Falling for Zeke Read online

  Falling for Zeke

  A Sweet Romantic Suspense

  Sara Blackard

  Copyright © 2020 Sara Blackard

  For more information on this book and the author visit: https://www.sarablackard.com

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  Editor Raneé S. Clark with Sweetly Us Press.

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  Cover Designed by MethodMike.

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  Author photo by Michele Flagen https://micheleflagenphotography.pixieset.com

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  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Want to know how it all began? Find out what propelled Zeke to create the Stryker Security Force by signing up for Sara Blackard’s newsletter, and you’ll receive Mission Out of Control, the Stryker Security Force prequel for FREE.

  For Shelly and Jodi

  Thank you for cheering me on.

  For the countless hours reading really rough drafts.

  For the belly laughs and the thousands of texts.

  I couldn’t do this without you.

  Chapter One

  Zeke Greene growled low and dangerous at his screen, tempted beyond reason to pull the hidden Glock from beneath the desktop and blow the entire computer to smithereens. As a member of the highly trained special ops unit of the Army, he’d led secret missions into the deepest, darkest pits of the world. He’d rescued victims from sex trafficking, protected different government officials through dangerous situations, and tracked terrorists through the belly of the beast. Since leaving the Army, he’d started his security firm, Stryker Security, and gathered the best men he knew—his brothers-in-arms—his family. From their growing client list, they must do a decent job. So why couldn’t he figure out how to slay the monster known as QuickBooks?

  He grabbed the sides of the laptop and shook it in frustration. “Why won’t you balance, you stupid thing?”

  “Problems?” Rafe Malone’s jovial voice jerked Zeke’s head up.

  He furrowed his forehead and glared at his friend. Rafe leaned far too casually on the doorjamb, smirking in that upbeat way he did. Nothing fazed the man. In the thick of a gunfight, Rafe always remained as calm as a cucumber, cracking jokes while bullets pinged by. They all counted on his steadiness when they were in the thick of it, but his charm wore thin today.

  “I hate accounting.” Zeke eased back in his office chair and threw his pen on the desk. “I think trolls programmed QuickBooks.”

  Rafe laughed, rubbing his hand over his perfectly groomed red beard. “Accountants have to get their kicks somehow. If everyone mastered their diabolical program, then there wouldn’t be any need for them.”

  Zeke chuckled, then lit up with a thought. “Hey, why don’t you take a whack at it?”

  “No way, man.” Rafe held his hands out in front of him like he was warding off a wild dog or something. Zeke understood that—accounting was a beast. “You’re not loading that on me.”

  “Come on. You know computers inside and out. Can hack into the highest level security systems. You’re a wizard at this stuff.”

  “While I’m humbled that you acknowledge my general awesomeness and that I’m a Master of Technology, your flattery will not woo me to the dark side.”

  “You could have this done in no time flat.” Zeke ran his hands through his hair as his frustration rose. “I’ve been here for hours, have looked at numbers until my eyes crossed, and still can’t get the columns to balance.”

  “Dude, just admit it, we need to hire someone for all of this.” Rafe motioned with his hands at the chaotic office.

  Zeke scowled as he glanced around at the papers overflowing the baskets, the sticky notes of various neon colors slapped onto the wall, and the general disorder of the room. He had hoped that setting up his security firm outside Glenwood Springs, Colorado would prove a brilliant idea. Just north of Aspen and west of Vail, located where all the rich and famous hung out, it had been a strategic move. It had proved better than any of them imagined. They’d been getting more calls than they could handle since the minute Rafe had designed their website and Zeke had contacted some acquaintances. While the influx of clients was excellent for the growing business, it’d left little time for mundane things like number crunching and office organization.

  Zeke placed his elbows on the desk and rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands. He didn’t want to hire an outsider. His team was his family. He trusted them unconditionally. He couldn’t imagine some stuffy office person melding with his men, but if he didn’t do something soon, the business would suffer. They were already so busy he was putting the word out to other Army friends to join them.

  “You know I’m right, Cap,” Rafe interrupted his thoughts. “We need help.”

  “Get out of here before the Good Idea Fairy suggests a certain cocky computer genius needs to do some organizing.” Zeke lifted one eyebrow and motioned toward the piles of papers.

  “Sir, yes sir.” Rafe saluted with a smile and beat feet, hollering to the house as he left. “Don’t go near the Cap. He’s liable to make you scrub toilets with a toothbrush or cut the grass with office scissors.”

  Zeke chucked the tennis ball he kept on his desk out the door. A thunk and an outraged cry of pain caused him to smile. The others in the living room ribbed Rafe, tempting Zeke to abandon the office and join them. A scowl replaced his smile as he glared at the mismatching numbers on the computer screen. His phone vibrated on the desk. Beatrice Thomas-soon-to-be-Bennett’s picture smiled up at him from the screen.

  He’d just met Beatrice a few weeks earlier, when, by an unbelievable act of God, she had found herself on Chase’s mountain. Zeke glanced at the two pictures hanging on the wall. At least now he knew what had happened to Hunter Bennett, Zeke’s best friend and Army buddy who’d mysteriously disappeared a year and a half ago.

