together, we never dreamed the housing
administrator would have such a warped sense of humor.”

He strolled behind Ben and clapped his hand on their
friend’s shoulder. “Only a sadist would assign a candy-assed
preppie in monogrammed boxers to room with two uncouth slobs who’d
crawled out of south Trenton with holes in their underwear.”

A round of laughter echoed off the water in the
pool.

Luke smiled up at his buddy, who, less than a year
ago, would’ve eaten worms rather than publicly admit his humble
roots.

“The torture Luke and I put Ben through the first
month of school made Hawkeye and Trapper John’s persecution of
Frank Burns seem tame.”

“I’ll say.” Ben chuckled. “Not only did these two
jerks paint my fingernails black while I slept and fill my shampoo
bottle with honey, they used my Italian leather loafers as Jell-O
molds.”

Luke called out over the guests’ laughter, “Don’t
forget the time we shoved you into the hall stark naked and locked
you out.”

“Ahhh, but I had the last laugh.” Ben wiggled his
eyebrows at him. “That little stunt got me dates with a couple of
sorority girls who wouldn’t give you jokers the time of day.”

“Don’t remind us,” Tyler muttered and held up his
glass. “But after all of our evil pranks, Ben never did a thing to
get retribution. Instead, he simply proved he was our friend, even
if we weren’t his. So speaking as the man who’ll have the honor of
giving Sabrina away, I’d like you all to join me in wishing her a
happy birthday and a marriage filled with—”

“Oh, come on, Ty.” Sabrina waved her hand at her
brother. “You have to tell them the
whole
story.”

“No, way.” Tyler shook his head.

“Well, if you won’t, I will. I think everyone should
know what a generous man I’m marrying.”

Ben buried his face in his broad palm and shook his
head.

“Brina, don’t,” Luke whispered, “You’re embarrassing
him.” Not to mention, the last thing he wanted was a stroll down
memory lane through the blackest time of his life.

“Oh, hush.” She shoved his shoulder. “If anyone
should be embarrassed, it’s you. Half the people here already know
what a reckless lunatic you are. What’s a few more enlightened
souls?”

“Let the lady talk, Luke,” called Adam Chase, the
good-looking doctor Sabrina had dated several years ago.

Luke ignored him and sprang to his feet. “As best
man, I’ll take over and finish the toast.” Sucking in a deep
breath, he picked up his champagne glass and gazed down at Sabrina.
“First, we need to wish you a very happy birthday, which is why all
these people came today.”

“Instead we got a twofer!” shouted Nick Riverá. “A
birthday
and
an engagement party.”

Okay, so no one wanted to focus on celebrating her
birth.

“As I was about to say,” Luke continued, gripping
his glass so hard it was a miracle he didn’t shatter it. “If any
guy ever deserved a ray of sunshine in his life like Sabrina
Fitzpatrick, BJ Elliott does.”

His voice cracked with pent-up emotion, so before he
could lose his composure and anyone else could interrupt, he
blurted out the rest of his toast, “Everyone here wishes you both
much happiness in the years to come.”

The guests raised their glasses and drank to the
happy couple’s future. More than anything Luke wanted Sabrina to be
happy—even if he had to live with a vicious ache in his chest until
he drew his last breath.

He pressed a kiss to her forehead and smiled down at
her. “And, Princess, if Sir Galahad ever makes you cry”—Luke
glanced over her head and smirked at Ben—“just let me know, and
I’ll personally kick his bony ass around the block a few
times.”

His friend’s unflinching gaze dueled with his.
“First, my ass is
not
bony. Second,
I’ve
never made
Sabrina cry, so it’s probably a safe bet I won’t in the future.”
Ben’s eyes challenged Luke to make the same claim.

Regrettably, he couldn’t.

No doubt, his feigned indifference had caused
Sabrina to shed more than a few tears. But she would cry a
barrelful more if he ever compromised his loyalty to Ben or
abandoned his resolve to keep the woman they both loved at an arm’s
length.

His only consolation was, if he kept his feelings to
himself and stayed out of her life as much as possible, at least he
wouldn’t condemn her to sharing his private hell.

