Out of the Blue, page 2
“Thanks.” Preslee gave the good-looking man a polite smile and then walked away from the check-in desk, although she wasn’t really sure in which direction to go. How did anyone know where to start?
She traipsed up and down each aisle, looking for a machine labeled for beginners, but apparently they didn’t make those. The more she glanced over the equipment, the more uncertain and self-conscious she started to feel. Especially when her slow progression around the room began drawing unwanted attention.
Two buff guys lifting and clanging weights on the other side of the room both wore smirks as they followed her movements with their eyes. Maybe they were fascinated by her inability to choose a machine due to her lack of knowledge. Or maybe they weren’t used to seeing a newcomer who didn’t know what the hell she was doing. Or maybe they were just riveted by the fact that a plus-size girl was going to actually work out. Who knew? But it only made being inside the gym that much more intimidating.
Determined to ignore their beady eyes staring her down, Preslee glanced to the next row over and spotted a stair-climbing machine. Oh, that one looked simple enough. Who couldn’t climb stairs? And she’d probably be great at it given how she ran up and down a set of stairs at work all the time. Her dad’s antique shop had only one storeroom, and it just so happened to be located in the basement. Lucky her.
Excited that she’d finally found a machine to try out, one that even looked like fun, she hustled down the aisle toward it. But just as she careened around the corner, a man stepped out of a doorway and landed directly in her path. She tried to skid to a stop but pitched too far forward and barreled face-first into him, her cheek smacking into a rock-hard chest.
Two strong hands shot up and grasped her shoulders, holding her with a firm yet gentle grip until she steadied herself. “Whoa. You okay, miss?”
Dazed, she shook her head to clear her blurry vision and then nodded. Sure, she was okay. She’d only collided with a brick wall like one of those crash-test dummies from the TV commercials. No biggie.
Man. Now her face hurt. Gym, two. Preslee, zero.
She rubbed at her sore cheek. “Um, yeah, I’m good,” she said, her gaze lifting to his. “Sorry about…”
Preslee’s mouth went dry, and the ability to form words vanished from her tongue as quickly and as quietly as disappearing ink dries on paper.
His unblinking, deep-set brown eyes, the color of warm bourbon, swept lazily over her face and sent an involuntary shiver spiraling through her. His dark brown hair stood on end in different directions, giving him a tousled, bed-head look, and his broad, powerful body towered over her by at least six inches. Yet he appeared relaxed and unimposing, confidence oozing from him in spades.
Even through his tight black athletic shirt, Preslee could plainly see huge biceps and a thick ridge of hard muscle that rode his wide shoulders. And that only made her wonder what he looked like without his shirt on. No doubt more of that smooth, tanned skin and, if she had to guess, perfect pecs and a chiseled set of abs.
He cleared his throat, and her eyes lifted back to his face. And what a handsome face it was. In fact, he was one of the most striking men she’d ever seen. Not in a GQ model kind of way though. Rather in more of a rugged, manly, I would screw you until you scream my name kind of way. And she couldn’t imagine many women disagreeing with her. Scratch that. Any women disagreeing with her.
He gently released her shoulders. “Sorry. I should’ve watched where I was going.”
Preslee swayed. “I, uh…” What the hell was he talking about? It had been her fault that they’d bumped into each other. Okay, fine, crashed into each other. Whatever. Either way, the sly smile spreading across his face told her that he knew but was polite enough not to point it out. “Um, sorry about that.”
“No need to apologize.” He charmed her with a wink. “I work here. Can I help you find anything?”
Yeah, her breath. Because he’d taken it the moment she’d glanced up at him. Gosh, he was pretty to look at. And he worked at the gym? Had she known that earlier, she might’ve come in sooner or at the very least signed up for the yearly membership. “No. I’m good. Thank you though.”
“All right,” he said, stepping aside and sweeping one arm out. “Ladies first.”
