Forces of Nature

Chapter 7


Crystal paced back and forth in the kitchen wishing she didn’t crave Douglas’s kiss, his touch, his taste, and his smell. She wanted to make love to him more than she needed to breathe, but how could she be sure he wasn’t trying to use her attraction to get what he wanted?

Is he that cruel? she wondered as she walked over to the sink and got a glass of water. Glancing out the window, she spotted Douglas as he emerged from the woods. He reached into his pocket and retrieved his cell phone. Crystal smiled, knowing that the phone wasn’t going to have any reception on the farm property. She laughed loudly as he twisted his body hoping for the faintest signal. She was tempted to open the door and hand him her cordless phone. But who was he calling? Maybe he was telling the board that he was wearing her down. Well, if he talked on her line she could listen. That would be wrong, she reasoned as she turned away from the window. But this is a war and I plan to win.

Crystal opened the door and stood on the back steps. “That’s not going to work out here.”

Douglas snapped his head up as if he was startled. “What?”

“Your cell—the trees block the signal. That’s another reason why it’s so peaceful out here. There are some places where cell phones shouldn’t be allowed and this is one of them.”

“If you say so,” he stated as he walked up the steps. “But I do need to make an important phone call. I didn’t notice if there is one in the dollhouse.”

“There isn’t a phone out there, but you can use the phone I have in the kitchen.”

Douglas smiled at her. “Is this your way of keeping me close to you?”

Crinkling her nose, Crystal scoffed at him. “I’m trying to be a gracious hostess, but if you want to contort your body hoping for one bar of signal strength, then knock yourself out.”

Closing the space between them, Douglas gently grabbed her chin. “Loosen up, Ms. Hughes, I was just making a joke. Do you mind if I use your phone? I need to check in with the office.”

Pushing his hand away, she stepped aside and allowed Douglas to walk into the kitchen. Though tempted to eavesdrop, Crystal walked into her living room, took a seat on the sofa, and flipped through her copy of Ebony magazine. Ironically, Douglas and his company were profiled in the issue.

I just can’t get away from this man, she thought as she looked at the handsome picture of Douglas staring back at her.





Peeping around the corner, making sure Crystal was out of earshot, he dialed up his godfather.

“This is Waylon.”

“Hey, it’s me.”

“Where are you? I didn’t recognize the number.”

“I’m at Hughes Farm and I think I’ve made a huge mistake.” Making this admission wasn’t easy for Douglas, since this was the biggest project he had ever posed to the board. “This place is more than just a piece of land.”

“I hate to say I told you so, but I did. What are you going to do?”

Rubbing his hand over his face, Douglas replied, “I don’t know. It’s too late to scout another spot.”

“It’s never too late, and if Ms. Hughes doesn’t want to sell, what can you do? The board will have to understand that,” Waylon sagely replied.

“And you know that isn’t going to happen.” Douglas imagined what the board would say if he went to them asking for another chance to find a spot—yes wouldn’t be an option. “I should’ve taken your advice. If I had checked this place out I would have never suggested this as a site.”

“The place or Ms. Hughes? I think you’re smitten with her.”

Placing his hand over his face to cover his smile, Douglas knew that he couldn’t deny the fact that he had fallen fast and hard for the lovely Crystal Hughes. But after talking to Brooke Fey and the staff at Starlight House and watching the girls who lived there, how could he think about putting up a business park when these people were saving lives? Then again, if he bought a bigger house for the girls, Starlight House would be able to help more girls.

“This has nothing to do with Crystal,” Douglas lied. “Sure, she’s a beautiful woman and all of that, but this is business and I have a hard decision to make.”

“Hope you learned a lesson in all of this,” Waylon said.

Douglas imagined his godfather leaning back in his easy chair, twirling a cigar around in his hand because he knew he shouldn’t smoke it, with a big smile on his wide face. “And what would that be?”

“Always listen to me. I told you not to go after Hughes Farm. That place is magical, historic even. So, I’ll do this. I’m going to put my feelers out there and see if the board is open to moving the location of the business park and you will be free to woo that woman.”

“This has nothing to do with a woman,” Douglas said.

Waylon laughed heartily. “This is certainly more than just business. Have a good week.”

