A Heart Decision Read Online Free Page B

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,