“You want me to go to lunch…with you?”

Heat crept up her neck. “Um, yeah. I mean…as friends only, of course.”

He seemed to hesitate with an answer, which only made her feel even more self-conscious about her curvier figure. Was he afraid people would see them and assume they’d gotten back together? And if so, why did she even care? It wasn’t like it was any of their business anyway.

Finally, he gave a nod of approval. “All right. Let’s do it then.”

Jeez. Took him long enough.

Chapter Four

Brett had found a small table off to the side where they could have some privacy during lunch as they went over his finances and discussed his credit report. It was bad enough that Kyle was spreading his business around town. He didn’t need the two of them doing it inadvertently as well.

They started off making polite small talk as they looked over the documents on his phone, but it wasn’t long before they were sharing a few laughs and reminiscing about old times. And that only had him missing Sidney more than ever.

He’d been reluctant to accept her offer, knowing every minute he spent with her was only messing with his head and giving him false hope of renewing their relationship. But the temptation of spending more time with her was just too much to resist.

Sidney had always oozed warmth and goodness, and he missed having her in his life. Even though she was very clear about their “friends only” status and showed no interest in anything other than repaying a favor, he’d take what he could get. Because he’d rather have her in his life as a friend than nothing at all. And if she could help him get that loan for the garage, then that was just an added bonus.

Caught up in their conversation, neither of them seemed to notice that they had a visitor approaching until the man was practically on top of her and already leaning in for a hug. “Hey, Sidney. How are you?”

Her mouth fell open, but she managed to snap it shut in time to hug him back. “Oh, um…hey, Charles.”

Brett didn’t miss her uneasy tone or the way she cut her eyes over to him, as if she was worried about what he would say after seeing another man hug her. But she was a free agent, and it wasn’t up to him. She could damn well hug whomever the hell she wanted, and there was nothing he could do about it. Sure, he didn’t like it, but that didn’t mean he had to vocalize his feelings.