Besides, Charles wasn’t at all Sidney’s type. He looked like a golf nerd in his pink polo shirt and khaki shorts, as if he was some kind of country club caddy or maybe a frat boy. He was tall, dark, and probably good-looking by most women’s standards, and he had a perfect set of brilliant white teeth. But he didn’t at all have that rough edge and intensity that he knew Sidney loved so much.

Sidney glanced at Brett and then back to her friend. “Uh, so what are you doing here?”

Charles shrugged lazily. “Someone said this place sells the best hot dogs in town so I thought I’d come try them out. But I didn’t know you were here. I was sorry we had to postpone dinner last night because of a flat tire, but I’m looking forward to our date tonight.”

Wait, what? Brett’s head snapped in Sidney’s direction, and she immediately cringed. Even though she tried to smile a little, the guilty look on her face told Brett everything he needed to know. She’d had a date last night. Damn.

He guessed this explained what she had been doing out there all alone and why she had dressed up. He hadn’t even thought to ask her since he figured that she would’ve told him if she wanted him to know. Apparently, she hadn’t.

“Um, yeah. Me too,” Sidney said quietly.

“I didn’t even see your car out front,” Charles told her.

She nodded. “That’s because it’s not. It’s still parked at the garage across the street.”

Charles shaded his eyes like a pansy and gazed across the road. “Sounds like you need a new mechanic. How hard can it be to change a flat tire?”

Irritation swept through Brett, and he ground his teeth together to keep from saying anything.

Sidney’s face paled instantly, and she sat a little straighter. “Uh, actually, the car is fixed already. I just need to go pick it up when I’m done.”

Charles nodded. “Well, that’s good. Hopefully they don’t charge you an arm and a leg. Mechanics are crooked like that, you know?”

Brett blew out a breath and counted to ten in his head. Charles was lucky that Brett was seeing a therapist who had given him tools to control himself in this kind of situation. Otherwise, Brett would’ve already ripped off this guy’s arm and leg and beat him with them. The dickhead.

The three of them sat in uncomfortable silence before Sidney finally said, “Well, I guess it’s time for me to get going. I’ve got some errands to run before I head home.”

Charles smiled. “Same here. Hopefully you won’t have any more problems with that tire. Of course, that all depends on whether the mechanic knew what the hell he was doing when he fixed it.”