The Hardest Fight. Amy Vastine

      “Ms. Clayton?” The only woman in the developer’s group approached Paige first. She was all glamour and gold. She wore her wealth like a shield, clearly separating herself from the underclass.

      Paige ushered them into the conference room, where the board members were already waiting. At the same time, Lucy wrestled with the emotions threatening to destroy her nerves of steel. Her skin prickled with each step Dylan took in her direction. All the memories came rushing back. The warmth of his hand against her cheek, the smell of his skin after a shower, the sound of his heart when she rested her head against his chest.

      His gaze was fixed on her, locking her in place. Dylan was ice-cold. He had that fake smile plastered on his face, the one that even he used to hate. He stopped in front of her and sank his hands into his pockets.

      “Lucy Everhart, what a surprise to see you here.” There was no way he was as surprised to see her as she was him. If he was working for this buyer, he had done his homework on Open Arms and would have known the part she played.

      Her heart pounded so hard the sound of it seemed to echo off the walls. If Lucy believed in things like fate and karma, she might have wondered what she had done to deserve this kind of punishment, but she was too rational for that. Bad things happened all the time; it was just the way the world worked. Except when bad things happened to Lucy, they often bordered on life-threatening.

      “You’re as beautiful as ever,” he said. He flashed her another one of his award-winning smiles, complete with the dimple on his right cheek. Her looks had been what drew him to her the first time they’d met, and they were probably why he’d stayed with her for so long. That was the only reason Lucy could come up with for why he had walked away so easily. He had only cared about the wrapping, not the gift she had inside.

      If he only knew how flawed she really was, he wouldn’t be so generous with his compliments today. Lucy was damaged goods, someone who wasn’t perfect enough to be Dylan Hunt’s significant other.

      “You see the beauty, but you forget about the beast,” Lucy said, finally finding her voice. “Welcome to my jungle.” She gestured for him to lead the way into the conference room.

      Dylan leaned forward, his lips so close she almost put her fingers on them so her own mouth wouldn’t be tempted. “You’re wrong, Lulu. That’s the part of you I’ll never forget.”

       CHAPTER TWO

      DYLAN HAD PRACTICED what he was going to say when he laid eyes on Lucy Everhart for the first time in almost five years, but nothing came out the way he had planned. As much as he wanted to play it cool and not give away the scar he still had on his heart, she provoked the truth right out of him. He’d always loved her tenacity, but today he could have done without it.

      “I appreciate you agreeing to meet with us.” Elizabeth Kerrington was the epitome of a wolf in sheep’s clothing. She dialed up her perfect manners and lovely pleasantries right before she went in for the kill. Today’s hunt was for the piece of prime real estate that Open Arms owned in Logan Square. Elizabeth’s company had already purchased the two properties on either side of it and all she needed to begin building her luxury condominiums was Safe Haven.

      “I didn’t realize you would be bringing so many people with you.” The executive director of Open Arms was more than rattled. She called out to her assistant to bring some extra chairs before turning and accidentally knocking a stack of papers off the table. Dylan was concerned she might have a nervous breakdown at any moment.

      Elizabeth had already taken a seat. “No worries, Ms. Clayton. My associates can stand if need be. I don’t want to take up too much of your time. I’m sure there’s plenty of do-gooding for you to get back to.”

      Lucy arched a brow and crossed her arms over her chest. “Us do-gooders are part of an impressive network. We called up all the local superheroes and asked them to watch the streets for us while we conducted our business with you, Mrs. Kerrington.”

      Elizabeth scowled while Dylan restrained himself from chuckling. Lucy was sassy as ever. The assistant dragged in a couple of chairs and apologized as she shoved them into the already cramped space.

      “Let’s just get right to it, shall we?” Elizabeth asked.

      “Let’s,” Lucy answered, taking a seat on Ms. Clayton’s side of the table.

      “Obviously, we’re interested in purchasing the property you own on Western,” Elizabeth said with a wave of her hand.

      Lucy’s expression gave nothing away, but her counterpart swallowed hard and began to fidget. Ms. Clayton was the key to the success of this deal. Dylan had done his research. The board was split. There was one vote to win over and that member would be swayed only by the executive director.

      She was nervous, possibly anxious to get to the bottom line. How much was Prime Developments willing to pay? Open Arms couldn’t deny they needed the money. There were signs of financial trouble everywhere Dylan looked. From the broken door when they walked in, to the duct tape holding one of the chairs together, it was clear there weren’t extra funds for the little things.

      “Are you making an offer?” Lucy asked.

      As Prime’s legal counsel, Dylan had been invited to this meeting to help with negotiations. He saw it as a chance to show off his ability to read people. It was a talent, really. A skill that came in very handy when interviewing witnesses or figuring out how hard to push someone with relevant information. Not only could Dylan tell when someone was lying, his powers of observation allowed him to appear as if he was able to read their minds. It was the same tactic that so-called psychics used to convince people they were talking to their dead relatives. These tricks had served him well in his career and helped him dodge a few bullets in his personal life. That girlfriend in college who was cheating on him only got to cheat once before she wasn’t his girlfriend anymore.

      Dylan could read everyone. Everyone except for Lucy. The woman was a complete mystery. He never knew what was going on in that pretty head of hers, which was what had drawn him to her in the first place. Her mind was a fascinating place when she let him in. Lucy was smarter than most people assumed.

      Lucy wasn’t going to stop him from making a good impression. If Dylan could help Prime get this property, he would prove himself to everyone at his firm, especially his boss, who just happened to be his mother. Their familial relation didn’t give him any advantage in pleasing her. Results were all that mattered to Clarissa Stevens-Hunt. So, whatever it was that Lucy thought, it wouldn’t keep the board from taking Prime’s offer if Dylan had anything to say about it.

      Elizabeth held out her manicured hand, waiting for Dylan to place the offer he had drafted in it. “I think you will find our offer more than generous.”

      Dylan wouldn’t call it generous. It wasn’t nearly what the property was worth, but it was surely enough to entice a needy organization such as this one. He watched as Elizabeth’s assistant slid copies of the offer across the table. Ms. Clayton passed hers off to Lucy without even looking at it. Obviously, it was too tempting. Lucy was the one who would do the negotiating, of course, because she was the tough one.

      She had been Dylan’s biggest competition in law school. He had thought she hated him when they met. Turned out she had been more interested than she’d let on. They had dated the last year of law school and for two years after that. Dylan had believed she was the One, and everything she had said and done told him she felt the same way. That was how he had learned about the tiny glitch in his superpower. She had broken his heart without any notice. Actually, she’d ripped it out, stomped on it and driven over it with a steamroller just to be sure she’d done the job thoroughly. She was tough, all right.

      “Generous?” Lucy questioned with a tilt of her head after reading the offer. “I’m guessing you assumed we were too busy ‘do-gooding’ to have done our homework.” She folded the piece of paper in half and set it in front of her. Ms. Clayton