At least she found him attractive. He could work with that. If she knew how meticulous he’d been with getting ready, she might understand how important this was to him. On several levels. It was obvious he needed more than his body to convince her. “I’ve given this a lot of thought, and it wouldn’t be bad for your political career to be associated with my family. We’ve got a lot of influence across the state. I would be willing to fund your campaign.”

She snorted, a sound he wished he didn’t find adorable. “Like I need a campaign to win here. No one wants the job. If I have an opponent next year, it will likely be Herve from the mechanic’s shop. He warned me he would run against me if I didn’t talk to Armie about his tickets. I think I can handle him.”

“Sylvie, you can’t stay here forever. You’re meant for bigger things. I was thinking of a run for a state seat first.” He’d sat up the previous night considering her career. She’d been on a track in DC, and she’d given it all up to come home and take care of her town. Someone needed to look out for her interests, too. “You could do a lot of good. Papillon’s never had a real voice there. When you’ve served a couple of terms and made a name for yourself, we can start talking about national office. I want you to interview campaign managers. I have some résumés for you to look through.”

“You’re serious.”

He was incredibly serious, which was precisely why he was frustrated by how poorly he was making his case. He should have asked her to dinner and done all of this over a four-course meal with wine pairings. “I am. There would obviously be a prenup involved, but I would be generous. And we would have to agree to share custody of any children we might have.”

He should probably stop talking about kids. The idea seemed to disturb her. Should he tell her he only wanted one or two? He certainly wasn’t planning on keeping her barefoot and pregnant. And he was happy to take on at least fifty percent of the childcare duties so she could do her work.

She shook her head. “No. No, I can’t do this. This is ridiculous. No one gets married like this.”