“Not just that. They don’t approve of my career choice either. They’ve been upset with me about both for a long time.”

“Why?” Preslee asked, genuinely confused. “Anyone can see how great you are at what you do and how happy it makes you. Why wouldn’t they want you to follow your dreams?”

He shrugged. “My parents look at me like a rudderless ship. I was going full steam ahead in medical school when I suddenly lost course. Now they think I’m drifting along with no sense of direction.”

“But that isn’t true. You have great things going for you.”

“Yeah, but they don’t want to hear that. Both of my parents are surgeons at the top of their fields, and they want their sons to follow in their footsteps. To be doing anything other than what they expect is unfathomable. And now that Michael has disappointed them by choosing to become a small-town doctor rather than work in the city at one of the higher-paying hospitals, they’re really going to be on the rampage.”

“You don’t think they’ll come around?”

“Maybe. But it’s going to take time. When I told them I dropped out of medical school, they threatened to disown me. They never did though. So I think they’ll eventually get over it.”

“Sorry. I bet that hurt.”

“It did, but I think I always suspected they wouldn’t do it. They were just upset. Still, I’d like to prove them wrong. If I can show them that I can run a successful gym, then that would go a long way in helping them to let go of their ridiculous expectations. But first I need to make the gym more profitable. Otherwise, I won’t be able to keep it open, and that would only prove my parents right.”

“Oh. I didn’t realize the gym was having financial difficulties.”

“It’s not that bad. I just need to pull in some more gym members and maybe book some more clients. Things will be fine.”

She wasn’t sure if she believed him and had a feeling he was minimizing the problem for her benefit. After all, he was training her for free. No wonder he wanted her to bring some of her friends into the gym. He needed the extra money. “I can start paying for my training sessions.”

He didn’t even hesitate. “No.”

She frowned. “Why not?”

His jaw tightened. “Because I said so.”

“That’s not a good reason.”

“Sure it is.”

Preslee sighed. “Adam, I don’t mind paying for your services. I’ve never understood why you offered to train me for free anyway. We were strangers. Technically, it still doesn’t make sense.”

He hesitated, as if he were searching for an explanation himself, and then he scowled. “Can’t someone do something nice for you without having a reason behind it?”