Preslee couldn’t help but smile. He’d probably only done that so there was zero chance of her mowing him down for a second time, but she strolled past him without another word. Once she moved farther away, she glanced over her shoulder to see if he was still standing there and blew out a relieved breath that he’d continued on his way in the opposite direction.
So she did the same. And tripped over air, her feet stumbling a little before she caught herself. Oh man. Thankfully, he hadn’t seen that. Sadly, it was a common, everyday occurrence for her, one her clumsy self had grown accustomed to. Unfazed, she carried on her way.
Reaching the huge, black stair-climbing machine, she stepped up onto it and climbed the several steps to the top. She gazed at the machine’s buttons for a second before finding a green quick-start button and pressing it. The stairs slowly began to move, descending beneath her, and she stepped up onto the next step. She alternated each foot as she gradually climbed each step. Right. Left. Right. Left.
Yep, definitely easy.
Actually, probably too easy. Because it didn’t take long for the routine stepping to become boring. She walked faster than this through the grocery store, for goodness’ sake. Shouldn’t it be more of a challenge?
As she continued to idly climb the stairs, she let her mind wander, going over her long day at work. She recalled how busy she’d been taking inventory, how many orders she’d received, and how the phone hadn’t stopped ringing. Then she remembered something else that had her groaning. She had promised to do an update for her followers on her antiquing vlog before leaving work—something she’d failed to do. Crap.
Preslee wasn’t all that great at social media. Sadly, the antique shop’s online presence consisted only of a fairly basic website and an Instagram account with a small number of followers. Still, Preslee hated disappointing anyone, especially when it came to the loyal customers who were supporting her father’s store. When she made them a promise, she always did her best to keep it. But with the upsetting phone call from the doctor this morning, the rush to find workout clothes at lunchtime, and the angst that came along with joining the gym, she’d forgotten all about it.
Maybe she could do a short video update from here. After all, it was just some information she was sharing about some new antique pieces that would be arriving next week. And lots of other vloggers made videos while doing mundane things, such as driving, shopping, or cooking. Why couldn’t she? It would be…very twenty-first century of her.
So Preslee propped her phone on the stair-climber’s dashboard to stabilize it and began making a short video via a live feed, keeping her voice low so as to not disturb the other patrons. Within minutes, she’d finished her quick update. But as she reached to end the livestream, her hand accidentally brushed across a random button on the stair-climber…and the machine instantly sped up.
Oh crap.
* * *
Adam Caldwell rounded the counter at the check-in desk and clapped Kurt on the back. “Hey, buddy. How are things today?”
Kurt shrugged. “Same as always. Where have you been? You were supposed to be here an hour ago.”
“Sorry. Got tied up. My dad called…again.”
Kurt’s brow rose slightly. “Are they still lecturing you about quitting medical school? Man. That was forever ago. Get over it.”
Adam ran a frustrated hand through his unruly hair. “Tell me about it. But I guess me quitting school to open a gym is apparently always going to be a sore spot between us. I can thank Michael for that.”
“Your older brother? Why?”
“He followed in my parents’ footsteps and got a medical degree, that’s why. If he hadn’t become a doctor like both of them, then they probably wouldn’t be so persistent about me going back to med school. But it’s never going to happen. Whether they like it or not, I am exactly where I want to be.”
Kurt nodded. “You would think they’d be happy that you found your dream job. Especially while you’re still in your early thirties. Not everyone does.”
“They don’t care that this is something I enjoy. To them, it’s the equivalent of working in a fast-food restaurant.”
Kurt shook his head. “There’s nothing wrong with working in a fast-food place.”
“I agree,” he said with a nod. “But that’s not the way they see it. As far as they’re concerned, if I don’t become a doctor like them, then I’m wasting my life.”
“I’m sorry, but your parents are pretentious assholes.”
Adam grinned with amusement. “Maybe so. But I don’t think the gym manager is supposed to say something like that to his boss.”
