Kill Devil Hills: A Complete Beach Romance Series (4-Book Box Set)

by Sarah Darlington

  Whatever, I decided. A little humiliation was worth it.

  Nathanial brought me to my bed and set me down on top of the covers. The man was naked but didn't seem to notice or care as he moved to open my dresser. He found me a shirt and some pajama pants. Then he turned around with raised eyebrows and the clothes in his hands, looking for my approval.

  I nodded, smiling at the cute look on his face, and he returned to me.

  He helped me into my shirt, pausing before fully covering my breasts to press a kiss to one of my nipples. He lingered for a moment then finished tugging the material into place. He helped me into my underwear and pajama pants too. I wasn't five. I didn't need his help putting on clothes. But I let him do it anyway because I thoroughly enjoyed the special attention. No one had ever done this sort of thing for me before. It was sweet—especially coming from a big, tough guy like Nathanial.

  Neither of us were speaking. He’d just had his way with me, seen every inch of my body in the most exposed way possible, but his gentleness had turned me shy and I didn’t know what to say. Maybe he felt something similar, because he wasn’t talking either. It made this moment even more intimate than our bathroom sex—if that was possible. And my heart sped because of it.

  Once I was taken care of, he flipped off the lights. Then he grabbed my waist, pulling my body in close to his, and snuggled in with me under the covers. In the dark stillness with this amazing man, accepting and loving the feel of his strong arms around me, I realized something.

  “Oh my God,” I said out loud. “I like boys.”

  I wasn’t sure if this was a happy realization or a sad one. Neither, I guess. Just a self-observation.

  “I mean…men,” I corrected. “I like men. Well, actually just one man. The rest of your species, not so much.”

  He chuckled against my shoulder. “I like you too, baby. Now get some sleep. I’m going to show you over and over again just how much I like you tomorrow. You’re going to need your rest.”

  I liked this threat. Besides, I was extremely exhausted. Our bathroom sex had worn me out. So, I closed my eyes. I’d worry about what this all meant in the morning.

  * * *

  In the morning, I woke with Nathanial still in my bed. Which probably shouldn’t have surprised me as much as it did. Not that I’d expected him to take off in the middle of the night, leaving me high and dry, but some part of me must have feared he might—because I was so excited and relieved to find him still next to me.

  His large body took up my whole bed. I was on the edge, practically falling out. And he was…still naked! Like on his stomach, spread-eagle, with the covers down around his feet—that sort of naked. Jesus, his ass had more muscle definition than my whole body. He was impressive to look at, and I wondered what the hell he was doing here with me.

  The man could have threesomes with girls like Kelly Patterson for crying out loud. Well, Kelly was probably too classy for a threesome. But I was sure girls as pretty as Kelly had to be throwing themselves at him on a daily basis. I’d like to think I was pretty awesome in my own right. Was it possible he thought so too? He had to think something—or I don’t think he would have come all this way for seconds.

  “Hey you,” I said, pushing at his shoulder. “Nathanial, wake up.”

  With a grumble he rolled onto his back and stretched out like a cat. This big, shit-eating, ‘I-got-lucky-last-night’ grin came to his lips as he pried open his eyes to stare at me. “Morning, baby,” he said, being all smiley and flirty. He had an erection from the morning. It stood at attention as he lay on his back, and I swear it was even bigger and more intimidating than I remembered. I tried not to stare, but—holy shit! No wonder I still felt kind of sore today.

  “Baby, it’s not going to bite you.” Nathanial grabbed my arms. He pulled me away from the edge of the bed and in close to him. “How are you feeling today? Any of that hangover feeling left?”

  “I’m better. I think,” I muttered. “But I’m not sure I like you calling me baby. I’m not sure I’m a pet-name kind of a girl. So cut it out.” I pinched him. Or tried too—but the skin on his abdomen was way too taut for pinching.

  He caught my hand and instead of letting me pinch or tickle, he laced our fingers together. “Well, you called me cowboy while we were fucking last night. I think that grants me liberties on calling you baby. Seems only fair.”

