Damn his sister.
When Valerie had showed up in the storeroom and told Brett that Sidney needed him right away, she’d scared the hell out of him. The panic that had run through him when he thought she was hurt or in trouble had sent him flying down the hallway and through the bar like a runaway freight train. He hadn’t been able to get to her fast enough.
Valerie could’ve just told him that Sidney needed a ride home. It’s not like he minded. “What happened to your date?”
Sidney didn’t reply right away so Valerie answered for her. “He got wasted, lost his car keys, threw up in the cab, and then he left.”
Brett’s eyes narrowed onto Sidney. “He just left you here?”
She shook her head. “Um, not exactly. I volunteered not to go.”
He couldn’t help grinning. Sidney always had a weak stomach when it came to certain smells. She’d once gone through four different car fresheners before she found one that didn’t make her sick to her stomach. “I can take you home.”
She shook her head. “It’s okay. I can walk. It’s not that far.”
“I was heading home anyway. It’s on the way. I don’t mind. Besides, you really shouldn’t be out walking this late at night. Especially in the rain. It’s not safe.”
Sidney sighed, as if she didn’t seem too happy about his offer. “Okay, fine.”
Valerie smiled. “Good, it’s settled then. You two have fun,” she said, heading back inside the bar.
He shook his head. Like it wasn’t obvious what his sister was trying to do. But he didn’t need her interfering in his love life. Especially since she hadn’t appreciated it when he’d done it to her. Guess now Valerie was giving him a dose of his own medicine. The little matchmaker.
Brett and Sidney ran to his truck and quickly climbed into the cab to get out of the rain, which had started coming down faster. He offered to turn the heat on for her, but Sidney told him not to bother worrying about her. He didn’t know why she was so irritated with him for giving her a ride home, but that was definitely the vibe he was picking up from her.
To be honest, he wasn’t in the best of moods himself. While he was still irritated that her date had gotten drunk and left her to fend for herself, he was glad that he was the one who was making sure she got safely home…and alone. He didn’t know how long she’d been seeing this other guy, but the thought of her being intimate with another man was eating at him. Not that he could tell her that.
They drove in silence. When he pulled up at the curb, he shut the engine off, and the heavy rain instantly blurred the windshield with a sheet of water. He gazed over at her. “I’ll walk you to your door.”
She shook her head persistently. “No need. I’ll be fine.”
“All right.”
An awkward tension sat between them, but she didn’t move to get out of the car. Instead, she gazed up at him and said, “Where were you tonight?”
“At the bar.”
“I know that but…where at the bar? I didn’t see you in there.”
Damn it. Why was she asking him that? Did she think he was there spying on her or something? “What does it matter?”
“I just…want to know.”
He hadn’t intended on telling her any of this, but he refused to lie to her. “The moment I saw you and your date come into the bar, I hid out in the storeroom.”
She blinked at him. “Why would you do that?”
“Because I couldn’t bear the thought of another man kissing or touching you…the way I used to.”
She closed her eyes. “Brett, I…” Her voice trailed off.
His chest tightened, and he cringed. “It’s okay. You don’t have to say anything.” Because hearing her say she couldn’t be with him again would hurt just as much now as it had a year ago. “I understand.”
“Do you?”
“Sure,” he said, trying to soften his voice to hide the pain.
He sighed inwardly. He was pining away for a woman who clearly wanted nothing to do with him. And sadly, it was his own fault. He could kick himself in the ass for ruining things with her, but that wouldn’t make him feel any better about it. So, as a man resigned to his own fate, he instead would do the one thing he really didn’t want to do. He would wish her the best and let her go.
Brett cleared his throat. “Look, I don’t know how long you’ve been seeing this new guy, but if he’s the one who makes you happy, then I wish you both all the best. That’s all I ever wanted for you.”
A look of confusion warped her shocked face, and she shook her head at him. “I…uh, don’t know what to say. I thought—”
“You don’t have to say anything back, Sid. I just wanted you to know that I want the best for you. Always.” He glanced at the windshield. “The rain stopped. You better get inside before it starts up again.”
“Um, okay,” she said, blinking at him.
“Good night, Sid.”
When Brett leaned over the arm rest to give her a peck on the cheek, Sidney turned her face up to his and kissed him directly on the mouth. The gesture was so unexpected that it froze him in place. Her lips were touching his, but he was so stunned by it that all he could do was sit there like a damn corpse. What the hell was wrong with him?
The moment Sidney didn’t get a favorable response, she pulled away and mumbled an awkward apology. He could tell how embarrassed she was that he hadn’t kissed her back, but before he could explain himself, she reached for the door handle so she could escape the humiliation she felt.
But he wasn’t about to let that happen. Not after she’d kissed him.