Kurt rolled his eyes. “You’re not my boss, moron. You’re my best friend. I’ve known you and your family for years. Hell, as close as we are, they’re practically like family to me now. I can call them whatever I want.” He leaned back against the counter and crossed one sneaker over the other. “And just because I work here and you sign my checks doesn’t mean I’m going to let you order me around. You should know that by now.”
Adam gave a one-shoulder, noncommittal shrug. “I could always fire you, ya know?”
“Yeah, you could. But then you’d have to run the place yourself, and I know how much you hate paperwork.” Kurt chuckled, clearly amused by the idea of Adam running the gym himself. “Besides that, it wouldn’t leave you any time to train your clients. And like you said, it’s your dream job. You wouldn’t want to give that up for anything. It’s why you hired me to begin with.”
“Doesn’t mean I still won’t fire you.”
A slow smile stretched Kurt’s mouth. He obviously wasn’t the least bit worried about Adam’s threat. “That road runs both ways, buddy. I could just as easily up and quit on you too.”
Laughing, Adam shook his head. “Give me a break. You threaten to quit on me at least once a week. We both know you’re not going anywhere. You love working here as much as I do.”
“Yeah, maybe. But that’s only because I get to work out for free.”
It was Adam’s turn to roll his eyes. “Yeah, right. You had a free membership even before you started working here. The perks of being best friends with the owner.”
Kurt grinned. “I know.”
“Okay, now that we’ve established that neither of us is going anywhere, we still need to solve our biggest problem. If we don’t figure out how to bring in some new gym members, both of us will be out of a job…whether we like it or not.”
Kurt tapped a pen on the counter. “Speaking of which, I signed up a new member just before you arrived. A woman by the name of”—he glanced at a form lying on the desk—“Preslee Owens. She apparently lives here in Granite. Do you know her?”
“No, why? Did she ask for me personally?”
“Nope, I was just wondering. She didn’t list anyone as a referral on the form so I was trying to figure out how she’d heard about us. Thought it might be a good way to determine where to put our advertising dollars.”
“What advertising dollars?” Adam asked seriously. “It’s not like we have much in reserve to spend on marketing. Besides, everyone knows the best form of advertising is word of mouth. And that’s all we can afford right now.”
“True. But this woman found us and she wasn’t referred to us by anyone in particular. Or at least not anyone she wanted to admit to knowing. That’s why I figured she must know you.” Kurt offered him another grin.
Adam laughed. “She could’ve seen the sign out front as she drove past. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that we’re a gym and not an auto shop with the two huge dumbbells on the logo.”
Kurt shrugged. “Yeah, probably.”
Adam glanced in the direction he’d come from. Wait a minute. Were they talking about the pretty woman with the bright blue eyes who had just plowed into him? “Is that her over there on the stair-climber?”
Kurt nodded. “Yep. She came in alone.”
“What did you say her name was?”
“Preslee. Why? Does she look familiar?”
“Not really.” Adam watched her for a moment before his gaze lowered to her leg. He blinked. “Uh, why does she have a woman’s feminine product strapped to her knee? Is that supposed to be padding or is there some new trend going on that I haven’t heard about yet?”
Kurt chuckled. “Neither. It’s a bandage. She was bleeding a little.”
Adam’s eyes widened. “A little? Judging from the size of that bandage, she might as well have been bitten by a shark.”
Kurt laughed. “It was the only one I had. We apparently need to restock the first aid kit. I’ll pick up some more bandages on my way to work tomorrow. Our marketing fund should have enough money in it to cover them.”
“Doubtful,” Adam replied with a smirk.
He glanced back to Preslee and recalled how she nearly ran him down moments before. Then after walking past him, she had tripped over…well, nothing. Thankfully, she’d caught herself before hitting the ground. Although when she’d glanced back at him, Adam had pretended not to notice. But he’d noticed, all right. With her around, they might need a more comprehensive first aid kit. Or an EMT on hand.
He glanced back at her injured knee, and concern trickled through him. “What happened to her? Did she get hurt on a machine?”
