The Tycoon's Captured Heart (5 page)

As the meal progressed, the conversation around the table was lively which was normal.   But Scarlett couldn’t really get into the mood and sat in the chair, barely eating any of the food.  She just wasn’t hungry.  At least, not for food anyway. 

The servants took the main course away and she pushed her chair back.  Excuse me for a moment,” she said and stood up.  She turned to leave but something inside of her, an anger she just couldn’t hold back, prompted her to turn back around and punch Grayson’s shoulder.  She knew that it didn’t hurt him.  She hadn’t even tried.  But it still let him know that she was furious with him.

“What was that for?” he asked, glaring up at her. 

Scarlett opened her mouth to respond but she just huffed a bit, unable to tell him what an absolute jerk he was, especially in front of everyone else.  She could just imagine Harrison’s dry British sarcasm if he knew that she was in love with Grayson.  He’d tease her unmercifully!  Stefan would probably kidnap her and dump her off in some beautiful house, pat her on the head and tell her that the sunshine would help her get over Grayson.  Damon might take Grayson outside and a fight would start and Malik…well, one never really knew what Malik might do.  He had an army at his beck and call so he was pretty dangerous. 

She stared at her face in the mirror, blinking rapidly to try and stop the tears from slipping over her lashes.  Her makeup would be ruined and everyone would know that she was upset.  They were too protective of her. 

“You’re an idiot,” Damon snapped. 

Grayson looked across the table.  “What the hell did I do?” he demanded, taking Scarlett’s dessert.  She wasn’t going to eat it anyway.  Besides, it was payback for the punch.  Not that it had hurt.  It was the principal though.  He couldn’t let her think she could get away with that.

“She’s going to get you back for that,” Malik commented, chuckling at the way those two continuously provoked one another.  If they could simply…he sighed and shook his head.  “Why don’t you just…” he started to say make love to her but stopped himself.  Everyone else at the table knew what the two of them should do. They all just needed to come up with a plan to get the two of them together. 

Sierra stepped in at that moment.  “So what are you going to teach her about luring in a man?” she asked Grayson, a mischievous twinkle to her eye. 

The three other ladies leaned forward, eager to hear his reply.  “I’d like to know as well,” Livia commented.

Stefan grumbled.  “You don’t need to know anything more, love.”  He draped an arm around the back of her chair, pulling it closer to his own.  He started to reach out and take a bite of her dessert but she quickly pulled her plate out of the way, anticipating his theft. 

“Mine,” she told him firmly. 

Grayson watched with fascination and jealousy as Stefan slid a hand under his wife’s hair.  Her whole body froze at his touch and he was then able to reach across and take a bite of her decadent dessert.  The whole table laughed softly and then turned back to Grayson’s issue. 

“I think you should give her ideas,” Sierra commented.  “Tell her the things that catch your eye when a woman walks by.”

Sasha nodded her head. “Or what should she do when she walks into a bar?  I mean, if this new guy actually goes to bars.  We don’t know that.”

Grayson ignored all of their comments.  Scarlett wasn’t the “bar” kind of woman.  “I’ll have him investigated.”

Livia pulled her husband’s hand off of her neck and placed it on the table.  “That’s a good idea.  Maybe you could find out his likes and dislikes so you can tell Scarlett.”

“Oh, and be sure to tell her what turns a man off when she actually does catch his eye,” Jina added.  “I mean, of course she’s going to catch his attention.  She’s beautiful and intelligent, brilliant when it comes to designing just about anything.  She’s what you men would call a ‘prime catch’, right?”

Grayson glared at each woman as she spoke, then looked to her husband, silently demanding that he get his woman under control.  The look he received back from each of the men was basically, “What can I do?”

“She’s not dating this ass,” he commented with feeling.

Malik shook his head.  “She’s going to marry someone, old man.  And it is going to happen quickly.  It would be better if we knew who the guy was and we knew she was going to be safe with him.”