  They had lost Ethan Stryker in a mission that had gone south just a few weeks before Hunter went on a camping trip and never returned. Instead of signing on for another tour like he had planned, Zeke had retired and moved here to help Chase search for Hunter. When nothing showed up after several weeks, Zeke decided to start Stryker Security Force and stick close to Chase. One by one, the other guys joined him when their turn came up for re-enlisting.

  Over the last year and a half, he and Chase had spent countless hours searching the Rocky Mountains for any sign of Hunter. When Beatrice had arrived with the rest of Hunter’s story, the relief to know he hadn’t died alone on the mountain had almost rocketed Zeke to the moon. The weight of not telling the others held him firmly on the earth. He, Chase, and Beatrice had decided, for Beatrice’s sake, they should keep her arrival on the down low.

  “Hey, Bea. You ready to leave Chase behind and run away with me into the sunset?” Zeke stood up from his chair and walked to the window.

  The large, groomed yard butted up to an open field that extended all the way to the mountains. He’d bought the property just south of Glenwood for its enormous house and acreage, where they had room to train and house clients securely if needed. Once a sprawling ranch, the property was perfect with its intimidating front gate and miles of barbed wire fencing.

  Beatrice snorted, and Zeke could picture her cheeks pinking. “Zeke, you scoundrel. You know I’m madly in love with Chase and would never run off with you into the sunset or anywhere else.”

  “I’m hurt, Bea, truly hurt. Don’t go easy on me or anything. Tell me how you really feel. I can take it.” Zeke laced his voice with mock injury.

  “You’ll get over it.” Her voice held a humor he was glad to hear, especially after the turmoil she’d just gone through.

  “How’s the planning going for the quickest wedding of the decade?” He shook his head, still in shock over the fact she and Chase were getting married the next day.

  “That’s why I’m calling. I need you to do me a favor.”

  “Chase getting cold feet? Need me to tie him down and hold him hostage until the ceremony?” Zeke knew that was a firm negative considering the way Chase was crazy over her.

  “No, Chase isn’t getting cold feet, and no, you don’t have to tie him down.”

  “Hey!” Chase’s exclamation came loud through the phone.

  “I want Samantha and Evangeline to come to the wedding, but Sam doesn’t think her car will make it up the mountain again in one piece. Do you think you can bring them with you?” Beatrice’s request had him leaning against the desk in shock.

  Zeke stifled a growl. He wanted nothing to do with Samantha, a.k.a. the woman who only sauntered back into Chase’s life because she needed something, mainly a father for her kid. He wasn’t sure about her, and it had taken every ounce of restraint he had not to have Rafe search her background. While Beatrice seemed to have made friends with the woman who had nearly torn her and Chase’s relationship apart, Zeke still held reservations. He didn’t trust someone who would keep their child from the father for four years, no matter if she had good intentions or not.

  “Yeah, I guess I can take her,” he answered with a sigh.

  “Thank you!” Beatrice gushed into the phone in a manner unlike the tough woman he admired. “I’m so happy. I’ll send you her address and tell her you’ll pick her up.”

  “Yeah, sure, that would be fine.” He hung up the phone and turned back to the computer with
a growl.

  QuickBooks would have to wait for another day. He slammed the screen shut. He needed to pound his frustration out into the boxing bag. Better yet, Rafe obviously had plenty of time to spare. He grinned with menace as he hollered for Rafe and stomped out of the office.

  Samantha rushed into the Canary Café, frantically putting her stuff in her cubby behind the counter. She was late—again. When her babysitter had called at the last minute and said she couldn’t watch Evangeline, Samantha had called her minimal contacts trying to find someone else who could keep her daughter during her shift. She was so thankful Chase and Beatrice had said that they would take the little girl shopping with them while she went to work this afternoon. She couldn’t afford to miss another shift.

  She pulled on her apron and hurried out to see which zone she served. If anyone had told her two months before that she'd be living in a Colorado tourist town, serving quiche and lattes to be a bunch of upitty tourists, she would've laughed in their face.

  Back in Texas, she’d had a stable job that provided well for her and Eva. Though most people would consider office work boring, she found it reliable and constant. That all changed when the Payne family decided they wanted Eva, even though their son, Garrett, had wanted nothing to do with her. She shuddered, thinking about the way they had forced her out of her job, hoping to drive her into their lives. Instead, she had run away, knowing the last thing she’d ever want for Eva was that manipulating family.

  All she had now was aching feet, a tweaked back, and a near-empty bank account. She just prayed eventually she’d be able to find something better, something that gave them enough for more than the crappy apartment and beans and rice every night.

  She pasted on a smile and walked over to her first table. “What can I get you today?”

  After taking down the order, she went to the back and placed it into the system for the cook.

  “Samantha!” George's barked shout startled her, making her jump. “You're late again. You mess up one more time and you're out of here.”

  “Sorry, George. I understand.”

  Samantha didn’t blame him. She hadn’t been a good employee. It surprised her George had kept her as long as he had, what with her having to miss shifts often because of lack of babysitters. She wasn’t sure how she would make it, but she had to. She couldn’t afford to move again.

