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“I didn’t want to pressure you, but if you want to stay, then you’re welcome.”

Cadence looked down at her clothes. “I wish I’d brought something more casual to change into. I didn’t know what was going to happen when I was packing my bag for today.”

I got up from my chair. “I can find you something if you don’t mind wearing my clothes.”

Cadence followed me out of the office. “I wouldn’t mind at all.”

* * *

An hour later I was plating some salmon and rice and asparagus for both of us and couldn’t stop looking at Cadence wearing a pair of my old sweatpants that I wore when I was on my period and needed to be comfortable and a T-shirt that I’d gotten in a gift bag at a romance convention.

Both items were big on her, but she’d rolled up the pants and had tied a knot in the T-shirt and she looked so good that I had to stop myself from picking her up and setting her on the counter and kissing the hell out of her.

I also didn’t miss that she kept tucking her chin into the shoulder and smelling the shirt. As if she was smelling my scent on it.

“This is perfect, thanks. I can cook too, if you ever want to let me destroy your kitchen. I can be a bit of a mess.”

“You? Messy? No,” I said, setting a plate in front of her.

“Hey, come on now,” she said, but she was grinning as she set her napkin in her lap and picked up a fork. I’d also changed into yoga pants and a tank to be more comfortable with her, and I might have chosen a shirt that showed a little skin and fit me well to see if she’d notice.

She noticed.

“You don’t mind my mess, though, right?” she asked, cutting a bite of salmon very carefully with her fork as I poured us each a glass of wine.

She looked up and I saw the question in her eyes.

“No, Cade. I don’t mind your mess. I don’t mind any part of you.”

It took a second, but she smiled and then her face got serious. “I, um, have ADHD. It’s part of the reason for the mess and for me forgetting things and needing so many lists and all that.”

I nodded after having a bite of salmon. I’d seasoned it just right, even with Cadence distracting me by wearing my clothes.

“I figured you had something going on. When were you diagnosed?”

She told me that she’d gotten her diagnosis as a kid and how difficult it could be to get consistent medication.

“I’m not on anything right now. Is that a problem for you?” I could tell this was something she’d worried a lot about.

“I like you as you are, Cade. Exactly as you are. You’ve been working for me for a month and a half, and you’ve been doing a great job. Do you feel like you need something? Because if you want to make a change that will make your life better, I support that. Whatever you need.”

She was silent for a moment before getting up from her chair and walking over to give me an unexpected kiss.

“Thank you,” she said before going back to her seat and pulling one of her knees up to get more comfortable on the chair.

* * *

Dinner together was easy. We tumbled into conversation, me telling her about my first book tour and how overwhelming it had been, and her giving a rundown of all her worst jobs. She’d had many.

“I’m not good at staying with one thing. I get bored, or the company ‘restructures,’ or something else goes wrong and I end up filling out applications again. At this point, I feel like I could coach people on cover letters. Thank you for not making me write one, by the way.”

I stood and took the plates to the dishwasher and Cadence rose to help.

“It seemed more important to find out if my potential assistant was a reader instead,” I told her, washing my hands.

Cadence nodded. “Makes sense.” She leaned her back on the counter next to me. “Shall we have dessert?”

“I don’t have any cake, but we can share the ice cream you almost melted earlier.”