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.