  I gasped and buried my face against his chest. He was right; I had called him cowboy during our love making. Jesus Christ, how lame and embarrassing was I? “I take it back!” I yelled.

  “Nope,” he told me, cupping the sides of my face and rolling on top of me. “You said it when you were delirious from the orgasm I’d given you. And I liked it. You can’t take it back. Ellie, I…”

  One of his animal noises rumbled in his throat.

  “You, what?” I asked. It seemed like he’d wanted to say something else.

  “Nothing.”

  He climbed off me and out of bed. “My clothes are in the bathroom. I’m going to go get dressed and then get going.”

  “Oh. Okay.” I tried to mask my disappointment, but even I could hear it in my voice.

  “Can I come over again tonight?” he asked, brushing his hand over the back his neck. He glanced down at the carpet and then back up at me through those dark lashes of his.

  Hello sexy. The man seemed almost…nervous as he asked this.

  “Yes.” I smiled. There really was no other answer.

  “Good. I’ll see you later then.” He bent over to press a single kiss to my lips and whispered, “I can’t wait for later.”

  “Me too,” I breathed.

  Then he was gone. And I was all alone in my bed. I had to take several calming breaths—because he’d left me feeling all achy and needy with the image of him naked in my head. I resisted the urge to take care of business myself and instead hurried to get ready for work.

  * * *

  Going into work was pointless. Owning an outdoor miniature golf course on a cold, frigid day translated into zero business. I didn’t have any other employees on payroll for the winter months. It was just me and my lonesome. So when I went to work at The Presidential Swing, all I usually did was hangout, watching Netflix on my cellphone, from sun up to sun down. Noah had urged me to close our business until spring, but what else was I supposed to do with my time? Get a job as a waitress at Chancy’s with Rhett? No, thank you.

  But after a few hours of doing nothing today, with no customers, I gave up and called it a day.

  Driving over to Mom and Dad’s house, I decided to check in with them. We only lived a few miles apart and I spent a lot of time over there, especially when the weather sucked. My mom and I had a tendency to argue. We’d always been like that. It was probably because we were a lot alike, personality wise. But these days our arguing was usually only over tiny, silly things—nothing major that would keep me away or keep me from all her home cooking. And believe me, I was a crap cook. If I didn’t go over there every few days to raid her fridge for leftovers, I would have starved long ago.

  “Hello,” I yelled as I came inside through the basement door. Mom was downstairs, on the phone. I realized this a moment too late.

  She hushed me and waved at me to go upstairs. I bet it was a work phone call. She and Dad were both realtors—a husband and wife team. They were busy on and off, depending on business, and today it seemed she was busy. My Dad was probably at their relator company’s office.

  Upstairs I found my kid sister Rose sitting on the couch with a giant bowl of popcorn, the remote in her hand, and her eyes glued to the TV. “Why aren’t you in school?” I asked, walking over to immediately feel her head. She didn’t have a fever, but it wasn’t like my mom to randomly let her stay home. “You sick?”

  “Hell, no,” she said, pushing me to the right so I wasn’t in the way of her show. “It’s a snow day.”

  “Don’t cuss,” I muttered, turning to look out the window. “Um…it’s not snowing.”


  “The weather man said there was supposed to be a dusting. You know how the school board is. If they even hear the word snow, they cancel. Awesome, huh?” she informed me, still trying to see around me. I purposely kept blocking the TV. “Ellie,” she whined. “Stop it.

  I grabbed the remote from her hand and turned off the TV. “Rosie,” I said, “you should have called me. Go get your coat on and go get the…prints.” I whispered the word prints. “We can finish up your Christmas gifts today.”

  “Oh, yeah.” Her eyes lit up and she hopped off the couch.

  A few months back, I’d splurged and bought my first camera. The urge to buy one hit me after my brother’s ‘death.’ Helping my parents prepare for the funeral, we’d gone through lots of pictures. But for as many pictures as there were, I still felt like there weren’t enough. My brother was gone, and I wanted more pictures to remember him by. Little did I know he wasn’t actually dead, but at the time the urge to buy a camera and take more pictures had struck me pretty hard. That urge grew when Georgie and Noah first started dating. Life was precious. Life was short. When I was eighty-five and losing my memories, I wanted to have tons and tons of pictures from my glory days to help remind me of these days.

