Deserving Reese

DESERVING REESE The Refuge, Book 3 SUSAN STOKER CONTENTS Blurb 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 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Epilogue Also by Susan Stoker About the Author BLURB He never expected to fall for his best friend's sister, but now that he has...he'll do whatever it takes to keep her safe. Having a crush on one of your brother’s friends is so cliché. But Reese Woodall isn’t too worried…it’s not as if she’d ever have a chance with the former Delta Force Operative. For one thing, he lives in New Mexico, and she’s in Missouri. For another, since Woody and his team chaptered out of the Army several years ago, she hasn’t seen Gus even once. She’s free to lust after him from afar…but with her brother currently missing, Reese has far more important things to worry about. Gus “Spike” Fowler doesn’t think twice before heading to South America when he learns his old Army buddy has disappeared—and his younger sister has gone to Colombia to find him. Though he hasn’t thought much about Reese in the last five years, he certainly remembers her. The curvy, sexy, stubborn engineer is hard to forget. He liked what he saw years ago. And now? After she surprises him in the best way during a high-stakes bid to rescue Woody from a drug cartel? He likes her even more. Safely back at The Refuge, the sparks Reese and Spike experienced in Colombia quickly ignite, and they both find everything they’ve ever wanted in a partner. But they might lose it just as quickly…when the trouble they escaped in South America crosses the border. **Deserving Reese is the 3rd book in The Refuge Series. Each book is a stand-alone, with no cliffhanger endings. 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. Copyright © 2023 by Susan Stoker 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. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. Edited by Kelli Collins Cover Design by AURA Design Group Manufactured in the United States CHAPTER ONE Gus “Spike” Fowler frowned in irritation as he adjusted his large body in the too-small airplane seat and tried to calm his dark thoughts. Ever since he’d gotten a call from Bubba, a former Army teammate, asking if he’d heard from Woody, another member of their unit, Spike had harbored a bad feeling in his gut. Spike missed his teammates, but not the shit they’d done as Delta Force Operatives. They’d put their lives on the line more times than anyone could count and it had been a relief to put all of that behind him and join Brick and the men at The Refuge. But when Bubba called, telling him that Woody had gone down to Colombia after hearing from a woman who’d been a translator for them on a mission—and hadn’t been heard from since—the hair on the back of Spike’s neck had stood up. That feeling of trepidation still plagued him. And it only got worse when he’d learned that Woody’s younger sister, Reese, was thinking of heading down to South America to find her brother. Spike had always admired the relationship between the two siblings, even if he didn’t completely understand it. He wasn’t close to his own family. He hadn’t seen them in years, and the last time he’d gone home for the holidays, he’d regretted it. His parents didn’t know why he was “hiding out” in the backwoods of New Mexico, and he and his sister had absolutely nothing in common and therefore little to talk about. Jack Woodall and his sister were extremely close, however. She was two years younger than Woody, who was overly protective of her. During down time on missions, he’d entertained their team with stories about Reese, and the pride in his voice when he’d talked about how great she was doing after she’d graduated college was easy to hear. For her part, Reese had constantly emailed her brother when they were out of the country, and when possible, she’d travel to wherever he was stationed to welcome him home from missions. When he moved to Kansas City, Missouri, after getting out of the Army, Reese followed. Spike envied the bond Woody and Reese shared. He’d also met her a few times, and had definitely been impressed by the woman personally. She was tall; only a couple inches shorter than his five-eleven. Her blonde hair was usually up in a messy bun and she always had a smile on her face. Her curvy body definitely made her stand out. She was friendly and bubbly and passionate about her work…and he had a feeling she likely brought the latter to the bedroom, as well. She was gorgeous, inside and out. But Spike had never given any indication that he was attracted to the woman—nor had his teammates—out of respect for both her and Woody. Not that Woody would have minded if one of his friends dated his sister; it was more that their jobs had been so uncertain. As Deltas, they were deployed more than they were home, and they all knew any kind