The Tycoon's Captured Heart by Elizabeth Lennox Read Free Book Online

“What’s the guy’s name?  Do we know him?”
    The others all laughed.  Well, everyone but Scarlett and Grayson.  Those two looked like they might just go for each other’s throats. 
    Scarlett was the first to glance away and she uncurled her fists, laying her hands carefully on her lap.  “No.  I’m sorry.  Grayson won’t work.  This requires a gentle touch.  One doesn’t send a bull into a china shop.”
    “I don’t remember you complaining about my touch the last time,” he snapped back at her.
    Scarlett stared at the man’s brown eyes.  Were those yellow flecks near the center actually glowing?  She wasn’t sure, but he looked furious enough that it was possible. 
“I’ll handle it on my own,” she told him and glared right back at him, not intimidated in any way by this man who thought he was all so wonderful. 
    Grayson just wasn’t going to let it go.  The idea of Scarlett, his Scarlett, in the arms of another man just made him want to punch a wall.  “Like you’ve been doing such a great job of that so far?”
    She picked up the delicate bone chine of her cup, trying very hard not to throw it across the room at him.  “Like you would know!  Last time we spoke, you were racing away from me.”
    “Last time we had a conversation, we were discussing…” he stopped and looked around, noticing that there were eight other sets of eyes that were watching and listening carefully.  “We’ll discuss this later.”  He turned to Malik, raising his eyebrows as if to say that dinner needed to speed up.
    They all got the message and Malik nodded to a servant standing beside the doorway.  The man immediately nodded back and opened the doors to the dining room.  The others moved into the room, relieved to have a bit of the tension ease.  All of them were aware of Scarlett standing up and trying to avoid Grayson.  None were going to allow that to happen though.  In fact, by silent agreement, they all manipulated the table seatings so that those two were seated next to each other.  An occurrence that neither of them appreciated. 
    When the salads were brought in, Malik quickly looked over to the two that looked ready to do battle with each other, waiting to see what might happen.  Sure enough, as soon as a salad was set down in front of Scarlett, she took her fork and carefully pronged each of the olives.  Very carefully, as if she didn’t think any of the others knew what was happening, she handed her fork to Grayson.  He accepted the fork, still glaring at her, and ate all of the olives. 
    “Did you do that on purpose?” he asked his wife who was sitting at the other end of the table. No one else at the table understood what he was talking about, but Jina’s smile brightened.  “Of course!  It was a test.  I wasn’t sure that…well, that things were still…” she shrugged. 
    “Still what?” Grayson asked. 
    Jina shook her head.  Everyone else around the table shook their heads or rolled their eyes.  “It’s always been like that,” Harrison explained to the newest member of their group.  “As crazy as it seems.”
    “What is crazy?” Scarlett asked as she inconspicuously took Grayson’s fork that held a stub of broccoli.  She knew that Grayson hated broccoli and she hated olives.  They’d developed a way for both of them to clear their plates over the years although no one knew what they were doing.  No hostess was ever insulted because one of them didn’t eat everything on their plate and neither one had to suffer through swallowing vegetables they didn’t like.  It was a win-win situation for all parties. 
    Malik shook his head, not understanding why the two of them didn’t just admit they were perfect for each other. 
    Grayson spoke up, changing the subject since he had no clue what the others were talking about, which seemed to be happening a lot lately.  “Nothing.  Back to this guy you’re trying to woo.  What’s his