A Heart Decision

A Heart Decision

The Return to Redemption Series—Book Five

by

Romance Writers of America
^®

Golden Heart
^®
Award-winning author

On her wedding night, Sabrina will share
the

bridal suite with one of her brother’s best
friends.

Which one? She has no idea!

Sabrina Fitzpatrick helped plan her dream
wedding last year—
for her brother and his wife
. Now, she
wants her own fairytale ceremony. She’s tired of waiting for
commitment-phobe, Detective Luke Marino, to realize she’s been
crazy about him since puberty. Consequently, when Luke’s
billionaire friend asks her to marry him, she’s compelled to accept
BJ Elliott’s proposal, especially after he suggests their impending
marriage might induce his idiot pal to finally step forward.
Unfortunately, a week later, adrenaline-junkie Luke risks his life
again
and ends up temporarily confined to a wheelchair.

BJ would love to give Sabrina an
unforgettable wedding night, but he fears she’ll never be happy
with him if she doesn’t resolve her feelings for his buddy, first.
Therefore, even knowing he could lose her, BJ persuades her to
become Luke’s live-in nurse—offering her one last chance to
convince the man she loves to take BJ’s place at the altar
(
which BJ doubts his friend will ever do
). If nothing else,
he hopes
Love’em and Leave’em
Luke can convince Sabrina
he’ll make a lousy husband.

Luke has two secrets not even his best
friends know. The first is he aches for Sabrina with every fiber of
his being. The second is he loves her enough to spare her the
heartbreak that being his wife would undoubtedly entail. Much to
Luke’s dismay, his resolve to resist his buddy’s fiancée is tested
after Sabrina steps in as his nurse and starts prancing around in
nothing but his threadbare T-shirt. If he surrenders to her
seduction, it may destroy his relationship with BJ. And, worse
still, if he gets a taste of loving Sabrina, how can he ever stand
by and let her marry his friend?

A Heart Decision

Copyright 2013 Laurie Kellogg

LK Books

All rights reserved

ISBN-13: 9781938618130

This book or any portion thereof may not be
reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express
written permission of the author except for the use of brief
quotations. Thank you for respecting this author’s hard work.

This novel is a work of fiction. Any
references to real people, events, establishments, organizations,
or locations are used only to provide authenticity and are used
factiously. All other characters, places, incidents, and dialogue
are products of the author’s imagination and should not be
construed as real. Any resemblance between the novel’s characters
and setting and actual individuals or places is completely
coincidental. All inaccuracies or mistakes are the author’s and
accidental. The author apologizes for any factual discrepancies or
typographical errors. If you find any, please contact the author so
she can correct them for future copies.

Editor

Gwynlyn MacKenzie

Copy Editor

Heidi Luchterhand

Beta Reader

Elizabeth Walls

Proofreader

Kristi Judd

Dedicated to the Pitas, Patty and Jenn

Castration was too good for the fool who came up
with the idea for surprise parties. At the very least, the guy
deserved a swift kick in the ‘nads.

“Unfortunately, the sadist was probably a woman,”
Luke Marino muttered as he pulled his Jeep Patriot up to his buddy
Tyler’s home in Redemption, Pennsylvania.

The group of men gathered in the circular driveway
of the impressive gray stone house indicated the birthday
celebration for Tyler’s younger sister, Sabrina, was already in
full swing.

If nothing else, he’d managed to miss the
traditional
give the guest of honor a heart attack
welcome.

He swung his aging SUV into shaded space behind BJ
Elliott’s silver McLaren and did a mental happy dance at the sight
of Ben’s million-dollar baby.

At least his friend hadn’t let his man Friday
chauffeur him and Sabrina to the party in his stretch limo. The
McLaren F1 might be one of the sleekest, fastest cars on the road,
but BJ would have to twist his Terminator body into a pretzel to
get romantic in his supersonic sports car.

Luke sucked in a shuddering breath, anticipating the
engagement announcement Ben had told him he’d be making at the
party. How the hell was he supposed to stand next to BJ and listen
to the woman—who Luke had loved since forever—promise to cherish
his friend for the rest of her life?

Massaging the tension from his neck, he lowered the
vehicle’s windows to protect Sabrina’s birthday gift from the late
September heat.

“Anyone know how fast this baby is off the line?”
asked one of the men lusting over the McLaren.

“A lot faster than anything you’ve ever driven,”
another man teased.

Luke swiped at the wrinkles in his khaki trousers
and shoved the Jeep’s door closed with his hip. “She goes from zero
to sixty in 3.2 seconds and tops out at about two-forty,” he told
the group of men. “Although the fastest we’ve ever pushed her on
the track is two-twenty.”

“BJ actually let you drive it?”

“Yup.” As one of the ten youngest billionaires in
the country, Ben’s greatest character flaw had to be his extreme
generosity—if one could call benevolence a fault.

After growing up a lonely rich kid, BJ had adopted
the MO of using his money to ingratiate himself before anyone could
reject him. In fact, sometimes Ben was so kind and bighearted, he
came across as a boot-licking, people pleaser. However, when it
came to negotiating a business deal, Benjamin Jackson Elliott III
evidently checked his insecurity and kindness at the door and
didn’t care if his adversaries considered him a bastard.

The media referred to him as the Golden Giant
because of his size, coloring, and Midas touch in business. With
the help of Sabrina’s brother, Tyler, as his attorney and advisor,
BJ had amassed over ten billion in assets as well as a reputation
that rivaled Warren Buffet’s. Coattail investors kept closer track
of what Ben did with his family’s fortune than most women did the
number on their bathroom scales.

