On Dublin Street The Bonus Material - Samantha Young Page 0,7

Be a bit choosier.”

Before Braden could reply to that uncharacteristic comment, Ellie turned to them and grabbed hold of Adam’s arm. “What are you two whispering about?”

Adam shook his head, smiling tenderly at her. “Shop talk.”

Braden stared at his wee sister and best friend, warring between hitting Adam for even contemplating going there with Ellie, and reluctantly wondering if they might not be bloody perfect for each other. He wasn’t ready to deal with the idea.

“There’s Joss.” Ellie’s eyes lit up as they stepped into the low-lit space, their gazes moving to the bar area that was situated lower than the main floor. Four ridiculously misplaced steps led down to it. Drunken people must love that, Braden thought.

Club 39 was pretty quiet and Jocelyn and her male colleague were standing relaxed behind the bar with their backs to them, deep in discussion. As they grew closer, Braden’s body tensed at the cocky smile the bartender threw Jocelyn. Braden knew that cocky smile. It was his own ‘let’s fuck’ smile.

The bartender leaned into Jocelyn. “I’m bored. Want to shag me in the men’s toilets?”

A fierce wave of possessiveness hit Braden out of nowhere and he made a noise in the back of his throat, drawing Adam’s curious gaze. He didn’t look at his friend. His eyes blazed into the back of Jocelyn’s head, willing her to tell this idiot to piss off.

Before she could, Ellie suddenly piped up. “Well? Do you?”

Sometimes little sisters really were a pain in the arse.

Jocelyn spun around but Braden’s attention was on her colleague. Heavy disappointment filled his gut as it occurred to him that this colleague might in fact—no, probably was—Jocelyn’s boyfriend.

She had a boyfriend.

Shit.

“Um… what are you doing here?” She asked in that husky voice of hers. That’s all it took to capture Braden’s focus.

Double shit.

Her uniform was sexy. Simple but effective. A low-cut white tank top with Club 39 scrawled across the right breast. It nipped and tucked in all the right places, showcasing Jocelyn’s magnificent breasts and neat little waist.

He felt his skin tingle with the familiar heat she incited in him.

Braden was vaguely aware of Ellie answering Jocelyn’s question but he was preoccupied. Jocelyn had a boyfriend. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been this disappointed.

“Adam is Braden’s best friend.” The amusement in Ellie’s voice drew Braden’s gaze. Her laughter filled the bar area as she glanced back at Jocelyn. “I would introduce you to Braden, but I believe you’ve already… met.” Struggling to stop his mouth twitching at Ellie’s perverse enjoyment of the situation, Braden turned an impassive gaze on Jocelyn. She narrowed her stunning eyes on him.

“You told her,” she accused as if he’d somehow betrayed her.

And yet, Braden wasn’t the one hiding the fact he wasn’t available.

“Told her what?” Adam asked, completely confused by Ellie’s hysterics.

Watching his sister giggle, and enjoying Jocelyn’s discomfort more than he should, Braden smirked and assessed Jocelyn’s reaction as he replied, “That I walked in on Jocelyn when she was wandering around the flat naked.”

“No,” she bit out, her eyebrows drawn together in annoyance. The lady was one furious little bundle of hotness. “I was coming out of the bathroom looking for a towel.”

“He saw you naked?” Her colleague/boyfriend scowled at her.

It was fun to irritate Jocelyn but Braden wouldn’t take the incident yesterday so far as to cause her problems in her relationship.

Attempting to be as civil and as friendly as he could towards the bloke lucky enough to have Jocelyn Butler in his bed, Braden held out his hand to shake the bartender’s. “Braden Carmichael. Nice to meet you. I have a girlfriend. I wasn’t putting the moves on yours.”

“Oh, Joss isn’t my girlfriend.”

The amount of relief those words produced disconcerted the hell out of Braden.

“Not for my lack of trying.” He grinned down at Jocelyn and Braden itched to tell him to back the fuck off.

Jesus, he couldn’t remember the last time a woman made him this territorial.

“Customer.” Jocelyn pointed to a girl who’d approached the other end of the bar and seemed to slump with relief as her colleague sauntered away from them. He studied her reaction, wondering what it meant. Was this guy harassing her? Tension rippled through his entire body as he saw the disconcertion on her face. He felt an overwhelming need to protect this warrior woman, this seemingly strong, independent woman with perpetual sadness behind the eyes.

“Not your boyfriend?” Ellie leaned against the bar. “Really? Why not? He’s cute. And he certainly thinks you’re