Love Left Behind (6 page)

I felt a little
deflated by Claire's warning. It's not that I had expected Jackson to become
the love of my life. It just stung a little to know that I was just one in a
string of women. I decided to not let it bother me. If Claire was right, Jackson
was offering exactly what I was looking for. A good time with nothing heavy
involved. I neither wanted nor had the time for anything serious right now.

"Thanks for the
warning," I said. "Luckily, that's exactly what I want at this point
in my life. Fun."

Claire nodded in
understanding. "I can imagine that the last thing you want to do is fall
into another relationship. How are you holding up? I know you're the one that
broke things off, but it still must be hard."

I sighed, thinking it
over. "It
is
hard. I don't
regret calling off the wedding, and I don't regret moving here. But I can't lie
and say that I don't feel sad every now and then. Sean and I were a part of
each other's lives for so long. Sometimes I'll think of something, see
something new, and remind myself to tell Sean about it later. Then I remember
that there's no Sean to tell."

Claire looked at me
sympathetically. "That makes sense. Even if you don't want to spend the
rest of your life with him, that doesn't mean you don't miss certain parts of
him. Do you still keep in touch?"

I shook my head.
"No, it's too hard. Maybe somewhere down the road we can be friends. I'm
not sure. I left it up to Sean, since I was the one that hurt him so much.
After he realized that I wasn't going to change my mind, he told me that it was
too painful to keep in contact."

"The distance is
probably a good thing. Merrittsville is such a small town that it's hard not to
bump into each other."

"Yeah, no
kidding," I said drily. "If I wasn't bumping into Sean, I was bumping
into his mother, who gave me death stares. I don't blame her after how I hurt
Sean. It was just really hard for me since she was practically my second mother
growing up. She was always so much calmer and levelheaded than my own mother,
who can be a little flighty. It was nice to have Sean's mother to talk to, but
obviously that bond was severed when our relationship ended."

I took a deep breath,
trying to clear the knot in my chest. It still hurt to think of losing Mary,
Sean's mother. Even though I loved my mother, Mary Somers understood me in a
way that my own mother never could. Mary and I were similar in a lot of ways.
The biggest difference was that she had stayed on the path that had been mapped
out for her, while I had veered away from mine. In the end, she had been
rewarded by her husband divorcing her for a much younger woman and walking away
from his family. Sean and his mother rarely heard from him.

"What about
you?" I asked, wanting to change the subject. "Are you dating
anyone?"

"I can't remember
the last serious relationship I had. It was probably in college. I really just
want to concentrate on my acting career. I'll worry about my love life once I'm
rich and famous."

The arrival of our Thai
food interrupted us. We decided to eat it out on the balcony on a table that
barely fit the small space. We poured two glasses of wine and enjoyed the cool
evening air as we ate, the sounds of the city providing a soothing background.

I raised my glass of
wine. "To like-minded females concentrating on their careers and
conquering the world."

Claire laughed and
clinked her glass with mine. "Watch out world, here we come."

The next couple of days
went by in a blur as I learned the ropes at my new job. Instead of becoming a
nuisance, Celeste became an invaluable resource as she helped to guide me
through many of my tasks as an assistant. I never saw her boss, the elusive
Drew Stephens, and Celeste told me he traveled a lot and was rarely in the
office.

Janet stopped by my
cubicle on her way out Wednesday afternoon.

"I'm leaving for
the day, Emma," she said, her suit jacket slung over her arm and briefcase
in hand. "I have my meeting downtown and I decided not to come back after
my business dinner. You can leave after you finish up those RFPs."

"Okay, have a
great rest of the day. See you tomorrow."

I tried to suppress my
excitement as Janet left the office. I had worked until eight-thirty the night
before because Janet was finishing a performance report for a client and I had
been helping her pull it together. While I was enjoying my work, I had been
nervous that tonight would be another late night because Janet had mentioned
earlier that she might be coming back to the office after her dinner. I had
been afraid that she would ask me to wait for her return and tonight was the
one night I didn't want to work late because I was stopping by Peak Fitness
tonight.

