She grinned at their exchange. They sounded more like brothers rather than best friends. “Don’t worry. I can handle Adam. He acts like a drill sergeant, but he doesn’t scare me.” Much.

Adam lifted one eyebrow, as if he were about to rise to a challenge, and Kurt chuckled. “I love your bravery, Preslee. But you probably shouldn’t say stuff like that in front of Adam. It turns him on…and not in a good way.”

Preslee smiled wider and gave a nonchalant shrug.

Adam grabbed a clipboard and rounded the counter, stopping in front of her. “You can handle me, huh?” He smirked. “You know I can make you eat your words, right?” He cocked his head, as if he was waiting to see if she would take the bait.

Preslee stiffened, and heat flashed in her cheeks. God, did he have to say things like that to her? Or challenge her so? Not that she was stupid. Deep down, she rolled her eyes at Adam’s empty threat, but she wasn’t about to poke the sleeping beast within him to see if she could rouse him. She believed in a little thing called self-preservation.

Her eyes raked over his broad shoulders, toned biceps, and muscular chest. Through his thin cotton T-shirt, she could make out all the firm bulges and hard planes of his strong body. Her mouth watered.

Yeah, she was hot for him. But she would never admit it, to him or anyone else. That would be disastrous and serve no other purpose than to make things weird between them. So instead she shrugged and gave him an innocent smile. “Of course.”

Kurt laughed. “Man, she’s got your number.”

Adam grinned. “We’ll see about that.”

Her pulse sped up. Okay, so maybe she wasn’t as totally at ease with him as she thought. But he didn’t need to know that. Adam had gone out of his way to make her feel as comfortable with him as possible. She appreciated the effort, even if it hadn’t quite worked out the way he’d meant for it to.

Didn’t matter.

He didn’t need to know that her heart raced whenever he took off his shirt. Or that when he touched her body in different places to show her the proper form, he set off an array of fireworks inside of her. It was her problem, not his.

“Yes, we will,” Preslee said in a coy voice.