I might’ve flinched internally at that, just for a second, but realistically, I hadn’t been on a date for a while. It wasn’t easy to find someone new in a small town when you were in your thirties, and I didn’t have time or energy to put toward meeting someone outside of Dragonfly Lake. I’d been working too much and spending my spare time with Kemp, trying to make our brewery dream viable.

“I’m fine with it. We’ll have fun,” I said.

“Holden—”

I didn’t put a lot of thought into what I did next; I was just tired of arguing, tired of her coming up with reasons this wouldn’t work when I was sure we could make it work. I closed the space between us, trapped her between my arms as I rested my hands on the countertop on either side of her, and kissed her.

Within seconds, I brought my hands to her back, because I wanted to feel her in my arms. The kiss that was supposed to be either for show or to shut her up turned into more as Chloe let out a sexy little whimper, wound her hands around my neck, and arched her body into mine.

As soon as I felt my body start to respond to her, I ended the kiss. I wasn’t supposed to be into it for real, just convincing, and I didn’t want to freak her out or make her think I had any motive for going through with a fake engagement other than getting her what she wanted for her career.

With a goofy grin to cover my reaction, I said, “Together we could be pun-stoppable.”

She pressed her lips together, something close to a grin tugging at her mouth. “You really are a glutton for pun-ishment.”

“On the contrary. I think you’re pun in a million.”

That got an eye roll and a head shake.

“Chloe,” I said, going serious. “Do you want the dictator to rule you out as her predecessor or do you want to get what you want and deserve?”

“You know the answer to that,” she said quietly, eyeing the red candy again.

I picked up the jar, took out a rope, and handed it to her, not in the least bit tempted by it, as I thought red licorice was disgusting.

“You’re the best person for the job, right? Better than Gloria?”

“By a long shot. Objectively speaking.” The corners of her lips tilted upward.

“Then let’s do this,” I said. “We can get you moved in this weekend. Pack some clothes and we’ll worry about your lease later.”