I went around the bar to stand next to her stool. She pivoted to face me. I took both of her hands in mine, lacing our fingers together in what I would call more than a friendly touch. On purpose. If we were going to be convincing, we needed to cross a couple of boundaries we’d never crossed before.

I pulled her to a stand, dragged her closer, and pressed a brief kiss to her lips. It wasn’t passionate, but it was the first time our lips had ever met. Hers were soft, warm, alluring. As I pulled her into a hug to reassure her, because I didn’t miss the shock in her eyes when I’d kissed her, I got a whiff of her sweet, slightly floral scent like I never had before.

“That needed to happen before our show Friday night,” I whispered in her ear. I could feel her head craning, looking to see if anyone had seen us kiss. I didn’t care if they did, as it was nobody’s business but ours.

“Probably true,” she said. “You could’ve warned me.” Though the words scolded, I could hear a smile in her tone.

“Friday night, be ready for anything, Chlo. We got this.”

Chapter 3

Chloe

I thought I was ready for Friday night. It turned out I was wrong.

I was so not prepared for Holden and all of his attention, even though I’d spent four days psyching myself up for it, four nights losing sleep over it, and the two hours before he picked me up at my apartment coaching myself to be indifferent to him and his touch.

When I’d rushed out of Henry’s on Monday about three minutes after that kiss and after losing a battle with Holden over paying my lunch tab, I’d sat in my car for a hundred and twenty seconds—as long as I thought I could get away with without Holden noticing and concluding I was a big mess after a platonic, two-second press of his lips to mine.

I’d driven to the town square, parked my car, and walked to the gazebo, umbrella in tow. Because of the weather, the square had been deserted, allowing me to stand there under the gazebo roof, suck in air, and try to regain my composure.

If anyone had asked, I would’ve told them I was getting the alcohol effect from that strong beer out of my system. But Holden’s effect on me was more potent than any alcohol I’d ever tried. After a half hour, I’d forced myself to get back in my car and drive to the Nashville office just in time for my meeting with my staff.