If Luke didn’t care so much about his friend, he
could easily hate Ben for keeping him and everyone else
indebted.

“So, how’d she handle?” one of the men on the lawn
asked about the McLaren.

“Great. I’d stay and tell you how incredible it was,
but I’m already late. If I don’t show my ugly face soon, I’ll catch
hell from Sabrina.”

He waved and called over his shoulder. “When you
guys finish panting over the car, be sure to wipe off your
drool.”

The men’s boisterous laughter followed him toward
the sounds of the party as he trudged along the flagstone path that
cut through the professionally landscaped grounds surrounding the
contemporary five-bedroom house.

He glared at a sparrow chirping a cheery song from
one of the rose bushes. The sweet scent of the pink blooms
threatened to set off his hay fever.

“What’re you so happy about?” he snarled at the
diminutive brown bird. It stared at him for a split second before
flitting off to another yard. “Good. Go choke on a worm.”

It was bad enough he’d have to spend his Sunday
afternoon listening to a horde of people congratulate BJ and
Sabrina. He didn’t need some perky little bird leading the
chorus.

Soft romantic music drifted from the stereo, mixing
with the laughter and voices of the guests. He stepped through the
white wrought iron gate, scanned the sea of people milling around
the pool in the sprawling backyard, and zeroed in on the top of
Sabrina’s honey blonde head. His heart thundered like the steady
echo at the firing range whenever he squeezed off an entire clip of
ammo.

Damn, she looked sexy. With her windblown
shoulder-length hair and sensual pout, she could’ve just tumbled
out of her lover’s bed.

Her pale blue sundress did nothing to contradict
that impression. Its skimpy straps and low-cut back teased his
senses. It revealed just enough of her light golden tan to give a
man ideas.

Lucky for him, the dress’s full, calf-length skirt
alleviated some of its erotic effect by hiding her gorgeous
legs.

His throat tightened as Sabrina smiled up at his big
blond friend and cuddled into Ben’s side. Despite her average
height, she’d always seemed petite and fragile to him. Possibly
because her body
was
compact and tiny in proportion to her
long legs. Or maybe he just still remembered how small she’d felt
at eleven years old when they were caught in a sudden, violent
thunderstorm during a game of Manhunt. They’d found shelter under a
porch where he held and comforted her until the deluge ended.

Perhaps his six-three frame only made it
seem
as if she wasn’t much bigger now. Regardless of the reason, the
words small and delicate always came to mind whenever he pictured
her gentle curves.

She turned and, when her gaze locked with his, her
sparkling green eyes lit up like two traffic lights. “Luke!”

Ben’s face became a mask of pain as she loped across
the yard and jumped on Luke as if she were still eleven years
old.

Damn it. BJ obviously knew Sabrina wasn’t in love
with him, so why had the idiot asked her to marry him? Simply
because Luke wouldn’t?

While Ben stopped to snag a beer from a waiter’s
tray, Luke spun her in a circle and breathed in the fragrance of
herbal shampoo mingled with her sweet scent. The combination did
unholy things to him.

“Hey, Princess.” He hugged her tightly. “How are
you?”

Her arms snaked around his neck as she planted a
loud smooch on his cheek. “You’re late.”

“I know. I’m sorry. I was on a stakeout until five
this morning. I forgot to set my alarm.” He neglected to mention
that he’d dreaded this afternoon so much that it had probably been
an intentional oversight. A spear of heat shot into his groin as
her soft curves pressed against him.

“My brother told me you went skydiving last weekend.
Is that true?”

Tyler had a big mouth.

He set her down and stepped back, groaning inwardly
at the way her dress hugged her shape. “As always, you look
gorgeous.”

“Don’t change the subject, you lunatic. Did you or
didn’t you jump out of a plane?”

“As a matter of fact, I did, and I had a blast.
Freefalling is nearly as good as sex. And the only thing that could
top sex would be to have it in midair at five thousand feet.”

Ben slapped him on the back “I think I’ll stick with
getting my thrills the conventional way—in the bedroom.” He handed
Luke the sweating bottle of beer he’d collected. “It’s about time
you got here. You missed my romantic engagement announcement.”

Thank you, God
.

Ever since their college football days, there’d
always been a fierce competition between them. One of the only
things Ben had ever beaten him at was making money. If Luke wasn’t
certain his friend was completely unaware of his feelings for
Sabrina, he’d swear BJ was attempting to rub his nose in their
betrothal.

“Thanks, Beej.” Luke took a swig and wiped the back
of his hand across his mouth as the cold brew slid down his parched
throat. “It’s about time Sabrina came to her senses and realized
what a great catch you are. Congratulations.”

Even though BJ’s Viking build and fierce features
were intimidating enough to make Loki tremble, Ben—or the Norse
God,
Thor,
in this case—still lured beautiful women to him
with the same ease as Thor drew his hammer, Mjölnir, back to his
hand. Unfortunately, BJ’s would-be seducers were all more
interested in the contents of his wallet than in the huge heart
beating in his chest.

“So, let me see the rock.” Luke took Sabrina’s
delicate hand in his calloused palm and studied the dazzling
diamond, which, surprisingly, was only a bit larger than the
average engagement ring. This stone, however, sparkled in the sun
like no other he’d ever seen. Undoubtedly, a more flawless gem
didn’t exist.

“Such a tiny piece of gravel, Ben? Knowing the size
of your bank account and tendency to indulge, I expected her to be
dragging a boulder.”

“You know Sabrina.” Ben rolled his eyes. “If I’d
bought her anything bigger, she’d just lock it in a vault.”

“Isn’t that why you love her—she doesn’t give a damn
what you can give her?”