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.