Brett reached for her and pulled her back to him before ratcheting her up in his arms and covering her mouth with his. Her lips parted in surprise, and he took advantage of the moment by thrusting his tongue inside and deepening the kiss. God, he’d missed this. The taste of her lips. The scent of her skin. The feel of her soft, curvy body pressing against his. Lord help him, he couldn’t get enough of her.
And apparently, she felt the same way.
Her tongue rolled against his with a hunger he hadn’t felt before, and her insistent hands roamed over him with a passionate fury. If it hadn’t been for the middle console keeping them apart from the waist down, he was pretty damn sure she would’ve already straddled him.
“God, I want you,” she whispered, nipping at his bottom lip as she pulled at his belt to undo it.
Stupid fucking console.
Brett was prepared to rip the damn thing out of his truck right then and there, but then he remembered that she’d just been on a date with another man. Damn it. Talk about a mood killer.
He was so confused that he didn’t know what to do. He thought she had moved on with her life and gotten over him. After all, in the past few days, she’d refused his help, told him they were just friends, and gone out with another guy. What else was he supposed to think? Yet now she was kissing him and trying to take off his clothes.
She almost had his belt completely unbuckled, and he knew that if her hand went anywhere inside his pants, it was all over. There was no way he could—or would—stop things at that point.
He put his hand on top of hers and pulled his mouth back slightly. “Sid, wait.”
“Why? Do you want to get into the backseat first?”
Holy hell. He closed his eyes. Be strong, man. You can do this.
“No. I think we need to talk first.”
She trailed her tongue over his lips. “No, we don’t. Let’s not ruin anything by talking.”
He licked his lips, tasting her on them. “I’m serious, Sid. What is this?”
“It’s called sex,” she said, blowing out an aggravated breath. “But I’m pretty sure you already knew that.”
“Look, things have changed between us, and I don’t want anyone to get hurt. I think we should slow this down before that happens.”
The stunned look on her face made him feel bad, but she hadn’t said anything about them getting back together, and the last thing he wanted was a meaningless one-night stand with her. Sidney had never been that kind of woman, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to treat her that way.
Yeah, he’d slept with her before. Sure, he would probably kick himself in the ass later for not allowing himself to have her. But she’d just been out with another man, for goodness’ sake. So at this point, he needed to make sure she was all in. Because he definitely was.
He’d lost her once and didn’t want that to happen again. If that meant taking things slow and showing her that she could trust him to be the man she needed—the only one she needed—then that was exactly what he was going to do.
He gave her an encouraging smile. “Why don’t we go out to dinner tomorrow night so we can spend some time together? It’s been a while since we did that.”
“Uh, okay. I guess so.”
Brett nodded. “Great. I’ll pick the place.”
Because it was going to have to be somewhere public where he wouldn’t be tempted to rip her damn clothes off and slide her under him.
Sidney didn’t know what the hell was going on.
She’d spent the entire night lying awake, wondering why Brett had put the brakes on when it came to last night’s make-out session and whether her new figure had anything to do with it. After she’d offered herself up on a platter and he still refused her, what else could it be?
He’d said he wanted to take things slow. But weren’t things like that something guys said when they weren’t all that interested? She’d read He’s Just Not That into You before. Even saw the movie. Now she felt like she was living the scenario in her head.
If he’d rather take you to dinner than to bed, he’s just not that into you.
Then again, this was Brett she was talking about. Her Brett. And he’d never once treated her like that before. So maybe he really did want to take things slow like he’d said. And if that was the case, she appreciated the notion. Honestly, that was probably for the best anyway.
She’d called Charles that afternoon to let him know that Valerie had texted her that she’d found his keys and he could pick them up at the bar. Then she broke the news that she just wasn’t that into him…except she did it much more nicely than that. He hadn’t really seemed all that worried about it, which actually was a little insulting since he had been the one who’d acted like such a dumbass on their date.
But whatever. At least she wasn’t nursing a hangover. Karma sometimes had a way of righting the wrongs of the world.
The faint roar of an engine rumbled in the air, and her heart flatlined.
That had to be Brett since she wasn’t expecting anyone else, but he’d arrived a few minutes early. She glanced in her full-length mirror and smoothed the wrinkles out of her white silk blouse and black pencil skirt before sliding into her strappy heels and heading to the door.
The moment she opened it, her breath caught in her throat. Brett leaned against the doorjamb with both hands, wearing a pair of distressed jeans, a fitted black Henley, and a pair of steel-toed work boots. Even the wicked smile he wore screamed of a bad boy who was about to deflower a virgin…which only made her wish she was still a virgin.
“Hey, Sid. You look great.”
She smiled. “Thanks. So do you.”
He nodded a thank-you. “Ready to go?”
“Yep.” She waited for him to move aside and then stepped out the door, pulling it shut behind her. “So where are we going to dinner?”
“You’ll see,” he told her, grasping her hand and leading her out to his truck.
