Protecting Delilah - Kat Mizera
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Protecting Delilah (Special Forces: Operation Alpha)
Kat Mizera
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.
© 2019 ACES PRESS, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
No part of this work may be used, stored, reproduced or transmitted without written permission from the publisher except for brief quotations for review purposes as permitted by law.
This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, please purchase your own copy.
Dear Readers,
Welcome to the Special Forces: Operation Alpha Fan-Fiction world!
If you are new to this amazing world, in a nutshell the author wrote a story using one or more of my characters in it. Sometimes that character has a major role in the story, and other times they are only mentioned briefly. This is perfectly legal and allowable because they are going through Aces Press to publish the story.
This book is entirely the work of the author who wrote it. While I might have assisted with brainstorming and other ideas about which of my characters to use, I didn’t have any part in the process or writing or editing the story.
I’m proud and excited that so many authors loved my characters enough that they wanted to write them into their own story. Thank you for supporting them, and me!
READ ON!
Xoxo
Susan Stoker
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Epilogue
Also by Kat Mizera
Excerpt from “Protecting Bobbi”
More Special Forces: Operation Alpha World Books
Books by Susan Stoker
About the book
Real dad…fake wife
Dedicated U.S. Marine Eric Lopez hasn’t been the same since losing his wife in childbirth. Drowning himself in work—and working out— was the only way to cope with his grief and the pressures of being a single parent. But now that he’s become a member of the elite Force Recon, Eric needs help with his five-year-old son, Elias. The answer to his prayers is a gorgeous nanny who needs protection.
Brilliant biologist, Delilah Lancaster has been living a lie. On the run from her abusive ex-husband, she's hidden her identity and taken refuge as a live-in nanny. With the job coming to an end, Delilah scrambles to figure out her next move, until her sweet elderly neighbor sets her up with a hunky Marine who just so happens to be a single father. He needs a nanny, she needs protection, so it's a match made in Heaven.
A marriage of convenience wasn’t on either of their radars, but it's the only way—as long as they can keep their feelings in check. He makes her feel safe, she makes him feel things he hasn't felt in a long time, and the chemistry between them is anything but fake. Will Eric be able to protect his pretend family or will Delilah’s past come between them?
Chapter 1
Eric Lopez opened the door to his parents’ house and called out. He quickly put his duffel bag down, waiting for his five-year-old son, Elias, to come running. Sure enough, there were footsteps in the hall and then his son’s sweet voice.
“Daddy!”
“Hey, big guy.” Eric caught him mid-air and hugged him tightly, kissing the top of his head. They’d named him Miguel Elias, but the boy had decided he liked Elias better and somehow it stuck.
“Abuela said you were coming.” Grandma.
“Mom? Dad?” Still carrying his son, Eric looked around.
“Eric.” His younger sister, Rosa, ran to give him a hug. “You’re looking good, big brother.”
“It’s good to see you too.” He tugged her braid playfully.
“Daddy, can we go next door and swim? I want you to meet Lilah.” Elias wiggled free. “Can we?”
“Who’s Lilah?” Eric looked at Rosa in confusion.
“She’s the neighbors’ nanny, Delilah. You’ll meet her soon.” Rosa took Elias’s hand as she headed into the kitchen.
“Eric.” His mother, Josefina, looked up from a pot of something she had on the stove. “Come kiss your mother.”
“Hi, Ma.” He leaned over to kiss her cheek. “Whatcha makin’?”
“You’ll see when it’s done.”
“Porque llegaste tarde?” Why are you late? His grandmother, Antonia, came into the room with her hands on her hips.
“Because this is L.A. and there was traffic.” Eric kissed her cheek.
“Good, now you are here.” Antonia nodded. “Come sit with me.”
“But Elias—”
“Rosa, take Elias next door to the party,” the older woman motioned to her. “We’ll join you when the paella is finished.”
“Uh-oh.” Eric opened the refrigerator and pulled out a beer. “Why do I feel like it’s report card day again?”
“You know us too well,” his mother chirped. “Damn, he’s on to us, Mama. Oh, well, I guess then we don’t have to tell him about how we’ve solved his childcare problem so he can go do that Reconnected Enforcement and—”
“Ma, it’s Force Recon.” He managed not to roll his eyes but the smirk on her face told him she was messing with him. “Would you tell me what’s going on already?”
“We found you a woman,” Antonia announced emphatically.
Eric willed himself not to groan. “Abuelita…” Grandma.
“Listen to her, Eric. We found the solution you’ve been hoping for—someone to watch Elias so you can focus on your new job.”
“Y ella es muy bonita.” And she’s very pretty.
