Page 3 of The Female Warrior & The Charming Gentleman

“I’m sure. Dating a different celebrity or influencer every night is so ‘normal’.” Her smile was tight. She waved a hand at him. “Hurry. We want you out of herebefore he makes his move.” Turning to his bed, she started pulling the covers down and stacking pillows, making it look as if he were sleeping.

Jarom wanted to stand right where he was and watch her move. Instead, he hurried into his closet, pulling out his phone and checking the message that had come in a few minutes earlier. The enigmatic Aiden Porter indeed. Aiden might best Jarom for charm and had stolen the title of most eligible billionaire bachelor several times over the years. Thankfully, the top security expert was married and off the market.

Autumn Cardon is going to spirit you off your patio. Wait for her in your suite. We have reason to believe one of your guards is now loyal to Benjamin Oliver and will make a move tonight.

Autumn Cardon. Jarom set his phone and wallet on a shelf and hurried to finish unbuttoning his cuffs and shirt buttons. He’d heard that name before. Yanking off his shirt, he dropped it in the hamper and unbuttoned his pants, sliding his Ferragamo dress shoes off.

How did he know her? He wouldn’t forget a teasing spice like hers. Those golden eyes and full lips were the stuff dreams were made of.

Then it clicked in his memory. She was the woman who had impersonated Lieutenant Hays West’s college-aged sister the night Jarom and Elizabeth had stood up to Benjamin. Hays was Elizabeth’s love and Benjamin had thought he could capture the sister and control Hays. Little did he know Aiden was a step ahead and he’d captured Aiden’s operative Autumn Cardon. Autumn had impressively taken out the guards who would’ve killed her. He’d seen it himself.

Hurrying to slip out of his dress pants and pull on some of his own black joggers, he slipped his phone and wallet back into his pocket and slid into some black Loro Piana boat shoes. Hegrabbed a black T-shirt he’d designed and turned. Autumn was in the doorway of the closet, studying him with longing in her golden gaze.

Snapping her mouth shut and looking away, she asked brusquely, “Finally ready? You preen more than a supermodel.”

He eased toward her with his shirt in hand, not ready to slide it on just yet. Now that he knew who she was, he was even more ready to flirt with and tease her. She was here to protect him, and an impressive female warrior. She wouldn’t hurt him. His interest in her grew by the moment.

“I’m ready for you to apologize for taunting me earlier and I would savor hearing you tell me your name from those luscious lips, my beauty.” He knew her name, but it was an enjoyable tease to continue.

Her golden eyes flashed, and she stared up at him. He was six-two; she couldn’t be more than five-four.

“I will never apologize to any man,” she snipped at him. “And I am not telling you my name.”

“Truly?” He spread his hands, clutching the soft shirt in one hand, his chest, shoulder, ab, and arm muscles engaging. “Then I guess I can’t go with you tonight. I have a strict policy never to sneak out of my bedroom with unknown women.”

She smiled, and he knew he was in trouble. Anticipation for what she’d say or do next made his skin tingle and his pulse race. Jarom Love may have finally met his match.

Darting at him, she grabbed his arm, hooked her heel around the back of his knees, and knocked him off balance.

He fell backwards, barely able to roll with the movement and not slam onto his back. He instinctively reached for her, grasping her arm and yanking her on top of him.

Lying on his back in his closet, the mostenticing woman he’d ever met splayed on top of him, he didn’t care about freedom from his guards or Benjamin. He could spend a lifetime savoring the feel of her close and waiting with baited breath for the next teasing comment from her luscious lips. One look into her golden eyes and he could see … she was affected too.

But he saw something else that concerned him. A solid wall covered her emotions. This lady would flirt with him, but that was meaningless. He doubted she would ever let down her guard and let him into her heart. How to draw her out with his repertoire of charismatic lines?

“Well now, love,” he said huskily. “You went to all this trouble simply to cuddle with me? All you had to do was ask.”

Her eyes narrowed. She was going to demolish him verbally and possibly physically. Jarom grinned; he looked forward to it.

He might never penetrate the wall around her heart, but he’d have a lot of fun trying.

For the first time in his life, the goal seemed more important than the flirtations or the amusement. His heart raced and he was on pins and needles wondering where this would lead.

Chapter

Two

Autumn Cardon,female warrior extraordinaire, taunted and flirted with every single man she found mildly interesting. Her teasing was a front to keep everyone at arm’s length. She would never let a man into her heart again. Especially not a handsome, charming, and wealthy man.

Why, then, was she splayed on top of the charming bachelor billionaire of the year, her celebrity crush, Jarom Love, and savoring every second of it? He hadn’t put his shirt on yet, and the lean, firm muscles of his upper body pressed against her were completely distracting her from her mission. His cologne was specially designed to fit his chemistry, a spicy and manly blend that was mind-clouding.

Autumn didn’t let anyone cloud her mind. She needed to focus and leap off him. For her own sanity and for the sake of the mission.

“Maybe you don’t care about your own life and safety,” she hurled at him, savoring the feel of his arm under one hand withher other hand planted on his nicely built chest. “But I have never and will never fail at a mission. We need to move.”

With that, she used superhuman strength to release him and pop to her feet. He rose as well, and she was awarded with another opportunity to gawk at his defined upper body. When she’d walked into his closet, his back had been turned to her. Now she could appreciate him straight on.

He was tall, his abdomen slightly hollowed. She worked with fit men every day of the week. She’d always appreciated male muscle, but against her better judgment, she was irrevocably drawn to “pretty boy muscle”, lean and ropy and striated.

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