He tried his best to ignore it by clearing his throat. “Uh, so let me know if you need anything else.”
She hesitated, as if she picked up on the weird vibe coming from him. “Yes. Will do,” she said, turning to move away.
Feeling foolish about the awkward exchange, Adam let his head fall forward and noticed that her left shoe had come untied. “Uh, Preslee?”
She turned back to face him, stepping on the loose string and effectively tripping herself again. Her eyes widened as her arms shot outward, searching for something to grab on to. Having seen it coming, Adam rushed forward and allowed her to tumble directly into his arms.
The two weight lifters at the back of the room must’ve seen the whole thing because they both erupted in laughter once again. It set Adam’s teeth on edge. He shot them a contemptuous glare that stifled the sound coming from their direction before focusing back on Preslee. He steadied her and pushed the loose strands of hair away from her face. “You all right?”
“Yeah, sorry. I told you I was a klutz.” A delicate pink blush bloomed on her cheeks as she bent to tie her shoelace.
“No, that was my fault. I shouldn’t have called out your name like that when I saw your shoelace was untied.”
Preslee straightened and gave him a yeah, right look. “That’s nice of you, but you don’t have to take the blame for me being clumsy.”
“I’m not.”
She sighed and gazed up at him with those big beautiful eyes, framed with long, dark lashes. Her voice softened. “You’re sweet, Adam. And kind too. Unfortunately, not all men are. Your…uh, wife or girlfriend is very lucky.” Then she turned to walk away once again.
“Preslee.”
She stopped in place and glanced down before carefully turning back to him. “Yeah?”
He smirked. “What makes you think I have a wife or girlfriend?”
Her assessing gaze flickered over his entire body before landing back on his face. “Because guys like you never stay single long.” Before he could respond, she spun on her heels and strolled…right into the nearest treadmill. Thankfully, she managed to keep herself upright and continued on her way down the aisle mumbling something about gym five. He wasn’t sure what any of that meant, but he no longer cared when he heard the two men in the back snickering again.
Fire burned through him, and his nostrils flared. He hated guys like that. Bullies who got off on mocking others or laughing at someone else’s misfortune. Well, enough was enough. He’d given both of them a cautionary glare earlier that had promised retribution if they didn’t knock it off. They should’ve heeded his warning, because it was the last one they were going to get.
He marched back to the check-in desk, steam building in his veins, as if he were a human pressure cooker ready to explode. It took everything he had to keep himself from going over there and punching both of those jerks in the face. But instead, he planned on hitting them where it would hurt most.
Kurt saw him coming and stepped out of his way. Smart man. Then his friend nodded toward the two men in the back of the room. “I take it we’re going to do something about that.”
“Damn straight,” Adam said, heat rolling through his gut. “Cancel both of their memberships. Assholes like them don’t belong in my gym.”
Chapter Two
Preslee wanted to smack herself.
In the forehead.
With a chair.
While she was happy to finally be off the devil machine and back on solid ground, she couldn’t believe the stuff that had come out of her mouth. It was embarrassing enough that she’d needed help with the possessed stair-climber. Did she really have to blurt out stupid stuff on top of it?
She hadn’t meant to tell Adam that she joined the gym to lose weight. Then she had to go and make an even bigger fool out of herself by accidentally flirting with the man. What had she been thinking? She didn’t know what had come over her. She wasn’t the forward type. Maybe it was a little old-fashioned of her, but she normally preferred for a guy to make the first move. Probably because she was scared to death of rejection. She’d already had enough of that to last her a lifetime.
But the moment he’d told her to let him know if she needed anything else, a sexy image of him slowly removing his shirt from that hard body of his had flashed through her mind—apparently her brain really liked the idea of him being shirtless—and she’d involuntarily licked her lips. Like it was an invitation or something.
Preslee sighed. Okay, so maybe it was.
Not that it mattered. Adam had looked directly at her mouth while her tongue slid across her lips and had no reaction. Zero. As if she hadn’t even done it. If anything, he probably just thought her lips were chapped.
She should’ve taken Adam’s clear disinterest at face value. But she hadn’t. Instead, she’d carried her inept flirting one step further and used the oldest trick in the book to ask if he had a significant other. Like that wasn’t being obvious.
And he hadn’t even really answered her question. His reply had only hinted that he might not have someone in his life. But he’d never actually confirmed it. As if she hadn’t heard that tired line before. It didn’t matter though. She already knew any guy with a body like Adam’s was way out of her league anyway.
Though, for a second there, Adam had been so overly friendly and encouraging that she’d almost thought he had been flirting with her. She’d even managed to convince herself that he’d casually sniffed her hair while standing behind her on the stair-climber earlier.
Now that she was away from him and had control of her faculties again, reality had come crashing back, bringing with it an unsettling realization. There was one huge problem with the whole Adam-flirting-with-her scenario that her mind had conjured up. The gorgeous guy was as fit as they come while she was…well, not.
Hard-bodied men like him probably don’t date women my size.
Sighing, she refocused her efforts and went over to try out one of the spin cycles against the wall. Surely she couldn’t screw that up or hurt herself on a stationary bike. Unless, of course, the darn thing broke off its stand and rolled her right out the front door…which, at this point, she almost hoped would happen. At least then she wouldn’t have to endure the other gym patrons staring at her anymore.
Preslee took stock of the entire building. Not counting her, there were still about a dozen people in the gym. Adam and Kurt. The two jerks in the back. A toned blond woman who was running on a treadmill as if it were a racetrack and she were a sleek Thoroughbred. And at least seven other buff males who were participating in various weight-lifting activities.
Not a single one of them had an ounce of fat on them that she could detect, and that alone made Preslee uncomfortable. She was completely out of her element and surrounded by fit individuals who looked more like dedicated athletes.
She clearly didn’t belong here, and they probably all felt sorry for her. Including Adam. He kept glancing back at her as if he was fascinated. Only not in a good way.
Either he was seriously concerned that she would injure herself in his gym and try to sue the pants off him—jeez, there she goes, trying to get his pants off—or he was keeping an eye on her to make sure she didn’t get stuck on another machine that required him to come to her rescue again.