Choose the appropriate expression for the following situation. Joe worked outside 2 hours less than his little brother. How long did Joe work outside? $2 b$ $b-2$ \[ \frac{2}{b} \]

Step 1 ：Let the time his little brother worked be denoted as b.

Step 2 ：To find the time Joe worked outside, subtract 2 hours from the time his little brother worked: \(b - 2\).

Step 3 ：\(\boxed{b-2}\) is the appropriate expression for the time Joe worked outside.