Big Love in a Small Town (Contemporary Romance) Read Online Free PDF Page A

his leather messenger bag – the one that went on every trip with him – for the current historical biography he was reading. He smiled to himself, thinking how many of his adoring fans would keel over in confusion when they found out that he spent his spare time reading biographies and not hanging out at bars and trying to hook up with other stars.
     
    A couple of hours later, he closed the book about Theodore Roosevelt, and hopped in the shower. Afterward, while getting dressed in jeans and a black V-neck T-shirt, Nate couldn’t believe that he actually felt nervous. What was going on? He was a confident guy, and usually, women were jumping over one another for the chance to be with him. Not that he took advantage of that – he actually tried really hard to date women that didn’t seem star-struck. But Tessa, Tessa was a different story entirely.
     
    Tessa stirred feelings in him that he didn’t even realize he was capable of having. She was spontaneous, honest, gorgeous, and made him laugh constantly. There was a frankness about her, despite her overall gentle demeanor, that fascinated him, and he was genuinely afraid, for the first time in forever, that he might scare her off with this crazy lifestyle that he lived.
     

***
     
    Tessa hurried to change in the bathroom at The Grille before Nate arrived. She was so excited to get to see him again, and she’d been so good about not telling anyone about it.
     
    Although Nate hadn’t asked her to keep their seeing one another a secret, she figured the guy always had some sleazy tabloid reporters skulking around, just waiting for some scrap of information that they could turn into a crazy story. Tessa didn’t want to make a bigger deal about his celebrity status than it already was, so she’d simply kept it to herself that Nate had spent the night at her home and that he was coming over again tonight.
     
    The attention wouldn’t necessarily bother her, but after spending so much time with Nate last night, she knew that he loved acting and everything about the film industry, but he’d recently been burned by a few crazy rumors. He was now making a point to keep a minimal spot in the public eye, and that was fine with her.
     
    Of course, she thought it was cool that she was seeing someone so completely adored by millions of people – who wouldn’t find that fascinating? But at the same time, Tessa was going to make a specific point not to get hung up on celebrity status.
     
    Freshly changed into jeans and a deep-blue sweater, Tessa said hurried goodbyes to everyone and headed out of the back kitchen door and into the chilly night. She picked up the quickest pace she could handle in her ankle boots, and jogged to Nate’s waiting car. A quick thrill of excitement at getting to see him again ran down her spine.
     
    “Hello there,” she said as she tossed her bag onto the tiny back seat.
     
    “Hello, Tessa,” Nate smiled at her before leaning over to give her a kiss on her cheek.
     
    “What do we have planned for the evening? Would you like to go back to my place again?” Tessa hoped he didn’t think her too forward, but there just weren’t that many options for things to do in Clearhill, and her place was private and away from prying eyes.
     
    “That’s fine with me. I honestly don’t care what we do – I just enjoy spending time with you,” he told her as he backed the car out of the parking spot. Tessa smiled at his words – he’d said them so matter-of-factly.
     
    As they headed down the street, Tessa placed her hand in his as it rested casually on the center console. With her fingers laced between his, Nate gave her hand a squeeze. Tessa breathed in the moment of contentment. She didn’t know where this was headed, but she was determined to continue to live in the moment and enjoy each second. She refused to over-analyze or worry about what would happen in the future – she was going to live in the right now.
     
    Once they had arrived