“No, she walked in like that. Not sure what happened, but it was just a small scrape. Trust me, the Band-Aid makes it look a lot worse than it is. If she wasn’t bleeding, I doubt she would’ve asked me for anything.”
“Why do you say that?”
“I don’t know. She seems a bit skittish about being here. In the gym, I mean.”
Confusion spiked through Adam. “Why?”
Kurt shrugged. “Not sure.” He motioned to the back of the room where two regular members were lifting weights. “Though, earlier, those two creeps were watching her and making comments. Nothing too obnoxious, but their remarks probably didn’t help any. I’m keeping an eye on them just in case I need to intervene. I don’t want them running her off.”
Adam glared at the two men pumping iron. He had never trained with them before, but he was familiar with them. They were notorious for not putting the weights back on the racks and never wiping their sweat off the equipment after using it, even if it was a machine next to one of the sanitizing stations. The inconsiderate jerks.
While Adam eyed them, the bigger of the two men began chuckling and nudged an elbow into the other guy’s ribs as he pointed in the direction of the woman across the room. Then they both burst out laughing.
Adam’s eyes narrowed. He wasn’t sure what was so funny, but they were acting like complete nimrods, and he didn’t like it one bit. But when he twisted his head to glance at the newcomer across the room to see if she had noticed their offensive behavior, Adam sucked in an audible breath.
The last thing he expected was to see this Preslee woman sprinting as fast as she could—on a stair-climber no less—with a look of sheer panic lighting her eyes. Man. He’d never seen anyone move on a stair-climber at that pace before. Her shoes barely had time to slap against one stair tread before the next one immediately took its place, requiring her to double-time it to keep from tripping over her feet. But no matter how fast she climbed, she couldn’t seem to reach the top of the stairs to turn the machine off. Probably why she was holding on to the side bars with a white-knuckled death grip.
Why doesn’t she just step off the damn thing?
Kurt raised a brow. “You going over there to help, or do you want me to?”
Adam was already moving in her direction. “I’ve got it. I’ll go turn it off before she hurts herself.”
Hustling across the room, Adam made it to the aisle behind the machine and came around the opposite side of the stair-climber. The machine was tall, but he jumped onto the front easily enough, grasping the bars to pull himself the rest of the way up. Then he quickly reached over the railing and punched the red emergency-shutoff button. As the stairs immediately slowed to a complete stop, he leaped off the machine and hurried around to the other side to see if she was okay.
Panting heavily, the exhausted woman leaned against the rails and rested her head on her forearms. Her long auburn hair was pulled back in a ponytail, but a few loose wisps had fallen around her face and were now soaked with sweat. As was most of her shirt. How long was she running like that anyway?
Her head slowly lifted. Although he thought her face couldn’t possibly get any redder than it already was, the moment her gorgeous blue eyes landed on him, the color in her cheeks deepened immensely. “Uh, thanks,” she muttered awkwardly, her eyes darting away.
“No problem,” Adam replied. “You okay?”
“Yes.” She nodded as she took another deep breath and exhaled slower, her breath trying hard to return to a normal state. “Thank God you have fast reflexes.” She blew out another breath. “That’s twice you kept me from hurting myself.” Then she murmured something low to herself that he almost didn’t catch.
Confusion spiraled through him, and he cocked his head. “What does gym three mean?”
She visibly cringed. “Uh, sorry. It’s nothing. Just me talking to myself. I…uh, do that sometimes.”
He didn’t like that he’d made her cringe but shrugged nonchalantly. “Don’t we all?”
“Well, yeah. I guess most people do.” The sincere smile she gave him was so genuine, pure, and unexpected that it warmed him from the inside out.
An underlying current began to hum slowly through his veins, and he swallowed hard. “What were you, uh, trying to do?”
She laughed nervously. “I wasn’t really trying to do anything. Well, at least not to the machine. I was doing a video update on my antiquing vlog. But when I ended the live feed, I accidentally touched one of the buttons on the stair-climber. The machine went crazy, and it was going way too fast for me to stop it. I didn’t know what to do.”
