Read Big Love in a Small Town (Contemporary Romance) for Free Online Page B

thing over the past couple of weeks for them to dine at Waffle House. Mainly, because they were always in need of food at weird times and Waffle House was open twenty-four hours, but also because the cinnamon waffles tasted like heaven, and had quickly became his favorite thing about Clearhill after Tessa.
     
    “I sure am going to miss these,” Nate said absentmindedly as he took a bite of the scrumptious waffle. They were sitting in a booth – the only customers in Waffle House at this time of night. As soon as the words left his mouth, the look on Tessa’s face made him immediately regret them.
     
    Tessa held her fork frozen in midair and her face turned pale. “Why did you say that? Are you leaving soon?” she asked, trying to seem nonchalant, but her voice wavered.
     
    Nate ran his hand through his hair, cursing himself for his slip of tongue. He wasn’t mentally prepared for this conversation yet.
     
    “I actually wanted to talk to you about that earlier, but we kind of got carried away...” he trailed off with a smile, trying to lighten the mood. Tessa, however, stared at him blankly. She was clearly not amused as she waited for him to continue.
     
    “I was informed today that we should be finished shooting in three days.” There, he said it.
     
    “So you’re leaving in three days?”
     
    “Not necessarily – these things are never set in stone, it’s just a rough estimate, and it’s not like I have to leave the moment shooting is finished.”
     
    “So you are leaving in three days. Roughly.” Tessa’s deadpan face worried Nate. This did not bode well.
     
    “Tessa, please don’t think whatever it is that you’re thinking. You and I both know that this isn’t just a fly by the seat of your pants kind of fling. I truly care about you,” he reasoned. The last thing he wanted to do was lay his cards out on the laminate table at the Waffle House, but he couldn’t just sit there without making it clear how much she meant to him.
     
    “Look, Nate, you really don’t have to explain. I don’t know what I was thinking. Of course, you have to finish shooting and of course, you have to go back to LA. Where you live,” she said with a too-bright smile suddenly plastered on her face. It was as if Tessa had decided to detach and put on a mask, and he didn’t like it at all. Why was she shutting down so abruptly?
     
    “Tessa,” he lowered his voice and looked intently into her eyes, “please don’t do this. I can see and feel you shutting me out. I want you to know that...that I’m falling in love with you.” He had wanted to tell her that in the right place at the right time, but seeing her slip through his fingers was causing him to pull out all the stops. It was the truth anyway.
     
    She looked up when he admitted those words. Surely, Tessa must have known that this was the case. Wasn’t it obvious to her that he couldn’t get enough her? That seeing her smile made the most trying days on set absolutely worth it?
     
    “What did you say?” she quietly asked.
     
    “I said that I’m in love with you. I love you, Tessa,” he repeated.
     
    “That’s what I thought you said. How could you do this, Nate?” her voice broke. Nate watched in horror as unbidden tears spilled down her cheeks. What was happening?
     
    “Tessa, I don’t understand. I’m telling you that I love you and you’re mad at me. What am I missing?”
     
    “There’s no way you could be in love with me after just a few weeks. Clearly, I mean very little to you, and you are just saying anything and everything to make your last few days here pleasant before you move on to someone else. Just take me home,” she said.
     
    Nate could sense the moment she reined in her emotions and a frosty glaze encased her heart, protecting herself from him. How could things have gone so wrong and why did she insist that she knew how he felt about her more than he himself did? Now it was his turn to get mad.
     
    “Fine,