Grayson shifted in his chair.  Furious that they were accepting this situation.  “She’s not marrying this guy.”

“Why not?  You don’t know anything about him.  He might be perfect for her.”

Grayson felt as if he might just punch one, or all, of his friends.  They hadn’t had a good brawl since…well, since Scarlett came into their lives.  But right now, he was more than willing to break all of their faces, his fury was just too strong.

“I’ll find all of his skeletons.”

“And in the meantime, you’ll help her?”  Livia asked.  “I mean, if this guy isn’t the right one for her, then she’s going to want to find another man, right?  One day, she’s going to fall in love with someone but she won’t know how to entice him because she’s…” she almost said she’s been in love with Grayson for the past ten years but stopped herself.  “Well, because she’s beautiful, inside and out, and deserves a good man.  Someone who will love her with all of his heart and soul.  Someone who will hold her in his arms when she’s sad and a guy she wants to turn to when she’s happy.” 

They all stared at Grayson because that’s exactly what Scarlett had with him even though neither would admit their feelings for each other.  No matter what happened in Scarlett’s life, Grayson was the man she turned to for all of her emotional needs.  They were practically husband and wife already, just not acknowledging their feelings for one another.  At least not to each other.

“I’ll find her a man,” he finally said.

The others all sighed with frustration.  For a long moment, it had looked like Grayson was going to announce that he would be her man. 

Scarlett stepped into the doorway, still fighting back tears but for a whole different reason now.  “I don’t need help finding a man,” she explained stiffly, her hands fisted at her sides as she glared at the man she loved so painfully but wouldn’t love her back.  “I can find a man on my own and I don’t need some arrogant ass to find him for me.”

With that, she spun around on her heel and almost ran down the elaborate palace hallway to the room she’d been assigned.  Locking the door, she pulled her suitcase out of the closet.  She hadn’t brought much because this was just an overnight stay.  She was due back in New York tomorrow to meet with a new client but she would just take a flight tonight.  She had to get out of here.  There was no way she was going to fly back to New York with Grayson as she’d planned.  She’d just get a flight out tonight and be done with the man!  She couldn’t believe what she’d just heard! 

All of them thought she was so pathetic that she couldn’t get a man?  Was she that silly about the men she’d dated in the past?  Okay, so none of them had been Grayson, which was really the only reason none of them had worked out.  She compared every man she met to him and all of them came up short.  No man had that special way of looking at her, the way that made her feel all tingly inside.  And special.  Yes, Grayson made her feel special and loved and cherished.  When he touched her, she just wanted to curl up onto his lap and feel his arms wrap around her.  No man had better arms, or a stronger chest, like Grayson. 

The banging on the door was predictable. 

“Scarlett, open the door,” Grayson yelled. 

“Go to hell,” she muttered under her breath, continuing to toss her clothes into the overnight bag. 

“Scarlett, I know you’re in there.  We’re going to talk.”

She whipped over to the door, so angry and it wasn’t dissipating by not talking to him.  When she opened it, she found a glaring Grayson on the other side.  “Don’t you ever walk away from me, Scarlett.”  And he stormed into the bedroom, slamming the door behind him.

“I’ll walk away any time you’re being an ass!”

He couldn’t believe she was so angry with him.  Wasn’t he doing exactly what she wanted?  She was looking for a man, he’d help her find a man!  “What?  All I said was that I’d help you find a man to marry!” he threw his arms up into the air, furious that she’d completely misunderstood their conversation.  “Isn’t that what you want?”

“Yes!  But I don’t want or need your help!” she poked him in the chest. 

Grayson grabbed that finger poking him and twisted it around her back so that she was pressed against his chest.  “You obviously do need my help.  Otherwise, you’d already be married.”

She started to wiggle against him, trying to get free but the feeling of his hard body against hers shocked her.  Desire surged through her and all she wanted was for him to bend down and kiss her, to feel those hard, demanding lips, against hers.  No man could kiss like Grayson, she thought.  Every touch was an erotic caress and her eyes almost went cross-eyed just thinking about it. 

