The Watson Brothers by Lori Foster

congregated on the front porch along with Hesper, Booth, and the elderly bulldog. Sam groaned. “Jesus, can’t a man find any peace?”
    “They care about you.”
    “Yeah, well they could care about me tomorrow instead.” He gave her another searching look, and seemed annoyed when she turned away. But she just couldn’t bear it.
    She’d meant to leave him alone, to let him get beyond his brother’s ridiculous insistence on marriage. Then she’d hoped to go to him, to see if he wanted to continue seeing her, no strings attached. Despite what she’d originally told herself, she’d rather have Sam any way she could, than not at all.
    Her trip to the bar had been impromptu, one last-ditch effort to get her mind off him for a few minutes.
    And fate had stuck her in the same bar where he was working.
    She’d been heartsick at the first sight of him, then terrified because she knew what would happen, why he was there. In a dozen different ways, loving Sam was going to be tough.
    Sam didn’t say anything else as he grunted and groaned his way out of the car. His family merely stood back, watching his progress without offering help. They seemed to know how he felt about assistance—not that Ariel gave a hoot. She took his arm and led him along the walkway that had thankfully been swept clean.
    After helping him up to the porch, Ariel took his keys from him and opened his front door, but Sam didn’t go in. He put his arm heavily around her and turned to face his family and neighbors. To Ariel, he looked pale and pained and her worry escalated.
    Until he said, “I’m fine and while I thank you all for your concern, I’d really like to speak to Ariel. Alone.”
    Ariel felt her face turn bright red. Now they all knew that he was going to read her the riot act for being in the wrong bar at the wrong time again. Odds were, he’d tell her she had no place in his life, too.
    Pete crossed his arms. “Got wedding plans to make?”
    Ariel gasped at such a ludicrous comment. “Pete Watson, that is enough.”
    “No, it’s not,” Sam told her, and his arm tightened. He looked very put out with her attitude. “I’d like to explain about the other morning…”
    “There’s nothing to explain,” she assured him, unwilling to have him forced into saying things he shouldn’t have to say, especially with an audience. “I told you, I’m an adult. I knew what I was doing.”
    “What’d she do?” Booth asked his wife in confusion, and Hesper said, “You don’t remember our youth?”
    “Ahh.” Booth gave a toothy grin. “No wonder the boy’s riled.”
    Belinda shook her head at Ariel. “Let him explain, dear. This might prove interesting.”
    Sam glared, but none of them budged. “I suppose you all want to hear it?”
    Gil said, “I know I do. Hell, I need a distraction.”
    “Fine.” He turned to Ariel and cupped her face. She couldn’t look away from the earnestness in his beautiful blue eyes. “I can’t bear the thought of you being hurt.”
    Misunderstanding his meaning, Ariel swallowed, then tried to reassure him. “I’ll be fine, Sam. You don’t owe me anything.” And to try to prove that, she added, “I’m sorry we ended up at the same bar again, but Duluth isn’t exactly a hotbed of social outlets. My choices were pretty limited and I promise it was an accident.”
    Very slowly, the pain seemed to leave him and he stiffened. “What were you doing there, then?”
    Ariel took a step away from that gritting tone. “I wasn’t trying to watch over you. I promise.”
    Her assurances only annoyed him more. “Then why? ”
    She glanced around at the rapt faces of their audience. No one looked ready to intervene and rescue her, so she scowled and thrust her chin up. “I was there to…well to be sure again.”
    His face went blank, then turned red and angry. “ Damn it, Ariel . I thought you were already sure.”
    “Don’t you dare yell at me, Sam. I’ve had a rough enough week as it is.”
    He