Free Loving The Country Boy (Barrett's Mill Book 4) by Mia Ross

she’d know how to solve it.
    One thing she knew for sure: she was done pretending everything was fine when it wasn’t. The fact that Heath had advised her to do just that had nothing to do with her newfound determination, she assured herself. Nothing at all.
    * * *
    Something was up with Tess.
    Even while they were all chatting and laughing, he slid a glance at her now and then, wondering if he should be worried. She was smiling in all the right places, but the expression had an absent look to it, as if her thoughts kept wandering to something else altogether. That quick mind of hers impressed him beyond words, and tonight he felt like he was at a serious disadvantage.
    That was why he generally avoided getting involved with smart women, he reminded himself wryly. They were always a step or two ahead of him, if not more, and they always got tired of waiting for him to catch up. Just one more reason to keep Tess at arm’s length.
    The problem was, that didn’t keep him from noticing how her eyes sparkled in the porch light, or how she put an extra spoonful of whipped cream on the slice of apple pie she handed over to him. When she added one of those dazzling smiles, he felt his resolve wavering and did his best to rein in his errant thoughts. He almost managed it, but not quite.
    “Thanks,” he said as he forked up a mouthful of Olivia’s award-winning dessert.
    “You’re welcome. After all you’ve done for us today, you should have this whole pie to yourself.”
    Jason and Scott made choking noises, even as their wives kicked them under the table. Ignoring them, Heath grinned at Tess. It wasn’t his imagination this time, he was certain. She was starting to like him. And even though he knew better, he couldn’t deny he was starting to like her, too. “Maybe you can make me another one.”
    “Me?” Laughing as if he’d just told her the best joke she ever heard, she shook her head. “Not unless you want to land in the hospital with food poisoning. I’m the kind of girl who makes reservations, not dinner.”
    “Technically, this is dessert,” he pointed out, bobbing his loaded fork in emphasis.
    “I don’t do that, either. Trust me, it’s safer for everyone that way.”
    Heath was aware that the two married couples were subtly retreating, leaving the two of them alone beneath one of the oak trees that had been on the site since the original mill was built just after the Civil War. Its bare branches spread out overhead, showing off the stars that were coming to life in the dark sky.
    Resting his arms on the table, he focused back on her. It wasn’t tough, since she was the nicest view he’d had all day. “I guess this is a little more rustic than what you’re used to.”
    “True, but it’s also more fun.”
    “Seriously? You’d rather be here than at a sushi bar or some high-end bistro?”
    Fixing those incredible eyes on him, she said, “I’d rather be here than anywhere else I can think of. Can you keep a secret?”
    “Scout’s honor,” he replied, solemnly holding up his hand.
    “Even before I lost my job,” she confided while swirling the ice in her cup, “I wasn’t all that happy.”
    The urge to say
I knew it
was almost irresistible, but he suspected it would go over better if he offered a sympathetic ear instead of gloating about being right. “Why?”
    “Lots of reasons,” she admitted with a delicate shrug. She refused to meet his eyes, which told him another of his hunches was correct. She was hiding something, and not only from him. Letting out a heavy sigh, she lifted her gaze to his and allowed him to see the raw emotion swirling through her eyes. “After Avery and I were together about a year, we found out I was pregnant.”
    Heath was glad he was sitting down, or he’d have dropped from shock. When he recovered enough to think clearly, he understood what she was trying not to say. “You lost the baby.”
    Tears flooded her eyes, and she nodded before looking down at