Brett rolled his eyes. “Humor me, okay?”

But she wasn’t having it. Sidney shook her head adamantly and tried to hand him her card once again. “No, I don’t feel right about you working for free after hours. And I’m certain your boss wouldn’t like it either. After you went out of your way to help me last night, the least I can do is pay you for your time. Besides, you don’t owe me any favors. What happened between us is in the past, and that’s where it’s going to stay. It has nothing to do with this business transaction.”

He cringed at her words but covered it by glancing at his watch. It was already eleven o’clock, and he had only a few hours before he had to be at the car lot. The last thing he wanted to do was spend them arguing with her. “Sid, I don’t have time to argue with you about this. I have somewhere I have to be in a few hours, and I still need to clean up and grab lunch. Call it a favor or a random act of kindness or whatever you want, but I’m not taking your money. Got it?”

Brett didn’t wait for her to respond, since chances were good that she would’ve just continued to argue with him. So instead, he turned and walked away. He didn’t want her to pay him for his help, damn it. He hadn’t done any of it for the money. Didn’t she get that? He had done it because he loved her with every fiber of his being.

And that wasn’t something you could put a price on.

*  *  *

Sidney watched in disbelief as Brett walked away.

He stopped to talk to another worker briefly before he moved toward the small sink across the room and began soaping up his grimy hands. She had a profile view of him, which meant all he had to do was turn his head slightly in order to see her. But as far as she could tell, he hadn’t so much as looked back once, and she had a feeling he was avoiding her on purpose.

As if ignoring me is going to work. He should know better than that.

She stood there watching him scrub the dirt away for so long that her gaze accidentally drifted to his left bicep, which was flexing and tightening against the sleeve of his dark blue T-shirt with every motion. She swallowed the hard knot forming in her throat. Damn, he’d really bulked up.

Sidney was so mesmerized by the movements of his muscles that she didn’t even notice when another worker approached the counter. “Can I help you, miss?”