On Dublin Street The Bonus Material - Samantha Young Page 0,14

gazed at his sister and in that moment he envied Ellie. Which was bloody ridiculous, he knew. “Wait. You got your biopsy results?”

Ellie glared accusingly at them. “No one told her?”

Irritated by the assumption that it was their fault he threw Jocelyn a pointed look. “Maybe if she would stop avoiding everyone someone might have.”

Again she ignored him as she waved at the room. His irritation grew to anger. “Hello! Results please?”

Ellie grinned. “Benign.”

Watching her sag with relief made Braden even madder. He should have been the one to give her the news when they first heard it and his arms should have been around her to catch her as she deflated with assuaged fears.

“That really should have been the opener.”

“Sorry,” Ellie said.

Braden felt like snapping at her not to apologize. None of this was Ellie’s fault. The fault belonged to this fucking woman who couldn’t just admit she had a fucking heart and she fucking loved them with it.

Conversation passed between the group but he wasn’t listening anymore. He needed to get Jocelyn alone. Ellie needed her rest and not to be witness to an upcoming confrontation.

Suddenly Jocelyn was heading for the door. Braden automatically blocked her path. “We need to talk.” He gave her no time to respond, turning on his heel and walking out of the room. He strode down the hall and into her bedroom, hearing her follow behind him.

As soon as she was inside the bedroom, he strode past her to lock it so she couldn’t escape.

“We could talk in the sitting room,” she said, sounding put out and irritable.

It was something at least. Anything was better than avoidance and indifference.

And there it was. The thing that had taken root. The indifference. The fear the indifference had created. Because indifference suggested she might have moved on. If his woman had moved on…

Bloody hell.

He almost rubbed his chest where a sudden pain had blazed.

Like always when Jocelyn was near he needed to be nearer. He stalked her, loving the way her chin tilted in defiance as he invaded her personal space entirely. He knew her well enough to know that she wanted to back up, take some breathing space, but wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of thinking she needed it. Even when it annoyed him, her steely determination turned him on.

Let’s face it, everything this woman did turned him on.

She’d forever changed him.

That wouldn’t bother him so much if she could just admit the feeling was mutual. But times like now, when she fought him, when she made him work so fucking hard for it, he almost resented her. He’d more than resent her if he found out there was someone else.

“I’ve been trying to give you space,” he snapped. “but this is ridiculous.”

If he wasn’t mistaken she looked genuinely confused by his comment. “Uh, what?”

Wondering at the confusion, his eyes narrowed as he studied her, trying to understand her response. Was this another game of defense? Or worse. She did believe their separation was real and she’d found someone else? He needed to know. “You’re never here. Are you seeing someone else? Because I swear to God—”

“Are you kidding me?” She yelled.

That flush of indignation. That anger.

The pain in his chest disappeared and he had to stop himself from grinning. There was no one else then. That still didn’t explain anything. “Well, what the hell is going on?”

Jocelyn drew in a shaky breath. His fingers itched to touch her but he held himself in check. “You’re an asshole. Coming in here and accusing me of messing around behind your back when you’re the one who’s screwing his new nightclub manager.”

Shock rocked him back.

What. The. Ever. Loving. Fuck?

Where did she get this shit?

Was this her latest attempt to push him away?

For the second time since they’d met he found himself truly disappointed in her. The last—her behavior toward Ellie—she’d more than made up for. But he couldn’t see her making up for this. This was a new low. And he hadn’t expected it of her. He tried to control his anger as he said, “Isla? You think I’m fucking Isla? I don’t believe this.”

She crossed her arms over her chest, giving him a look of disgust. “Ellie told me everything.”

Now Braden was flabbergasted.

Jocelyn hadn’t invented the idea? His sister…. What? “Ellie? What exactly did Ellie tell you?”

“She met you for lunch. The two of you met her and Adam for lunch and she said that you were all over each other.”

Trying to process this new information