“You still work at The Fitness Place, right?”
She closed the magazine and pushed it aside. “That’s right.” She sipped her coffee.
“Clearly you make good use of the equipment because you look fabulous.”
“Thanks, but I don’t work in the gym anymore.”
In L.A., she’d worked as a fitness trainer while she’d gone to college, then took a job as manager after she graduated. He’d thought she’d had greater career aspirations after studying kinesiology and business, but she seemed to enjoy the work, and that was the important thing.
“So what do you do now?”
“I moved here to take a job as regional manager. There were a couple of locations that had openings, but I chose here because it’s close to headquarters and that means more opportunities for career advancement.” She leaned forward and gazed at him. “Don’t you remember me telling you that? And how excited I was?”
His chest compressed. He remembered her bubbling about her new job and the new town she’d be moving to, but the details of her job had blurred at the emotional punch to his gut.
“I remember how excited you were, but all I heard was that you were leaving.”
Nine
The pain in Sloan’s compelling blue eyes tore at Janine’s heart. All thoughts of her job and hurt that he hadn’t really taken an interest in her new career melted away.
His fingers wrapped tightly around his mug. “My life was so empty after you left. I was a total idiot for not realizing I was driving you away.”
Her heart ached at his strained voice.
She shook her head. “No, you didn’t, I just … I needed to be on my own.”
Sure, going to Kenora offered career advancement, but there were other jobs she could have pursued in L.A.
She drew in a deep breath. “I needed to get away from the memories of
Ben.”
Sometimes the pain had been unbearable. She didn’t want to forget Ben, but she also didn’t want constant reminders of her devastating loss.
Sloan nodded, Janine’s pain reflected in his eyes. She knew how much he missed Ben, too.
“And you needed to get away from me.”
“It was a good career move,” she insisted.
He nodded. “I know. More opportunities for career advancement.” He took her hand. “You don’t have to protect my feelings. I realized after it was too late that I’d been smothering you. I was overprotective and overbearing.”
She squeezed his hand. “You meant well.”
She couldn’t believe she was downplaying what had been such a huge deal to her for such a long time, but seeing his vulnerability, having him open up to her like this, threw her off balance. She didn’t want to hurt him.
She’d never wanted to hurt him.
He had only done what he’d done because he cared about her.
“Sloan, why did you come to Kenora?”
She’d thought it odd he would show up here of all places, and she didn’t want to believe he’d come here because of her, but that was the only thing that made sense. And deep inside, it warmed her heart while at the same time it terrified her.
“I needed a change, too,” he said. “I figured if you loved living in Kenora, it must be a great place to be.”
So there it was. Confirmed. He had come here specifically to pursue her. Her heart clenched. Damn it. How could she deal with that? Him uprooting his whole life and coming here for her? She didn’t need that kind of pressure.