“I don’t need you to find me a man, Grayson,” she said with absolute sincerity. 

Grayson felt his body hardening with just her touch.  Hell, he was pretty much semi-hard every moment he was in her company now that he knew all the secrets of her body.  Oh hell, there were probably dozens of secrets he still had yet to discover and he couldn’t believe she was looking for another man, thinking of giving another man rights to her perfect, beautiful body when they’d been so amazing together.

Pulling away, he released her.  “Tell me this guy’s name.  I’ll have him investigated and make sure he’s good enough for you.”

She stiffened with those words.  “No!  You’re not having him investigated.  And according to you, and all of those other hypocrites back in the dining room, no man is good enough for me.”

He leaned down, his mind still alert to her scent.  “Scarlett, what’s his name?”

She crossed her arms over her chest.  “No.”

He looked down at her bed, realizing what she was doing.  “Why are you packing?  We’re not leaving until tomorrow morning.”

Scarlett stepped back slightly.  “I’m leaving now.”

His eyes narrowed.  “You’re not flying back without me, Scarlett.”

Her chin went up with defiance.  “Yes.  I am.”  She wasn’t letting Grayson push her around! 

“On whose plane?” he demanded furiously.  He knew the others’ schedules and they weren’t flying out until tomorrow either.  In fact, he was the first to leave, knowing that Scarlett had to get back to meet with some damn client.  If he had his way, he’d just buy her a house every couple of weeks so that she could decorate it and she’d never have to meet with another stranger again.  It made his stomach clench every time she was meeting with someone new, someone who could hurt her. 

“I’m flying commercial,” she told him and walked towards the bathroom to get her toiletries.

Those words were like a red flag in front of a bull.  She was only doing that to make him furious, and it was working!  “Like hell you are!” he told her with a growl.  “You’ll fly back with me tomorrow morning!  That’s the end of this conversation, Scarlett,” he told her with a glare down into her equally angry, blue eyes. 

Scarlett glared back at him for a long moment before she walked into the bathroom and packed up her toiletries.  That man made her so angry!  She stood in the bathroom for a long moment, her makeup bag clenched to her stomach as she fought the need to either burst into tears or burst through that door and pound on his hard, muscular chest until he realized how perfect they could be together. 

Why had he walked away after their one night?  What had she done wrong?  Why hadn’t he enjoyed it as much as she had?  She walked back out, her arms loaded with her makeup and shampoo. 

“You can’t stop me from flying out, Grayson.  So just get out of my room.”  She dumped her toiletries into the suitcase, not caring about the disorganized mess. 

Grayson wasn’t budging.  In fact, he moved closer.  “Don’t push me, Scarlett.  You’re not flying on a commercial flight.  You won’t even be able to get a flight out tonight.”

She poked his chest.  “Watch me!” she challenged right back. 

Grayson was furious that she was acting so insulted.  But he also knew her well enough to know that making commands wasn’t going to get her to see reason.  Trying to calm down, he ran a hand through his hair, trying to be logical about this.  “Look, why are you in such an all-fired hurry to leave?  Why not just hang out until tomorrow when we can fly back to New York together?” 

“Because I’m leaving tonight,” she told him, no explanation was necessary.  She just wanted to get away from him.  Needed to get away from him! 

“You’re not leaving here without me, Scarlett,” he warned her, hands on his hips as he glared down at her. 

Scarlett was so hurt by his attitude and all of that pain was coming out as anger.  Fury, actually. 

“And what are you going to do to stop me?” she demanded. 

Grayson considered picking her up and tossing the annoying woman over his shoulder, carrying him to his own suite and locking the doors.  Oh, yeah, the things he’d like to do with her in his own bed, where he knew he wouldn’t be disturbed.

Unfortunately, his conscience wouldn’t let him do that.  Not again.