  So I bought a camera. And I loved it. I loved taking pictures and documenting everything. I’d even started scrapbooking. That was a secret I would guard with my life, because girls like me weren’t supposed to scrapbook, but it had become a new hobby.

  Then there was Rosie. My new camera had been as exciting for her and it was for me.

  And the prints I was referring to, they were pictures she’d taken that we’d had printed. There was one for my parents, one for Noah and Georgie, and one she’d been hiding from me that was my Christmas present. All we had left to do was get her pictures framed.

  She had her coat on in three nano-seconds with her folder of pictures tucked safely in her arms. I’d only just opened the fridge when she started tugging on my arm. “Let’s go,” she begged.

  “Fine. Fine.” I sighed, eyeing some yummy stew, but closed the fridge instead.

  After we told Mom goodbye and got in the car to drive to the frame shop, I debated over telling Rose about Nathanial. I wanted to tell her so bad. Maybe she was only nine, almost ten, but she was smart and wise beyond her years. Not only that, she was exceptionally level-headed. She had a way of looking at things, figuring things out, that even I had yet to master.

  “So, I’m seeing this guy,” I said, cringing as the words came out. I sounded like such a girl.

  “What does ‘seeing’ mean? Like dating?” Immediately, she was squirming in her seat, asking questions. I never knew my love life could be so thrilling for her. And I hadn’t even told her he was famous yet. “Can I meet him?”

  “I don’t know how long it’s going to last. Or if it means anything at all. But yes, if it continues, then of course you can meet him.”

  Plus, I already knew she’d liked him. He was a celebrity, and she worshiped celebrities. And part of me really wanted Nathanial to meet her. The biggest part, actually. It was foolish for me to hope that there might be some resemblance of a future possible between us—but I was hoping anyway.

  “So, wait…are you still a lesbian?” Rose wondered.

  Wow. There it was. The hard question—from a nine-year-old. I was always honest with Rose, so I didn’t sugar coat or dumb down anything as I answered. “He’s the first man I’ve ever had feelings for. But I still find women attractive too. I think I’ll always find women attractive. I think that’s part of my nature. But, honestly, I don’t know what I am.”

  “It sounds like you’re bisexual.” God, she watched way too much TV. “But you seem really happy today. You were in a crappy mood at Thanksgiving. So it doesn’t matter to me if he’s a man or a woman or a purple alien, and it shouldn’t matter to you—as long as he makes you happy. That’s all that’s important in any relationship. What are you getting him for Christmas?”

  Rose quickly changed the subject, her mind moving a mile a minute. She started going on about how difficult it will be to buy him a gift since we’d only just started dating. As I listened to her chatter, I thought about what she’d said—how I was happy. I really was happy. And I’d do anything to keep this feeling going.

  So after the frame shop and after taking Rose home, I decided to send Nathanial a text.

  Me: I left work early. Want to come over sooner rather than later? It’s Friday so that means Rhett will be out all night.

  Nathanial: I’ll be there in ten.

  CHAPTER 21:

  NATHANIAL

  After last night with Ellie, I decided to expedite the buying process on my house. I had money. I could pull something like this off. Why the hell not? There was no need to worry about getting a loan, or partaking in a negotiation war with the current owners. Those sort of annoyances would only slow the process down, so with the help of the realtor lady, I submitted an offer at full asking price. I did it all by noon too. Then by one o’clock, she called me to tell me that the current owners had accepted my offer. Easy. The house was almost mine. But that didn’t mean my work was done. Far from it. My family was coming to stay for Christmas in less than a week’s time. It would have to be perfect by then.

  So when Ellie texted me halfway through the day, asking if I wanted to come over. I was torn. I’d planned on buying a car today in addition to the long list of house stuff I needed to get done. But the whole point of any of this was her, so I dropped what I was doing—which was sorting through all the kitchen junk—and jogged the mile down the street to her house.

