Forces of Nature by Cheris Hodges Page A

call?”
    â€œI must have the wrong number. I’m looking for Crystal Hughes,” Douglas said.
    â€œHold on, sir,” the woman said.
    Seconds later, another woman picked up the phone and introduced herself as Dena Hopkins.
    â€œI thought this was Crystal Hughes’s number,” he said.
    â€œI’m her attorney. We want a meeting, Mr. Wellington.”
    â€œFor what?” Douglas asked, putting up his guard. He hated that he had gotten so distracted by Crystal’s beauty when he had business to take care of.
    â€œMy client doesn’t want to lose her land and we would like to talk about other ways this could be handled.”
    â€œI’ll meet with you, but the result will be the same. What time would you all like to come in?”
    Dena sighed. “Mr. Wellington, if you’re not willing to negotiate, then we should just meet in court.”
    â€œCourt?”
    â€œYes, court. My client has made it clear that she isn’t giving up without a fight and we are prepared to take this all the way,” she said. “We’ll see you tomorrow at nine a.m.” Dena hung up before Douglas could respond.
    Deciding that he had to play hardball with Crystal, he called his team of corporate lawyers.

Chapter 5
    The shrill ringing of the phone jolted Crystal from her nap, and it couldn’t have come at a worse time, because she’d been dreaming of making love to Douglas. She snatched the cordless phone from the base and growled hello into it.
    â€œCrystal, it’s Dena. I just had a conversation with Mr. Wellington and he has agreed to a meeting with us.”
    Swinging her legs over the side of the sofa, she felt a warm rush through her body at the sound of Douglas’s name. “When?”
    â€œTomorrow morning at nine. He wants us to meet him at his office. Now, you know how much I adore your fighting spirit, but I need you to let me do the talking.”
    â€œFine, I’ll be there. Thank you for getting to work on this for me,” Crystal said.
    â€œYou know how close I’ve always been with your parents, and there is no way I’m going to let Welco come in with this land grab. I see the apple didn’t fall far from the tree,” she said cryptically. Crystal was puzzled by Dena’s tone, but moreover, she wondered if she should’ve called her parents before involving their lawyer.
    The last thing she wanted was for her parents to leave their sunny retirement home in Miami to come back to Reeseville and get into this dogfight. They trusted me to run this farm and I’m not going to go crying to them like a baby, she thought as she walked into her bedroom to find a suitable outfit for the meeting. As she flipped through the clothes in her closet, Crystal decided to wear a charcoal gray pencil skirt and pink tunic. She couldn’t wait to see Douglas’s face when she showed up looking the part of a professional and not a protester. Then again, she couldn’t wait to see Douglas’s face again, period.
    What if there was another way? she wondered as she pressed her finger against her lips. She had to get Douglas to stay on the farm for more than a few minutes. What if he stayed there for a week and saw the inner workings of the farm? Felt the peace and tranquility of the land and saw what a difference being there made in the lives of the Starlight girls. Unless he actually was the heartless bastard who called those girls delinquents, there was no way he’d continue with the plans to demolish Hughes Farm. She wondered, though, would this plan make matters better or worse?
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    The next morning, Crystal woke up early feeling nervous about the meeting. She’d promised to take a backseat and allow Dena to do all the talking, but would it be possible to hide her attraction to Douglas Wellington? Would being that close to him, engulfed in his manliness, turn her brain into mush, or worse yet, cause her to revisit