When Waylon hung up, Douglas pondered what he said. It was true that this was more than just about business. He wanted to get inside Crystal’s mind and her heart. He wanted to know all of her hopes, dreams, and fantasies, then he wanted to be the one to make them come true.

“Are you done?” Crystal asked as she walked into the kitchen.

“Yes,” he replied, removing his hand from the receiver. He closed the space between them, focusing his gaze on her face. “Thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome. Would you like to join me for a cup of tea?” she asked, walking over to the refrigerator and pulling out a pitcher of sun-brewed ice tea.

“That sounds great,” he said. “Where are the glasses?”

Crystal smiled at him and pointed toward the table. “You sit down and let me take care of this.”

Following Crystal’s directive, Douglas sat at the round wooden table and watched her as she removed a block of ice from the freezer, dropped it on the counter, then picked at it with an ice pick. In one fluid movement, she chipped off enough ice for two glasses of tea.

“I guess having an ice maker would be bad for the environment,” he said as she walked over to the table with the tea.

“That’s right, just like tearing down this place, bringing in a bunch of bulldozers and gasoline-powered machines with all of those exhaust fumes.”

Groaning and leaning his head on the table, Douglas said, “I thought we were having a drink and not a lecture.”

“You know the most important thing to me is Hughes Farm. In the short time you’ve been here, you have to see the impact that it has on so many lives.”

“And, Crystal, more people would be served by jobs in this community if we followed through with what I’ve proposed. That’s all I’m trying to do,” he said as he took the glass from Crystal’s outstretched hand.

“We’re never going to see eye to eye on this. Having you here is a bad idea,” she said. Crystal looked into his eyes and wished that she could tell him the real reason why she couldn’t sit still, the real reason why she was breathless every time he walked into the room. Every time he looked at her, her heart skipped a beat and her temperature rose. Even the way he held that glass, slowly bringing it to his lips, made her wonder what those lips would feel like against her hard nipples, buried in the valley of her womanhood. Her glass slipped from her hand, crashed to the floor and shattered to bits. “Damn,” she muttered as she and Douglas began to mop up the tea and pick up the glass. “I’m not usually this clumsy.”

“Where did you go? Should we start using plastic cups? Or are those bad for the environment too?” he asked.

“Oh, hush. I’m fine,” she said as she turned away from him. She was more than a little embarrassed about her lapse.

Smiling, Douglas placed his hand on top of hers. “I’m aware of how you look.”

“Don’t do that,” she snapped as she snatched her hand away from him. “Let’s be clear on what’s going on here. I want you to change your mind about building on my land.”

“And I want you to kiss me again,” he said, stepping closer to her and filling her space with his scent. Crystal fought to keep from shivering as he wrapped his arms around her waist. The warmth of his breath tingled against her ear and her knees turned to jelly, making it hard not to collapse against his chest.

Fight it! her inner voice cried out. Crystal stiffened her back and pushed away from him. “I want to do no such thing and I think you should leave. I have things to do.”

“Anything I can help you with?” he asked as he leaned back on the counter.

Crystal swallowed a laugh. “You want to help me mop, sweep, dust, and fold laundry? Ha!”

“I understand, you don’t want to be alone with me because you can’t keep your hands to yourself,” he said with a sexy smirk that was nearly Crystal’s undoing. “But don’t say I didn’t try to pull my weight.”

“All right,” she said, deciding to call his bluff. “You can clean the kitchen.” She tossed a dish towel at his chest, which he caught effortlessly. Sighing, she wondered if there was anything that man couldn’t do.

“I have to clean the kitchen alone?” he asked more seductively than should’ve been allowed by law. Crystal inhaled as if she was about to launch into a yoga pose and nodded yes before making a hasty exit from the kitchen. Her best bet, at least in her mind, was to go to the laundry room and let her lustful thoughts of Douglas be drowned out by the spin cycle. On second thought, all of that spinning and vibrating would only intensify her longing, lustful need and throbbing between her thighs. She’d dust the living room. That was safe enough, wasn’t it?