“That’s right, Detective Pervert.” Sabrina poked him
in the chest and lowered her voice so just their table could hear.
“Ben never tortured me by drawing nipples on my Barbie doll.”

“Are you forgetting the penis I also drew on Ken?”
he whispered.

“How could I? When your mother got an eyeful of his
over-sized asset, she nearly stopped letting your sisters and me
play together until Frankie and Gemma ratted you out.”

“Okay,”—he raised his hands in surrender—“so I’m
long overdue for an ass-kicking,” he lied, because he would never
tell anyone he’d already received one, compliments of his dad.

The meal couldn’t be over soon enough to suit
Sabrina. Sitting on display between Luke and Ben, in front of
sixty-some-odd guests, gave her a good appreciation for how a
chimpanzee must feel in a zoo.

Every time a breeze blew from Luke’s direction, the
scent of his aftershave made her head feel as if it might float
right off her shoulders.

As luscious as the meal was, Sabrina couldn’t summon
up much appetite. Fortunately, Luke’s hollow leg kept anyone from
noticing how little she ate. As usual, at the end of each course,
he traded plates with her and polished off whatever she’d left.
She’d never understood how a man who inhaled the quantity of food
Luke routinely consumed maintained a body straight off a cover of
Men’s Health
.

Was his appetite in bed just as voracious? It might
explain his reluctance to limit himself to one woman for the rest
of his life.

After the waiters cleared the main course, they
placed a bowl of chocolate after-dinner mints on the table to
accompany the coffee. No doubt, desert would be birthday cake.

Luke popped several mints into his mouth and closed
his eyes, releasing a low, carnal groan.

The mental image of him gratifying his oral fixation
on her breasts tightened her nipples.

The children’s shrieking jerked Sabrina out of her
fantasy as Dottie, Tyler and Annie’s housekeeper, released the
eleven kids she’d been holding captive in the house. As they made a
beeline to the redwood gym set in the side yard, Mandy and Noah
detoured to their table, squealing a duet. “Uncle Luke!”

When Sabrina’s niece jumped into his lap and flung
her arms around his neck, he laughed. “Mandycakes, how’s my best
girl?” He ruffled her blonde hair and pulled Noah into a group hug.
“Hey, buddy, how’re all the animals on the ark doing?”

Noah heaved a dramatic sigh. “One of the giraffes
has a sore throat.”

Luke dropped his jaw in mock-horror. “No, way.
That’s an awful lot of throat to be sore.”

Sabrina’s eyes misted over as Noah giggled at the
silly game Luke had been playing with the child since her brother
married Noah’s mother. How could a man who obviously loved children
be so adamant about never wanting a family of his own?

“Will you do me a favor, Mandy?” Luke asked. “Would
you go to my Jeep and get the birthday present I brought for Aunt
Sabrina and bring it to the backyard? It’s in a crate on the back
seat.”

Mandy raced around to the font of the house and
returned a few moments later with her face beaming, carrying an
armful of wiggling light gray fluff with a pink satin bow around
its neck.

“That’s your idea of a birthday gift?” Ben chuckled.
“A living, breathing dust bunny?”

Luke shrugged. “I think she looks more like a dirty
dust mop. I’ve been calling her Mopsy.”

A lump formed in Sabrina’s throat as she took the
squirming puppy from her niece. Luke couldn’t have gotten her
anything more perfect. He knew she’d been wanting a dog for ages,
but her apartment complex didn’t allow pets. It touched her that he
remembered. Even the name he’d given the dog was something she
would’ve chosen. “Oh, Luke, she’s adorable. Thank you.”

He stroked the dog’s long fur. “I found her
abandoned under an overpass last week with her brother Dusty. I
made sure her shots are all up to date.”

Ben peered at the dog. “What breed of mutt is
she?”

“The vet says the puppies are probably a cross
between a cocker spaniel and a Maltese. You know—sort of like a
cockapoo, only they have a Maltese parent instead of a poodle.”

“So then Mopsy could be a
cock-a-tease
,
right?” Mandy asked in wide-eyed innocence.

