He nodded and leaned on the counter with one hand. “Yes, ma’am. Are you looking for monthly or yearly?”

“Um, monthly, I guess.” Jeez. That almost sounded like a question.

His smile widened. “All right,” he said, reaching for a paper and sliding it across the counter with a pen. “Here’s a form you’ll need to fill out. The monthly rates are at the bottom, and the gym rules and other helpful information are on the back. But feel free to let me know if you have any questions. My name’s Kurt, and I’m the manager.”

Preslee nodded. “Great, thanks. By the way, you don’t happen to have a Band-Aid back there, do you?” She held up her knee to show the small amount of blood oozing from it. “I scuffed it in the parking lot on my way in.”

“Let me check.” He pulled a first aid kit from beneath the counter, popped it open, and rifled through the contents. “Hmm, we should probably restock this kit. Looks like this is the only thing we have left,” he said, holding up a long white bandage. Then he shrugged. “It might work.”

She accepted it. “It’ll do. Thank you.”

After applying the bandage to the small cut, she realized she couldn’t cover it with her leggings without the stretchy fabric pulling tight across her sore knee. And that hurt too much. So instead she left her legging up over her kneecap and hoped that no one would notice how dumb it looked.

She glanced back up at Kurt, who wore an amused grin on his face. Well, no one else anyway.

The gym manager continued to smile as she moved off to the side and read over the information on the form he’d given her. She couldn’t really blame him. Although he didn’t say as much, she looked like she was wearing a panty liner on her knee.

When she was done filling out the form, she slid it back across the counter along with his pen. He asked for photo identification, which she provided, and then she paid him her first monthly fee.

Once they completed the entire transaction, Kurt handed her a black, plastic membership card with the Body Shop logo on it. “You’re all set. Any questions?”

Yes, but she was too embarrassed to ask them. “Nope.”

His smile weakened, and his voice softened, as if he knew she was lying. “All right. Well, I’m here if you change your mind.”

“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?