Making a turn for the supply closet, she grabbed the furniture polish and dust rags. As she passed the kitchen, she glanced at Douglas and his cleaning efforts. Surprisingly, he was up to his elbows in soap and water scrubbing the teapot. A beat passed before he moved the pot to the other side of the sink and thoroughly rinsed it. He caught Crystal’s gaze and winked at her. She quickly turned away and dashed into the living room. Her heart was beating like a steel drum and all she could think about was Douglas hoisting her up on the kitchen counter and stroking her like she needed cleaning. As she started waxing the table, she knew it was her mind that needed a good scrubbing.

Douglas dried the dishes and placed them on the counter, not sure as to where they should go. He chuckled as he recalled the look on Crystal’s face when he caught her gazing at him. Sweet and sexy. Was every part of her like that? How was he going to convince her to give him a taste of that sweetness? Drying his hands, Douglas decided that he’d mop the floor before going to find Crystal. Sure, household chores weren’t his normal weekend activities—that’s what he paid his housekeeper for—but something about being in Crystal’s kitchen made him feel at ease.

I’d better not tell her that or she will swear that it’s the majestic nature of this land and we’ll be fighting again, he thought as he opened the cabinet underneath the sink in search of Pine-Sol. Of course, all he found were organic cleaning products with confusing labels on them. Smiling, he decided this was a great excuse to go and find Crystal. Heading for the living room, Douglas was stopped dead in his tracks as he watched her bent over, polishing the solid oak table in the middle of the room. With each stroke, her booty wiggled a little and Douglas wanted her more than ever. Who knew housework was sexy, he pondered, then cleared his throat, causing Crystal to stand up and end his erotic show.

“Yes?”

“I was getting ready to mop and I didn’t see any Pine-Sol and I don’t quite understand the products you have underneath the sink,” he said in a low tone that reminded Crystal he was more male than she’d had in her kitchen in years. Hell, ever. But this man was not the one she should be having those kinds of thoughts about. He wanted to tear down the very house where she wanted to make love to him. Shaking her head, she tried to focus on the question at hand. Cleaning products. “Right,” she said. “I don’t clean with harsh chemicals, ‘cause it’s bad for the environment.”

“Okay, but which one of these products cleans the floor?” he asked as they walked into the kitchen. Crystal bent over again, giving him another full view of her perfectly shaped behind. Again, he just wanted to reach out and grab it.

“Here you go,” she said, turning around with a white bottle in her hand. “Cleans better than Pine-Sol and it’s made right here on this farm.”

“Is there anything you don’t do here?”

Crystal placed her hand underneath her chin as if she was thinking, then said, “Nope. Well, we don’t sell out.”

“Ouch. Do we have to go there with every conversation?” he asked, taking two steps closer to her. “You know what I want right now?”

Quivering as his warm breath tickled her upper lip, Crystal was about to ask him when the phone rang, giving her a needed escape. “I have to get that,” she said, then moved to the cordless extension on the edge of the counter. Douglas watched her every move as she picked up the phone and said hello. While she talked, he watched her full lips move and nearly lost it when she ran her tongue across her bottom lip. Was she actually talking or was he in the middle of the best dream he’d had in months?

“Dena, that isn’t necessary,” he finally heard her say. “I have the situation under control.”

Douglas didn’t like the panicked look on Crystal’s face and it took everything in him not to grab the phone and tell her lawyer where to go and how quickly she could get there. Why was he so protective of this woman, at least in his mind? According to Crystal, he was the one causing her harm because of the business park. Just like she wanted to keep her family legacy alive, he wanted to honor his father’s last wishes. This business park was a major part of it. Instead of grabbing the phone, he observed, stewing silently.

“Okay,” she said with a sigh. “I’ll see you in the morning.” Then Crystal hung up the phone and turned to Douglas.

“What was that all about?” he asked.

“Just some legal stuff,” she said with a shrug. “Anyway, back to the mopping. This is concentrated, so you don’t have to use a lot of it to get the floor clean.”

Douglas offered a mock salute. “Yes, ma’am,” he said. Crystal looked around the kitchen and nodded in approval.

“You did a good job for a spoiled rich boy.”

“There’s more to me than just good looks and money,” he said with a wink.

Crystal turned away from him, thinking about his other stand-out attributes: soft lips, sweet tongue, and hot hands. “I’m going to finish polishing the furniture. The mop is behind the refrigerator,” she said, then dashed out of the kitchen.

Once she was alone in the living room, Crystal thought about her conversation with Dena.