"A hot date?"
Celeste asked as she wheeled her chair closer to my cubicle. Even though she
was much older, Celeste often talked like she was still in her early twenties.

I grimaced. "Is it
that obvious?"

Celeste grinned.
"You looked like you were going to jump up and cheer when Janet said she
was leaving."

I frowned. "I hope
it wasn't too obvious. The last thing I want is for Janet to think I'm not
dedicated."

"She knows, she
knows," Celeste groaned. "It's only your third day and you already
work harder than half the people here." Celeste smiled mischievously.
"So, who is it?"

Even though I had only
known Celeste for a few days, I had instantly bonded with her. Not only was she
helpful, but she was funny and quirky. Despite being my senior, I often felt
like I was older than she was.

"It's not really a
date," I explained. "It's just this guy I met last weekend. He's a
trainer at a gym and I'm stopping by for a free session."

"Ooh, sweating,
working out, getting close." Celeste waggled her eyebrows suggestively.
"Now that's a great first date!"

"It's not a
date!" I exclaimed but I couldn't help laughing. "Now I need to
finish these RFPs so I won't be late for my non-date."

I spent the rest of the
afternoon diligently working on the RFPs until I was finished and I was sure
they were perfect. I checked my watch and was happy to see that it was only six
o'clock. I would have plenty of time to go home first and change before heading
over to the gym.

"Have fun!"
Celeste cackled as I waved goodbye. "Enough fun that it'll hurt to come
into work tomorrow!"

"Goodbye to you
too, Celeste," I said with a grin.

Claire wasn't home when
I got to the apartment. We hadn't talked about Jackson again since Monday
night, not that it was necessary. She had given me her approval as well as fair
warning. I was lucky to have her as a friend.

I sent a quick text to
Jackson before changing, wanting to give him a heads up that I was definitely
coming tonight.

Be there in about half an hour if you're free.

Before I could start
changing, Jackson responded with a text back.

The training session will be free, but I'm not free. I'm looking
forward to discussing the terms of payment.

I bit my lip, not
knowing how to answer. I couldn't tell if Jackson was flirting or if he meant
something else.

I thought this was a no-strings attached training session.

I'm talking about after the training session.

What do you mean, after the training session?

When I take you to dinner, of course.

I wanted to jump up and
down with giddiness, but forced myself to reply calmly.

Who said I was going out to dinner with you? Are you trying to mix
business with pleasure?

I giggled to myself
idiotically, unsure if my flirting sounded teasing or dumb. It had been a long
time since I had flirted and I was more than a little rusty.

Who said this was ever about business? Now get over here so I can talk
to you in person instead of through a little screen.

Coming.

I quickly changed into
workout clothes, grinning the whole time. I wanted to balance looking
attractive in my workout gear without being too made up. There was nothing
worse than a woman working out with heavy make-up and jewelry jangling with
every movement while heavily doused in perfume. On the other hand, I didn't
want to look too casual since dinner had been mentioned.

I decided on a pair of
black leggings and a blue v-neck workout top with a built-in sports bra that
could be mistaken for a regular fitted shirt. I grabbed a short gauzy black
skirt that I could slip on over my leggings for dinner and stuffed it into my
bag, along with some make-up to freshen up with after the workout. I prayed
that I wouldn't perspire too much during the training session. The last thing I
wanted Jackson to see when he looked across the dinner table was a sweaty mess.

The gym was only a few
blocks away and as I pushed open the front door, I was suddenly nervous. The
smell of the gym and the clinking of the machines reminded me that physical
fitness was not my strong suit. I didn't want to make a fool of myself in front
of Jackson.

I approached the front
desk where a perennially smiling woman stood behind it. She nodded her head as
people filed in and handed her their membership card to scan, smiling so
vacantly that she resembled an automaton.

"Hi," I said
with a slight smile of my own. "I'm supposed to have a training session
with Jackson. Jackson Reynard."