  When I knocked on the door and she answered, she threw herself into my arms. I almost fell over backward from the force of her colliding with me. We barely even made it into the house before she started peeling off all my clothes. I wasn’t sure where all this was coming from. But, dammit, the woman wanted me and she wanted me now. Who was I to deny her? We ended up making love right there on the kitchen floor. It was raw and gritty and perfect. Now that we’d been together a few times, Ellie seemed completely at ease with me.

  “Holy shit,” I panted, lying flat on the floor next to Ellie. My back was sweaty and sticking to the tile beneath me. “That was…damn, Ellie. Damn.”

  “I know, right.”

  “What happened at work? Why did you leave early?” And then I realized something, as I was staring up at the light fixture on her ceiling and trying to catch my breath. I didn’t even know what sort of work she did. “What kind of job do you have?”

  Ellie sat up, grabbing her shirt and pulling it on. She found her underwear and shimmied into those too. “Nobody told you?” she asked, resting back against me, her head on my stomach. “Noah and I own a mini-golf place. We started working there when we were both sixteen. Back then Frank Ward owned it. Frank loved Noah and me, and one summer working for him turned into three summers. Then when it came time for college, when I was trying to decide what to do, Frank approached us and told us he was looking to retire soon. He wanted Noah and me to buy it from him. So that’s what we did. Noah couldn’t afford to go to college. And truth be told, I was terrified to leave Kill Devil Hills and the only friend I’d ever had. College was out for me too. It took us a couple years saving up money, working extra jobs, and building our credit up to qualify for the loan. Frank was patient though. And in the end, we bought it.”

  She told me all this with the biggest smile on her face. She was so enthusiastic about her business. At sixteen I never had that sort of drive. I still wasn’t even sure if I had it now. I was inspired and impressed. “That’s amazing, Ellie.”

  “Yeah, I’m proud of it. It used to be called The Pirate’s Cove. We renamed it and redesigned it, because there are already eight other pirate themed miniature-golf places in the OBX. We had to find a way to make ours stand out. That’s kind of hard with mini-golf.”

  “I want to see it. Get up.”

  “Right now?” she asked, sitting up. “What?�
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  I immediately started gathering my clothes. “Sure. Why not?”

  “Well…um, okay.”

  Ellie grew quiet as we both finished getting dressed, putting on our shoes and whatnot, and left her house to drive across town. She made me drive. Which, for as independent as she was, I found odd. But she explained how she was a crappy driver—possibly the first woman I’d ever known to admit this—and how the forecast was calling for snow and it made her nervous.

  So I drove. No big deal.

  We pulled up to a place not far from where she lived. The road sign was red, white, and blue, and it read: The Presidential Swing. I liked it already. It was patriotic themed and something I’d never seen before. We raced through the freezing cold parking lot to a building that sat in the middle of the lot. A sign on the outside said office and pay inside here. The inside of this building, though not an oval shaped room, was set up like The Oval Office. There were gold ornate curtains that covered the window, two stripped sofas facing each other in the middle of the room, and the presidential sigma on the blue carpeted floor. The counter where the register was even looked like the president’s desk.

  “We spent all the extra money we made after our first summer as owners making this room,” she explained. “Noah, literally, carved the counter. He took a class. Something with that much detail was perfect for him and his OCD. The dork spent months on it and I think it turned out great. And so did the room, aside from the fact that it’s not actually oval.”

  “You and Noah could design movie sets.”

  She shrugged.

  “I mean it,” I stressed. “Hell, those pictures of George Washington and Abe Lincoln on the walls in the gold, elaborate frames…they look like they could go in a museum. Your room design is that good.”

  Next she showed me the back office and the break room, which weren’t anything out of the ordinary compared to the main room. I wanted to go outside and see everything else. Hell, I wanted to grab a putter and play the course. But she refused to go out in the cold. Our small dispute ended with Ellie pointing out different things along the course from the office window, and a promise to play as soon as the weather warmed up.