“Your parents aren’t happy about this scheme of yours,” the attorney said.

“You called my parents?” Crystal said incredulously as she locked eyes with Douglas. Why was he looking at her like that while Dena was painting him as the spawn of the devil?

“I hope you know he isn’t against using your weakness to get what he wants,” Dena said. “Something I’m pretty sure he learned from his godfather, a man with no qualms about using any and everything at his disposal to get what he wants. You’re playing with fire.”

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about and how his godfather has anything to do with this.”

“Trust me, Crystal, men like Douglas Wellington and Waylon Terrell are as ruthless as they are handsome. We need to work toward a real legal solution to stopping Welco and spending the week with Douglas isn’t going to change anything. You are setting yourself up for a heartbreak and loss of what your family has worked so hard for. Do you really want to be the Hughes who loses Hughes Farm?”

“Dena, that isn’t necessary. I have the situation under control.”

“Listen,” Dena interrupted. “I’m bringing over some legal papers that you need to look at tomorrow and I want to have some words with Douglas Wellington.”

“Okay, I’ll see you in the morning,” she said. Then she hung up the phone and locked eyes with Douglas again, wondering if she had made a mistake, as Dena said.

Crystal returned to polishing, though the table had a shine on it that was close to that of a mirror. As she rose to her feet, she grabbed her cleaning supplies and headed for the supply closet. When she walked out the door, she ran chest first into Douglas.

“Where’s the fire, Crystal?” he asked as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

“Will you get your hands off me?” she said, her voice shaky.

“Sorry,” he said without releasing her. “I finished mopping. What’s next?”

“I have to do laundry and you can mop the bathroom.”

“How about a break?” he asked. “Because I find it hard to believe that you spend your Friday nights cleaning.”

“And just what do you think I do on the weekends?” she asked, looking down at his arms around her.

Douglas relented and let her go. “Well, I think you sip ice tea under the stars. You said this place is magical . . . so show me some more magic.”

“How about I show you to the bathroom so that you can finish helping me. You volunteered, remember?”

“You’re a hard woman,” he said.

“Douglas,” she said, “maybe we can take that walk after we’re done. Then you can see more of what this farm has to offer and understand just what tearing it down would destroy.”

“And I need you to understand that you’re the most beautiful woman that I’ve seen in a long time and I can’t get the thought of your kiss out of my mind.”

Crystal gasped, but Dena’s words blared in her head, bringing her back to reality.

“Down the hall on the left,” she said.

“What?”

“The bathroom. I’m going to do laundry.”

“Why don’t I help you with the laundry instead?”

Crystal inhaled and thought about the lacy underthings waiting in the basket and Douglas touching them as he loaded the washing machine. “No, thank you.”

His smile made her heart skip a beat and her blood boil. “If you need a break or this is too much work for Douglas Wellington the third, then feel free to go back to your quarters. I really don’t need your help.”

“What are you afraid of?” he asked. “After all, you invited me here.”

“You have a really big ego,” she snapped. “I invited you here because you need to see . . .”

Douglas grasped her chin, tilting her mouth upward, and then he captured it in a hot, sultry, and knee-shivering kiss that threw Crystal’s mind off balance. What warning had Dena given her? Aww, hell, it didn’t matter, she thought as his tongue probed her mouth, meandering around as if there was nothing wrong with them kissing again. As if he wanted nothing more from her than to make love to her until their bodies melted together.

As if he didn’t want to destroy her family’s legacy. That thought sobered her. Crystal pulled back, swallowing the lust inside her and trying to push up anger. It didn’t work. “Douglas, you can leave now.”

“Leave as in go back to the dollhouse?”

She nodded, then took off down the hall. Douglas followed her, grasping her shoulder and making her look into his eyes. “What’s going on here?” he asked.

“You’re keeping me from my laundry,” she snapped.

“You don’t give a damn about that laundry. Every time I kiss you, you want to run out of here as if your pants are on fire. If they are, I’d be more than happy to put it out.”

“Douglas,” she said, her voice low and seductive to his ears, “there’s nothing for you to put out and if you think for one second that I’m going to sleep with you tonight, you can forget it.”

“I have no intentions of sleeping with you—tonight. But soon enough, you will be ready and I’m going to be right here. The first, the last, and the only time I will turn you down is tonight.”