  “Don't listen to him,” Cassidy said as she elbowed Samantha. “He’s just grumpy today.”

  “I’d be grumpy too if I were him.” Samantha exhaled and shrugged.

  “Well, I know something that will make you happy.” Cassidy smiled slowly while wiggling her eyebrows down. “That handsome guy, Chai Latte with Coconut Milk is back.”

  Samantha rolled her eyes. Cassidy was funny like that, giving the regulars nicknames according to what they ordered most often. Samantha glanced out the window to the tables set up along the sidewalk. Sure enough, Chai Latte with Coconut Milk sat reading something on his phone, his forehead scrunched and mouth pinched.

  Sam agreed with Cassidy that the man was good-looking. A woman would have to be blind not to notice the firm muscles in the too-tight shirt. His dark brown hair was cut short, framing his tanned and ridiculously handsome face. Not in a million years.

  She turned back to inputting the order. Even if she was searching for love, Chai Latte had too much of a military vibe to be somebody she would even consider being interested in. Cassidy, on the other hand, seemed to be interested in every man walking through the café. She often left Sam chuckling as she swooned behind the counter, fanning herself dramatically every time a man walked by. Sam was glad she was over that stage in life. That’s what being a starving single mom did to you—cancelled all your hormones so all you thought of was survival.

  “Go ahead. I’m not interested.”

  “Come on.” Cassidy pulled on Sam’s arm. “It might just bring some sunshine into your day. He’s always friendly.”

  Sam shook her head. “No, thank you. I have enough sunshine in my life already. I don't want to add a guy to the mix. That’s the last thing I should be doing. You go ahead, Cassidy.” Sam motioned with her hands for Cassidy to go outside.

  Cassidy wiggled her eyebrows and gave Sam a kissy face, then walked outside smiling big as Chai Latte with Coconut Milk looked up and grinned. Sam remembered when she used to be like Cassidy, carefree and fun, but that changed the day she became a mom. She wouldn't change being a mom for the world. She loved her baby girl, but some days were harder than others, especially with moving to an unfamiliar area.

  She sighed, thankful that she had come to know Beatrice and repaired her friendship with Chase. She never thought it would be possible, not with how she’d used him in college, killing their friendship in a moment of jealousy. At least one good thing had come out of being forced to leave Texas. She probably never would’ve contacted Chase if she hadn’t been desperate. She shook away the thoughts and went back to work, knowing if George found her lollygagging, he’d fire her for sure. She wouldn't blame him if he did, but she’d do anything to keep Eva from having to sleep in the car again. She straightened her shoulders and placed the customers’ drinks on her tray, determined to be the best employee George had ever had.

  Chapter Two

  Zeke pulled up to the worn down apartment complex and double checked his navigation system to make sure he was in the right spot. He couldn't imagine anybody voluntarily staying in this dump, especially with a child. Paint was peeling off the exterior and a group of men hung around, loudly talking and drinking beers on the balcony of Samantha’s floor even though it was only ten in the morning. The building looked like it used to be a motel that someone converted into apartments thirty years before from the style of the architecture and the outdoor balconies that led up to the different stories.

  Zeke turned off his Bronco and got out of the truck, measuring up the men as he walked to the stairs. He climbed the steps and looked for Samantha’s unit number. Finding it, he knocked loudly. From inside, he heard squealing moving closer to the door before it opened quickly to the most adorable little girl he’d ever seen. Bright blue eyes stared up at him from her light brown face. Freckles dotted her cheeks and nose like a hundred angels had kissed her. Her mouth dropped open as she ran her eyes up his length, and curly hair sprung out in all directions.

  “Eva, I told you not to open the door.” A woman rushed up, grabbing the girl and pulling the child behind her. “I’m sorry. Can I help you?” Her eyes widened before she dropped her gaze to the child peeking from behind her legs.

  “I’m Zeke Greene. I’m here to pick you up.”

  “It’s nice to meet you, Zeke. Sam … Samantha Jones.”

  She extended her hand, and Zeke took it. It was small and soft in his large one. He cleared his throat. She was tiny, just like her hand. Not in a petite way, but skinny, like she didn’t eat enough. Her face held strength as she stepped back, her cheeks sharp in her dark brown face.

  “You probably should lock your door.” Zeke hated that his voice came out rough, but he couldn’t help it. This wasn’t a neighborhood a gorgeous single woman with a cute kid should take chances in.

  Samantha huffed and crossed her arms. “Yeah, well, I locked it. Eva must’ve jiggled it just right to pop it unlocked. It does that sometimes.” Samantha held his stare. “Thank you for coming to pick us up. I really appreciate it.”

  “No problem.” Don’t be a jerk, Greene.

  “Come on in. I just need to grab a couple more things and then we’ll be ready.” She waved him in and headed toward the back of the apartment as he stepped inside. “Make yourself comfortable.”

  She disappeared into the bedroom, and Zeke glanced around the apartment that held a threadbare brown couch, a small table with two chairs, a desk by the door, and a tiny kitchenette. He scowled. The place looked like it hadn’t been remodeled since the 1970s with its puke green shag carpet and rust-colored paint. Nothing looked to be personal items except a few framed pictures on the table beside the couch.