A thrill coursed through her. He was holding her hand like he always had, which she thought was a pretty good sign. Or was that just her being ridiculously naive and reading into something all because she hoped that it meant more than it did?
Jeez. Stop it. Or you’ll drive yourself crazy all night long.
Brett opened her door for her but gazed at her with a funny look on his face. “Everything okay?”
Crap. He was picking up on her nervousness. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
“You sure?”
“Of course,” she said, climbing into the cab. “Let’s go eat.”
He nodded and shut her door before strolling around to the driver’s side and getting in. They made small talk as he drove, although he didn’t take her hand again like she’d hoped he would. But he was driving so she tried not to read into that too.
When he pulled into the Gypsy Cantina’s parking lot, Sidney sat a little straighter in her seat. “Uh, is this where we’re having dinner?”
“Yeah, is that okay?”
“Sure, I just…well, you know who owns this place, right?”
“Jessa.”
“Well, yeah. But you know who she’s married to, don’t you?”
“Oh, you mean Max. Yeah, what about him?”
“You two don’t get along.”
He smirked. “Sure we do. Whenever we aren’t in the same room, we’re fine.”
“That’s my point exactly. You know Max is most likely going to be here. This probably isn’t the best place for us to have dinner.”
Brett pulled into an empty parking space anyway. “It’ll be fine.”
“You sure?”
He took her hand in his and rubbed his thumb in circles over her palm. “I am. Trust me, there’s nothing Max can say or do that is going to rile me up.”
Sidney rolled her eyes. “Okay, if you say so.”
Brett grinned as he got out of the truck and came around to open her door. He seemed really confident that Max wasn’t going to upset him tonight, but Sidney knew how relentless Max could be. She’d seen him in action before. Max was a good guy, but he liked to see people squirm. He would push every button Brett had until he found the one that would detonate.
As they headed inside, Sidney could only hope that Max’s taunting wasn’t going to cause Brett to overreact as he always had in the past. Guess we’ll see what happens.
Although the place wasn’t completely packed, it was still pretty busy for a Sunday night. Dining guests were scattered around the room, but there were a few empty tables available. They were seated at one of them directly below a gorgeous chandelier that hung in the center of the room.
Sidney loved the gypsy caravan feel that the decor provided. A canopy of red fabric draped from the ceiling. Colorful glass lanterns lit every table. Mixed print throw pillows accented the room with their rich hues and bold patterns. It was all so different from any other restaurant in the area…as was the wonderful gourmet food Jessa served.
The hostess provided them each with a glass of water and a menu and told them their server would be with them in a moment. A few minutes later, when the server finally appeared, Sidney was still looking over her menu, but Brett’s chuckle had her glancing up to see what was so funny.
Max stood there with an apron wrapped around his waist and a tablet in his hands, ready to take their order. He glared at Brett. “Laugh again, and I’ll spit in your food.”
“Max!” Jessa came from somewhere behind him and stood at his side. “You can’t say stuff like that in here.”
“Oh, I was only kidding…mostly.”
Jessa grabbed the tablet from him and turned her attention back to Brett and Sidney. “Don’t mind him. He’s just cranky because he’s having to wear an apron. He’s filling in for one of my waitresses while she’s on maternity leave, but I promise he won’t touch your food. What would you like?”
“I’m not the least bit worried,” Sidney said with a smile. “I’ll have the pan-seared halibut with the lobster risotto and sautéed asparagus. No parmesan, please.”
Brett shrugged. “Well, I guess I’ll take my chances,” he said with a laugh. “I’ll have the beef Wellington with mushroom sauce, bacon mac ’n’ cheese, and roasted Brussels sprouts. No saliva, please.”
Max grinned. Probably because he knew he had Brett worried. “You’re so lucky I’m not filling in for one of the chefs.”
Jessa elbowed him and whispered, “If you keep saying stuff like that, you’re going to be lucky if I don’t make you sleep on the couch tonight.”
He threw his hands up in surrender. “Okay, okay. I’ll behave.”
She rolled her eyes. “No, you won’t. We all know you better than that.” Then she winked playfully at Brett. “If he gives you too much grief though, let me know, and I’ll put him on dish duty.”
Brett laughed. “I’m sure it’ll be fine. I can handle anything Max throws my way.”
Max lifted one brow. “I hear a challenge calling my name.”
“Give it your best shot, buddy.”
“Oh Lord. I’m going to go get started on your order. You two behave yourself,” Jessa said to the guys before heading for the kitchen.
Sidney bit her lip. The last thing Brett needed to do was egg Max on. He’d always been able to rub Brett the wrong way in the past. She just hoped that Brett wasn’t asking for anything he couldn’t handle.
Max pulled up a chair and sat backward on it as he glanced back and forth between them. “So are you guys back together now?”
Oh, dear God.