“Turn me down?” she asked incredulously. “You’re out of your mind.”

“I know you’re not ready,” Douglas said with a smile. “Soon enough you will be.”

Crystal rolled her eyes and wiggled his hand from her shoulder. “You should really get out of here before I simply lose control and ravish you. Since you’ve turned me down and all,” she sarcastically said.

“One more kiss?” he asked, then leaned into her. While Crystal fully expected a soul-shattering kiss on the lips, Douglas surprised her with a tender peck on the cheek. She fought to keep her face neutral, since he didn’t need to know what she was expecting.

“Good night,” he said, then turned down the hall to leave. Crystal started to stop him, but she just stood still and waited to hear the door close. When she heard the slam, she realized that she’d been holding her breath. Expelling a sigh, she turned back to the living room and to her surprise, Douglas was sitting on the sofa.

“I thought you left,” she said.

“And I thought you were so hot to go do your laundry,” he replied with a blinding smile. Despite every logical thought in her head, telling her to kick him out, Crystal sat down on the sofa beside him. “Besides, you owe me a walk.”

“What’s your game?” she asked.

Douglas inched closer to her and slipped his arm around her shoulders. “I could ask you the same thing,” he replied. “Let’s take that walk.”

Sighing, Crystal agreed. Maybe getting out of such close quarters with Douglas would allow her to think, give her a chance to show him more of the farm and its majestic acres. Who was she fooling? Being outside with him was going to leave her just as tense and frazzled as she felt right now—with his strong arm around her.

They stepped out on the porch and Crystal stole a glance at Douglas, who was looking up at the sky as if he was transfixed by the clearness of it all. She smiled.

“Looks like you’re beginning to see the magic and I haven’t even started the tour.”

“Funny,” he replied. “I’ll admit the stars look brighter out here.”

“Yet you want to cloud the sky with smoke stacks and plumes of smoke from your business park.”

Douglas shook his head. “And give thousands of people jobs to go to every day so that they can put food in their family’s mouths. You think this is all about growing my company when it’s much deeper than that.”

They stepped off the porch, heading toward a path that Crystal pointed to. “But what about the people who already depend on this farm? The Starlight girls, in particular? Don’t you understand some things can’t be measured in dollars and cents?”

“Money makes the world go round, Crystal.”

“And since you have a lot of it, you just expect the world to dance because you dropped some dollars?” She fingered her hair and shook her head. “Douglas’s personal strip club?”

“You just can’t admit the good that Welco has done for Reeseville, can you?”

She stopped walking and faced him with her head cocked to the side. “Good? I guess closing the Fresh Food Market doesn’t count. How many farms went under because that grocery store couldn’t compete with that supercenter of yours?”

“And how many families can count on a store where they can meet all of their needs without having to drive all over town? If the Fresh Food Market was meeting the needs of the community, then what would a little competition hurt?”

“You just think throwing money at people solves everything, don’t you?” She dropped his hand and shook her head. “Money is nothing more than paper.”

“You act as if you don’t like money, but you’re not hurting. Do you even know what most of the people in this town are going through while you sit here on you precious land handing out fruits and vegetables. I’m creating jobs, not salads.”

“Maybe that’s why I can stand up to you when everyone else in this town just gives you what you want. I will not let you take this farm from me and the people who need it.”

“And what about the people who need jobs? Look past this farm and look at Reeseville. People need this business park. I’m not trying to do a land grab here, but I want to make this town a better place.”

“You don’t give a damn about this town!”

“You’re not the only one with roots here,” Douglas retorted. “My family is from here as well. And though we don’t have mythology like Hughes Farm, my father wanted to do something here. Provide jobs and opportunities that no one else in Duval County wanted to give to poor people.”

Tilting her head to the side, Crystal was taken aback to hear Douglas speak with such passion about his family’s business. Still, Welco was a heartless corporation, no matter what story Douglas wanted to spin.

“Why here? Why this farm?” she asked. “If you really care that much . . .”

“Crystal,” he whispered, “this is just business.”

She glared at him and shook her head. “And until you realize that it’s more than that, I don’t want to have another conversation with you. Dena was right. This was a horrible idea.” Crystal spun away from him and stalked back to her house.