"You fucking with me?" He finally asked, outright. She'd mentioned not knowing how to use the machine, but at the time he'd disregarded it as an excuse of some kind. It seemed very simple to him, like someone not knowing how to do a sit-up. However, more than just the claim of not knowing how, it seemed like she was expecting him to show her how.
Which completely eradicated any theories about her being afraid of him.
There was also that contradiction again. A self-deprecating statement presented with an odd confidence in tone. The smile signaled that she was teasing him, but still didn't seem to be insulting him. Well, now at least he knew whose bluff was being called. She was trying to get him to leave by playing the cute, ditzy girl card and expecting him to get flustered or frustrated and split. Fuck that noise. He couldn't just be puzzled out of a room like that.
So Marcus found himself bending to take the weights off, lightening it to base bar weight. If she'd really never done this before, it was important to get the posture right before throwing on more weight.
"Come sit here, chica," he said, patting the seat before he straightened up, and flashing his teeth at her in a vague grin. There. Bluff called. "Facing out, first. Don't want to turn your fucking back on me, eh? I might bite you."