The woman blinked and
her mouth shrank to a normal smile, a genuine one this time.

"You must be Emma!
I'll let Jackson know you're here."

She picked up the phone
and dialed a few numbers.

"Jackson, Emma's
here."

The woman smiled as she
put the phone receiver back into the cradle. "He'll be right out."

"Great," I
said, feeling a bit uncomfortable just standing there. I was surprised she knew
me by name, but I assumed that part of her job was knowing all the members on a
first name basis. Even prospective members. The woman was looking at me with
way too much interest. It was friendly interest, but uncomfortable just the
same.

"I'm
Allison," she announced, holding out her hand.

"Nice to meet you,
Allison," I replied, reaching out to shake her hand. Were people always
this friendly at gyms? I wouldn't know since I rarely frequented one.

"I heard you just
moved into town."

"Yes, I just moved
here from Maryland." It was a bit discomfiting to realize that Jackson had
apparently been talking about me to Allison.

"They have great
crabs in Maryland." Allison continued, nodding at me and smiling. I
started feeling a little creeped out.

"Er, yes.
Maryland's known for their crabs." I prayed Jackson would appear soon and
save me from this awkward conversation.

As if on cue, Jackson
walked out from a door behind the front counter, giving me a wide smile as he
caught sight of me.

"You made
it." Jackson walked out from behind the counter and nodded to Allison as
he grabbed my hand, drawing me down the hall closer to all those intimidating
metal machines. "I was worried that you were going to change your
mind."

I eyed the workout
machines with trepidation. "I still may. I wasn't kidding when I said I
don't really work out."

Jackson grinned,
looking down at me. His green eyes were sparkling with amusement and a lock of
brown hair fell onto his forehead, making him look rakish. He was much taller
than I was and I had to tip my head back to make eye contact. Wearing athletic
shorts and a t-shirt, he should have looked nondescript. Instead, with nothing
to detract from his handsomeness, the blank canvas just made Jackson look all
the more gorgeous. He was leanly muscled and I had to stop myself from reaching
out and stroking his muscular arm and squealing like a preteen.

"We'll take it
slow and easy today. The more sessions you get under your belt, the more I'll
challenge you."

I let Jackson guide me
over to a large mat in front of a mirror but protested at his words.

"The more sessions
I get under my belt? I'm not planning on having more sessions. I'm not even
planning on joining this gym!"

"That reminds
me." Jackson slipped his hand into the pocket of his shorts, pulling out a
membership card. He grabbed my bag and slipped it in, then placed my bag
against the mirrored wall and out of the way.

"Wait, what was
that?" I exclaimed, moving to grab my bag. Jackson pulled me in the
opposite direction and stood behind me, putting a hand on each of my arms and
holding me in place. The warmth of his hands was distracting and I was keenly
aware of the close proximity of his body behind mine, but I was undeterred.

"Jackson, what did
you just put in my bag?"

Jackson looked at me in
our mirrored reflection and shrugged. I felt dwarfed by his size, the top of my
head just shy of reaching the top of his shoulders.

"I pulled some
strings and got you a year's membership to the gym."

"Wait, what? What
do you mean you pulled some strings?" I narrowed my eyes at Jackson's
reflection. "Did you pay for my membership?"

Jackson looked at me
innocently. "That's not how it works. We don't pay people to come to the
gym. Otherwise, we'd be out of business."

"Jackson," I
warned. As flattered as I was by the idea that Jackson would get me a free
membership to the gym, it made me uncomfortable to think that he had paid for
it. I had just met him. I wasn't looking for a sugar daddy.

"I just have some
pull around here. The owner was more than happy to give out a free membership
when I told him I was thinking of increasing my hours." Jackson smiled at
me winningly.

"You must be in
high demand if you're able to give out free memberships willy nilly by
promising to work a few more hours." I was still suspicious, but decided
not to push it. It seemed churlish to throw Jackson's generosity in his face.