A slow grin lifted the corners of Adam’s mouth. “Sure,” he said, turning to Kurt. “Could you set Preslee up with another card? Hers is apparently”—he used two fingers on each hand to gesture air quotes—“missing.”

“No problem,” Kurt replied, chuckling under his breath.

They gazed at her with the same amused grins.

She fisted her hands on her hips. “All right, which one of you saw me toss it?”

They both laughed.

“Kurt did,” Adam admitted, his smile widening. “I didn’t find out until later.”

Later? How much later?

If she weren’t already embarrassed and eager to avoid the conversation, she would’ve asked him right then. Because she still found it odd that Adam had shown up at the antique shop a few days after she’d quit and volunteered to be her trainer. For some reason, she couldn’t let it go. Call her overly suspicious, but something about it seemed way too coincidental.

But why would he lie? What would he have to gain by helping her work out? She’d pondered that question all weekend long and hadn’t been able to come up with a single answer that made sense. If anything, Adam was losing valuable time and money by spending his training time with her.

But guilt twisted in her stomach. The guy was going out of his way to help her, and instead of just accepting it with gratitude, she was trying to figure out an ulterior motive. Jeez. How ungrateful could she be?

Kurt grinned as he slid a card across the counter. “I pulled it out of the trash for you in case you came back. For the record, I’m glad you did,” he said, sincerity filling his tone. “Most people who quit don’t.”

Heat crept up her neck. “Thanks for saving it for me. It was a rash decision in the moment. I was frustrated.”

“Yeah, I figured,” Kurt answered. “No worries. I quit my job and throw my card away at least once a week. It keeps Adam on his toes.” He winked.

She smiled. It was kind of Kurt to make her feel better. Obviously, he was as bad as Adam at letting someone off the hook. No wonder they were best friends. “Well, I won’t do it again. I’ll hang on to it this time.”

“You’d better,” Adam replied. “We have work to do.”

Kurt nodded toward Adam. “I heard you were working out with this clown,” he said, keeping his gaze on Preslee. “Don’t let him ride roughshod over you. Trust me, he’s known to do it.”

Adam snorted. “Only when I trained you, maybe. But that’s because you don’t know how to follow instructions.”

“That’s because you suck at giving them,” Kurt jabbed back. “My three-year-old nephew could’ve trained me better…and in less time than it took you to do so.”