“I don’t care if she’s pretty,” he protested. “I care if she’s trustworthy and capable of taking care of my boy.”
“She is.” Josefina turned to him. “Eric, she’s a lovely young woman, and she needs you just as much as you need her.”
“That doesn’t sound good,” he murmured.
“She needs a job,” his mother said.
“She will tell you everything herself, when we go next door,” his grandmother added. “But you must promise to listen, Eric. I know you; you don’t like to listen.”
“I’m listening now, aren’t I?” He hated when the women in his family ganged up on him.
“Go change into your swim trunks,” his mother said. “The paella’s done and I need you to carry it next door for me. Go on.”
Eric wanted to protest again but knew it was a losing battle with any of the women in his family, much less his mother and grandmother. He allowed it, of course, because he loved them and knew they loved him back, but sometimes it was annoying. He’d been planning to spend a few days with his family before moving to his new post in San Diego with the Force Recon team, but of course they’d come up with a scheme to set him up with someone. It would undoubtedly be a disaster, but he loved them enough to at least meet the woman.
He changed into his swim trunks, pulled on a
T-shirt, stuck a baseball cap on his head and slid his feet into flip-flops. It was hot as hell in L.A. today so a dip in the pool sounded wonderful. Spending some quality time with his son, no matter what they were doing, sounded even better.
He followed his mother and grandmother next door and his mother opened the latch of a large fence door that hadn’t been there the last time Eric had been home.
“Daddy!” Elias practically levitated out of the water.
“Hey, buddy.” Eric scooped him up again after he set the paella down on a table with other food.
“I have so much to tell you,” the boy announced.
“I can’t wait to hear it, but let me say hello to everyone.” He carried Elias toward the group of people sitting in lounge chairs arranged around a table covered by an umbrella.
Introductions were made and he shook hands with Hal and Myra Carson, who had bought the house next door to his parents. By the time he’d finished saying hello to his father, his other two sisters, and his nieces and nephews, he’d somehow missed the bikini-clad woman in the pool. It wasn’t until she rose from the steps, the water glistening against her tan skin, that he finally took notice.
Sweet Jesus, who the hell was this? Alarm bells rang in his head and he swung his gaze around to meet his grandmother’s twinkling eyes. Dammit. He should have known they were playing hardcore matchmaker, no matter what they said about finding him a nanny.
He turned to his mother, but before he could say anything, Elias had wriggled free and ran to the woman, gripping her hand. “Delilah, come meet my dad!”
He tugged her forward and Eric had no choice but to make eye contact with the brunette beauty. Damn, she was hot enough to make the sun seem cool. Long, dark hair, breasts that filled out the top of her bikini nicely, legs that were ten miles long, and full, red lips. Even in the bright sunlight, with his shades on, he saw the rich, natural color. She was the whole fucking package and he was having trouble believing his grandmother was behind this.
“Nice to meet you.” The woman gave him a shy smile. “Elias talks about you all the time.”
“Daddy, look!” Elias took off, jumping in the air and executing a perfect cannonball into the pool.
Eric made a move in that direction but Delilah put a restraining hand on his arm. “We’ve been practicing all week. He’s got this…watch.”
Eric swallowed and watched his son kick to the surface, shake the water out of his eyes, and grin. “Did you see me, Daddy? Did you see me?”
“I did,” Eric called back, grinning. “It was awesome!”
Elias got out of the pool and did it again, making everyone laugh.
Delilah got a towel and wrapped it around her waist before settling into the chair next to Eric’s grandmother, Antonia.
“Come sit by me,” Antonia called out to him.
Here we go, he thought, joining them.
“Delilah is the Carsons’ nanny,” Antonia said in her heavy Spanish accent. “She’s been with them for two years but the kids are going to school all day next year so she is looking for new job.”
“I see,” was all he managed to say once he stopped staring.
Delilah pushed her sunglasses up on her head and met his gaze with startling blue eyes. Her dark hair and skin had had him expecting her to be of Latin descent, but now he wasn’t sure. “I’m sorry your grandmother is putting you on the spot,” Delilah said with what appeared to be a fond smile at the older woman. “She’s told me that you’re going to be some kind of special forces and—”
“Force Recon,” he interrupted automatically.
“Yes, in the Marines, and you’ll need help with Elias when you get called away on missions.” She met his gaze directly and paused, as if waiting for a reply.
“Well, er, yes.” He took a breath. “We hadn’t made any decisions yet. I didn’t want him to live here in L.A. while I’m in San Diego, but there didn’t seem to be much choice.”
“I need the work and you need the help,” she said simply. “But we don’t have to rush into any decisions. I’m sure you’ll want to—”
Antonia lifted her chin as she interrupted. “Is no time like the present,” she said firmly.
