Page 5 of Midnight (Chasing the Sun #3)

Nate

S itting there, I’m completely stunned. No one is taking this sweet girl's virginity but me. Yet the thought of going that far right now is way too much. Even though she’ll be of age tomorrow, she shouldn't be making this kind of decision under these circumstances.

Losing your virginity is a big deal, especially as a female. I know that. But I want her to make this choice on love not on fear. Beyond that, her first time should be epic not rushed, and certainly not stolen.

The problem is I have no idea how to voice that to her, but I'm saved by the doorbell. Not expecting anyone, so I instantly tense up.

"Sweetheart, go to my room. Close the door and stay quiet please," I whisper in her ear. She looks at me, nods and gets up, and scurries down the hallway.

A quick glance around the room shows there's no evidence of her here. My police belt always hangs by the front door. Pulling my gun from it, I answer the door only to find no one on the other side.

What I find is a box on my front porch and a delivery truck driving down my road. A quick glance at the return label shows the clothing store where I ordered clothes for Harper yesterday. Laughing at myself, I bring the box inside. I had completely forgotten I ordered these.

"You can come out Harper. It was just a delivery."

She cracks open the door and peeks out. Putting my gun away, I hold the box up for her to see. She comes back down the hallway still wearing my clothes and I have to admit I'm a bit disappointed her clothes are here. I wanted her in my clothes a bit longer.

"Let's open it up and check it out, yeah?" I say. Then I grab a box cutter from the table beside the door.

Setting the box on the coffee table, I open it as she peeks inside. But then looks at me.

"Go ahead. Those are for you because they sure as hell won't fit me," I smile.

The pure excitement that crosses her face as she digs into a box full of something so basic as clothes makes my heart race. I want to put that smile there more often, and I vowed to find ways to do so.

"I can't believe these clothes got here so fast! You just ordered them yesterday!" she says in awe as she pulls out a few T-shirts.

"Well, I ordered them from the local shop and they delivered them themselves," I admit. Thankful now that I semi-listened when my sister was talking about this place the last time she was here to visit.

"Why don't you try the clothes on and make sure everything fits," I suggest sitting back down on the couch.

"Okay, and when I'm done it's your turn to tell me about you," she says as she grabs a stack of clothes and heads off to her room.

She comes out in jeans and one of the shirts that I got her, and she looks absolutely stunning.

"How does it fit?" I ask her to make sure she loves it.

"Perfectly! I absolutely love it. Though I don't think I've ever owned a pair of jeans these comfortable and that fit me this well," she says with a huge smile on her face.

Right away, she tries on every piece of clothing and models each one of them for me.

I love seeing her in the clothes that I bought her and seeing how happy they make her.

At the same time, it's pure torture too because I can't touch her even though all I want to do is get my hands on her, especially in those jeans.

She doesn't have on any makeup and her hair is straight with the exception of a few waves in it.

Nothing fancy. But right now while she's not wearing the baggy clothes I found her in last night, and when she's in clothes that actually fit her, there's no way I would have guessed she was just turning eighteen.

My guess would have been that she was in her early twenties, possibly twenty-one without a second thought.

When she's done with the fashion show, she sits back down on the couch smiling. She's wearing a pair of sweatpants that I bought her to use as pajama pants but she put my T-shirt back on.

"Is this all right? Earlier, I was just really comfortable in it," she says, tugging on my T-shirt.

"It's perfect as long as you're comfortable. That's all I want," I tell her, and she nods.

"Okay, it’s your turn to tell me about you," she says, settling into the couch.

"Well, it's just my mom, my dad, my sister, and me.

Last year my sister got married to her high school sweetheart, and he's become a good friend of mine. I am only here temporarily, because I took on a short-term assignment to help fill in here. But my home is in Seaview, a small, tiny town off the coast here in North Carolina. It’s an island with only one way on and one way off. "

"How long are you here for?"

"The assignment that I'm on right now would be about four more months with the option to renew. If I don't, then I will go back home."

"Did they assign this to you or did you volunteer?" she asks.

"They asked for volunteers and since I’m the only single person on the squad, I volunteered. My lease was up on the place where I was staying, and they supplied this apartment as part of the assignment. So, having very few expenses, this allows me to save up to buy a house on the island."

"Are your parents and your sister and her husband still there?"

"Well, kind of. Actually, their place is more of a weekend and vacation establishment. My sister’s husband works about twenty minutes from here in Washington."

"Washington DC is only twenty minutes from here?" she asks, wrinkling her nose.

"No," I laughed. "Washington, North Carolina. He works at the airport just outside of town. Though to be honest, I still couldn't tell you what he does."

"Do you... um... have... a girlfriend?" she asks hesitantly.

But it's still enough to stop me in my tracks.

"No sweetheart, I don't. I wouldn't have brought you here and said the things I've said to you if I did. No wife, either. Ever since my high school girlfriend and I broke up, I've been single. What about you? Have you ever had a serious relationship?"

"Nope. A bunch of guys asked me to prom but that's pretty much because they thought they would get laid and that I would want to lose my virginity at prom. How old are you?"

"I just turned twenty-four last month," I cringe slightly.

"A six-year age gap is nothing. My grandparents were the most amazing example of true love that I've ever been able to witness.

My grandfather was eight years older than my grandmother," she says with a brilliant smile on her face that quickly turned sad.

"I know my grandmother held on for me as long as she could, but I’m positive she died of a broken heart because she missed my grandfather too much. "

She shakes her head like she's trying to shake away her memory and then she lets out a huge yawn.

"Why don't you lie down and take a nap? Last night you didn't get much sleep," I tell her and her eyes go wide.

"I haven't had a nap in years. I haven't been allowed to."

"Well, here I'm telling you to take a nap because you're tired. You need to take care of yourself and that means getting plenty of rest. Rest which I doubt you got hardly any of over the past two weeks. There’s a TV in my room so you can lay in there watching and relaxing."

"Will you lay with me again?" she asks and as much as I want to, I know I can't.

"Right now, I have a bit of computer work to do. I want to get that wrapped up so that I don't have to worry about it over the next few days.