To Love Someone (Baytown Boys #14) - Maryann Jordan Page 0,26

to get my fiancé’s name tattooed right over my heart.”

The girl next to her leaned in and offered a drunken wink which resembled more of a rapid blink to get something out of her eyes. “She means she wants it right on her boob. I told her while she’s at it she should get a nipple piercing, too.”

Another girl stumbled over, blurting, “I told her to get a clit piercing, but now that I see you… damn, I’ll strip and you can pierce any part of me you want to!”

One of them shifted to the side, and he saw Samantha standing behind them, her eyes not giving away any of her thoughts. She simply lifted one eyebrow slightly, turned, and headed out of the pub.

Growling, he opened his mouth to shut them down when Brogan stomped over to their end of the bar and glared at the three women. “You’re cut off. Go back to your hotel and sleep it off, ladies.”

All three dropped their sloppy smiles and walked out grumbling. Ginny followed, murmuring, “I’ll make sure they get there without getting into a vehicle.”

Jason walked over, and Joseph looked at him, shaking his head. “I probably just cost your shop some money, but I was going to turn their asses down.”

“Don’t worry about it, man. We don’t work on people who are inebriated, and I seriously doubt they’d want to go under the needle when sober.” Jason looked to the side and smiled, lifting his arm as Rose walked directly to him, wrapping her arm around his waist.

After smiling at her husband, she turned and smiled at Joseph. “I saw you talking to Sam.”

“Uh-huh.”

“She’s sweet.”

He turned back to his beer. “Uh-huh.” She laughed, and he couldn’t help but glance to the side, seeing both her wide smile and Jason’s grin.

She patted his shoulder and said, “Okay, okay, I get it. You don’t want to talk about Sam.”

“Uh-huh.”

Rose giggled and leaned up on her tiptoes to kiss the underside of Jason’s jaw. “I’m going to go say goodbye to the girls and then we can head home, sweetie.”

Rose waddled away after Jason kissed her lightly as his hand rubbed her pregnant belly. Then, he turned back to Joseph. “Seriously, man, what’s up with you and Sam?”

“If I wasn’t gonna talk to Rose about it, why do you think I’d talk to you?”

Jason didn’t reply but just held his gaze. Sighing, Joseph shook his head slightly. “It just seems that every time I’m around her, I say stupid shit. It’s like being fourteen years old all over again.”

“Seriously?”

“The first time I met her, I thought she was about eighteen… twenty tops. And since everybody kept talking about Sam Collins the veterinarian, I was looking around for a man, insulting her when she lets me know she’s the veterinarian. Then, tonight, I insulted her again. I was surprised to see her walk into the AL meeting. It never dawned on me she’d been in the military. She said she was there because she was a vet, I thought she was confused about veteran and veterinarian. Turns out I’m the one that looked like an idiot.”

“Fuckin’ hell,” Jason laughed, snorting. “You are as bad as a fourteen-year-old.”

“Thanks. Thanks a lot.”

Jason clapped him on the back and shook his head as Rose started walking toward them again. “I don’t know her well, but she seems pretty laid-back. How about just talking to her sometime? Tell her you’re sorry for sticking your foot in your mouth and then start over.”

“Is that the best advice you got?”

Rose slid back under Jason’s arm again, and he squeezed her shoulder. “Rose will tell you that we didn’t get along at first. In fact, she couldn’t stand me.” She rolled her eyes, and he continued, “But I persisted, and look where we are now.”

Jason and Rose walked out of the pub, and Joseph finished his beer. Jesus… what the hell am I doing here? Tossing money onto the bar, he walked out into the cool evening. A thought of moving on flashed through his mind but didn’t settle inside.

Sighing, he scrubbed his hand over his face and thought about Samantha out in the night working on an injured dog. For a moment, the idea of driving to her clinic to see if she was there and needed any help passed through his mind. After overhearing those stupid women talk about tattoos and piercings, I’m probably the last person she wants to see. Sighing once again, he walked down the