Sabrina suppressed a chuckle as Tyler sputtered,
nearly drowning on a mouthful of coffee. “No, sweet pea.” He
coughed. “I don’t think we should call her that.”

“How about a
tease-a-cock
?” Noah naively
suggested as an alternative.

Annie clapped her hand over her son’s mouth. “No,
pumpkin. Let’s just call her Mopsy, okay?” She glared at Luke. “You
couldn’t have found a beagle or something?”

Tyler laughed and rolled his eyes. “Only Luke would
give a mongrel to the fiancée of a guy who can afford a world-class
AKC champion breeder.”

“
What
?” Luke spread his hands, wearing a
dumbfounded expression. “Tell them, Sabrina. You wouldn’t want to
leave this little lady homeless just to have a pet with a pedigree,
would you?”

“Absolutely not!” she said. “If anything, the dog’s
abandonment makes her even more desirable.”

“Of course it does. You’ve always been a compulsive
nurturer. When you were little, all you ever wanted to play was
house, hospital, or school.” Luke looked at her brother. “Tell
everyone how often she nagged us to pretend we were her children,
patients, or students.”

“It’s true,” Tyler admitted. “It was no surprise she
became a nurse.”

At only fourteen, her inability to help their
mother, after she developed a fatal case of viral pneumonia, had
set Sabrina on that particular career path. The impotence she’d
felt made a lasting impression and gave her a deep need to ease
other people’s suffering.

She’d started college intending to become a doctor,
but changed her mind after realizing how much less patient contact
she would have working as a physician rather than as a nurse.

Ironically enough, during her first pediatrics
rotation, her deep attachment to a patient with a terminal
neurological disease had caused her to seriously consider changing
her major. After failing to prevent Ricky Norton from choking to
death, she’d watched his parents hold his limp, lifeless body and
sob their hearts out.

The only thing that kept her from withdrawing from
school had been the letter Mr. Norton had written to her
supervisor, expressing his deep gratitude for the compassion that
she,
‘their angel’
, had shown them and their sick child and
for her devotion to making Ricky’s last days as comfortable and
happy as possible.

After reading that gut-wrenching letter, she became
more determined than ever to finish school at the top of her class
and make sure every parent felt like their child was the most
important patient in her care.

Shaking off her painful memories, she forced a smile
and cuddled the tiny dog close to her chest. “She’s precious. What
did you do with poor little Dusty?”

She’d take the other puppy, too, if Luke hadn’t
already found a home for him.

His mouth curled in a crooked grin as he lifted one
shoulder. “I sort of got used to having him around, so I’m keeping
him.”

A belly laugh exploded out of Ben. “That’s
priceless. Dirty Harry adopts a powder-puff. I give you two weeks
before one of your big Bozo feet squishes Dusty into a hairy
pancake with teeth.” He glanced down at Luke’s over-sized loafers
and chortled. “I don’t know why you bother buying shoes when any
store will give you the boxes for free.”

Luke crossed his arms over his chest. “Go ahead and
laugh. But you know what women say about men with big feet.”

“All right.” Tyler jumped in. “There are children
present, so let’s keep this G-rated.”

Tipping his head, Luke smirked at Ben. “Just
remember, Gigantor, that little fuzz ball is going home with you.
And your feet are even less dainty than mine.”

Sabrina shuddered as she watched Ben’s huge hand
close around his water goblet. The correlation between a man’s foot
size and his privates was just an old wives tale—wasn’t it?

Better yet, why didn’t the prospect of sleeping with
Luke, who was only a tad shorter than Ben, intimidate her the same
way?

She rubbed her face in the puppy’s soft fur and
cooed to her, “Don’t listen to those idiots, sweetheart. I won’t
let Ben’s big hooves anywhere near you.” She peered up at him and
gave him a playful wink. “And if any of his other parts are as big
as the rest of him, you can return the favor and protect me.”

“If that’s the case,” Ben muttered, “I don’t think
I’ll be letting that rag mop into our bedroom.”

A deep wrinkle furrowed Luke’s forehead right before
a smile spread over his face as if he’d had a sudden, pleasing
revelation.

If he had no romantic feelings for her, why did he
seem so happy she hadn’t slept with his friend?