Heartbreaker Read Online Free PDF

the intense blue of his eyes, she murmured, “Excuse me,” and waited for him to move out of her way.
    He didn’t.
    To her chagrin, he took her hand in his, then laid the fingertips of his other hand against her wrist.
    â€œDon’t,” she warned.
    He counted, then released her hand. “One hundred and five.” He informed her of her heart rate as if he’d taken on responsibility for her health.
    â€œI’m not your patient,” she whispered in a near snarl.
    â€œChalk it up to my job. It’s worrisome when someone ignores the obvious. How long do you think your heart can keep up that pace?”
    She swept past him. Seeing Rose’s concerned gaze, she forced a smile and kept her hands by her sides, although the familiar pain stabbed at her chest. She breathed very deeply, willing her body to slow down and relax.
    Her pulse was fast only because Michael O’Day, famous heart surgeon, made her so blasted angry. He probably tortured his patients into letting him operate.
    At that ridiculous idea, she had to grin. She was letting all this turmoil affect her too much.
    â€œWell,” she said when they sat down for the meal, “here we are. Two Wainwrights—” she indicated herself and Rose “—two Carsons—” she nodded toward Flynt and Matt “—and two referees to keep the peace.” She gestured toward Josie and Michael.
    Susan was pleased when the other five laughed at her little jab about the infamous Carson-Wainwright feud. Their father had been furious when he learned Rose, the sweet, quiet one in the family, was pregnant. He’d nearly had a hemorrhage when he learned the father belonged to the Carson clan.
    â€œRose is a Carson now,” Matt said with obvious satisfaction.
    Susan shook her head. “No way. Maybe half and half, but certainly no more.”
    â€œThese modern women,” Michael complained. “Life was simpler when we could just kidnap them and drag them off to join the male’s clan.”
    â€œIn some tribes, the male joined the female’s family,” Susan said, quick to point out this fact.
    A cry from the bedroom had Josie leaping to her feet and fleeing the room, Flynt right behind her.
    â€œLena,” Rose explained.
    The couple returned to the dining room carrying a bundle of pink. The baby girl blinked sleepily at the adults, then puckered up again.
    â€œThe bottle,” Flynt said, and rushed to the refrigerator. He brought a baby bottle to Josie. “Would you like me to feed her so you can eat?”
    Josie shook her head. “Please, all of you, don’t let your food get cold. This will only take a few minutes.”
    The surrogate mother fed the hungry little girl while the other adults watched in open fascination.
    â€œHow old is she now?” Susan asked.
    â€œAbout six months, we think,” Josie told her. “The doctor said she wasn’t more than eight to ten weeks old when she was found. How could her mother bear to leave her?”
    Susan pressed a hand to her chest as fresh painsurged there. How, indeed, could anyone leave a child?
    â€œI operated on a six-month-old in June,” Michael said, a pensive look on his face. “He had a hole between the chambers of his heart.”
    Flynt gave his friend a worried glance. “How did he do?”
    Susan’s heart did a little dance against her breastbone when Michael smiled.
    â€œFine. He was a fighter from the start. Now his mother says she can’t keep him out of trouble. He crawls all over the house and gets into everything.”
    Susan was surprised at how relieved she felt at the happy ending to Michael’s story concerning the child. Her eyes were drawn to Baby Lena. Her own mother had almost given up on grandchildren. Justin, her brother, had once been married, but that had ended in divorce and no children. Now they had Rose’s baby to look forward to.
    At ten, when Rose