“We don’t even know each other,” he protested quietly. “And we—” He was interrupted as Myra came out with a big platter of burgers, her husband right behind her.
“Who wants burgers?”
The delight in his grandmother’s dark eyes made Eric realize he’d been bested. For now anyway. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do, but there was no way in hell he was hiring the gorgeous brunette in the skimpy white bikini. Nope. No way. He’d talk to his mother once they were back at the house and figure out what was really going on, but having this beautiful woman living in his house? Not happening.
He was a good guy but there were limits to how much temptation he could take. Besides, he wasn’t looking for a girlfriend and he was positive that’s what the women in his family were hoping for. Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to get to know a new woman right now and he had to make sure they all knew it sooner rather than later.
Chapter 2
Delilah Lancaster spent the rest of the afternoon watching Eric from behind her sunglasses as she played with Elias and the other kids. Where had this gorgeous hunk of hotness come from? This wasn’t the large bear of a man in all the pictures gracing Antonia and Josefina’s shelves. The round-faced Hispanic man with laughing brown eyes and the sweetest smile. Oh, hell no. This was the Latin version of Adonis, all sculpted abs, broad shoulders and tattoos. As he came up the steps of the pool, water rolling off his tan skin and rippling along the muscles on his muscles, she was fairly certain her mouth fell open, but she managed to close it before anyone noticed.
Pure masculinity, with a flat-top cropped haircut, chiseled features and that delicious V made by his oblique muscles that led into his shorts and made her stomach do a little jig of excitement. She hadn’t been expecting a guy who looked like Eric because the guy in the pictures was something else entirely. Knowing what she knew about Antonia, the older woman had misled her on purpose, probably just to get a look at Delilah’s face when she spotted Eric for the first time.
“My brother’s a hottie, isn’t he?” Rosa asked, nudging her playfully.
Delilah smiled. “You should have warned me.”
“We wanted it to be a surprise.” Rosa giggled.
“He didn’t sound too keen on the idea of a nanny,” Delilah sighed.
“Have a little faith, would you?” Rosa laughed. “Eric’s stubborn, but not stupid. He’ll see that this is the best solution.”
Delilah nodded, but her thoughts were reeling. She desperately needed a new job now that the Carsons wouldn’t be using her full-time anymore. The kids would both be in school come September and they would go to after-school care until their parents got home. They were arranging their schedules so they didn’t travel at the same time, which meant Delilah was going to be out of a job soon. With her circumstances, jobs were hard to come by because she only wanted to be paid under the table. She’d been living off the grid for two years now and was finally at a place where she didn’t look over her shoulder every five minutes.
She’d gone on quite a few interviews, but so far, she hadn’t been able to find anyone willing to pay her cash. Everyone worried about the tax element, so she’d been panicking until Antonia had asked her what was wrong and she’d had no choice but to tell her everything. Antonia had immediately mentioned Eric’s situation, which sounded like a godsend since Delilah already adored his little boy.
“So, did you know about all this?” Eric appeared from behind them and poked his sister.
She shook her head. “Of course. Nothing goes on around here without me being involved.”
“Thanks a lot. I thought you had my back?”
“I do. That’s why I agreed with the plan to introduce you and Delilah. Besides, she’s awesome and you need each other.”
“Mom said sh
e would keep Elias here if I couldn’t come up with another solution.”
“But then you’re never going to see him,” Rosa said reasonably. “It wouldn’t be fair to either of you. No, this is going to work out better all around. Besides, Delilah’s good people, and you guys are going to be great friends.”
“You realize I’m sitting right here,” Delilah pointed out dryly.
“I apologize.” Eric turned to her and shook his head. “My family can be a bit overzealous when it comes to sticking their noses into my business.”
“I need a job and they suggested we meet, but I don’t want you to feel pressured.” Delilah chose her words carefully. “If it works out, it might be good for both of us, but I understand we’re talking about your child, and you have to feel comfortable inviting a stranger into your home.”
“You’re not a stranger,” Rosa interrupted. “Abuela says you’re the right person for the job, and frankly, when has she ever been wrong?” She eyed her brother pointedly.
“Rosa, go find something to do and let Delilah and me talk.”
“Okay.” Rosa flashed a cheeky grin and made her way to the table with the food.
“I’m really sorry about all this,” Eric began. “I’d like to start over.”
“Sure.” She smiled and held out her hand. “I’m Delilah Lancaster. How do you do?”
He chuckled and shook her hand. “Eric Lopez. I’m very pleased to meet you. How the hell did we get into this?”
“Your mother and grandmother can be very persuasive.”