There's also a wave of relief flooding through me, knowing I can be there for her and Nan. I hate that she struggled for so long.
"I would never abandon my family, and I would never ask you to abandon yours. Never." The words come out fiercely, almost a vow. It's true. I can't imagine a relationship where you're forced to choose between people you love. What kind of an asshole would I be if I did that?
Cadence sniffs, laughing at herself as she wipes her eyes with trembling fingers. "I think I already knew that. But I'm a mess. I'm so sorry I ruined our date with all this emotional baggage."
"It's not ruined. Not even a little bit," I reassure her. I mean every word. This moment, raw and real, feels more meaningful than any polished dinner ever could. "But it might be a good idea to get out of this bedroom before things get... complicated."
Our eyes meet and a sudden wave of heat passes between us, electric and intense. Her fingers tighten on my jacket, bunching the fabric, then slowly release. I'm acutely aware of her closeness, the warmth of her body, the softness of her skin. She nods, her gaze flickering to my lips before meeting my eyes again. "That's probably a smart idea," she murmurs, her voice husky. The air feels thick with desire, making it hard to breathe. I'm torn between wanting to run out of the room so I don't rush this and yanking her to me and fucking devouring her.
Finally, she pulls back, snapping the tension between us. Keeping a hand pressed to her chest, she looks down at me, sighing, then carefully slides off the side of the bed. I meet her at the foot, and extend my hand. She takes it with a tiny smile and a not so tiny exhale.
We head back to the table, and I pull out Cadence's chair, sweeping my arm out. "Madame, please park that beautiful behind."
She snorts and settles in, and I can't resist planting a kiss on the top of her head. Then I circle around, pick up my chair, and sit. I'd do anything for another laugh, so with a dramatic flourish, I lift the lids off our plates, revealing a spread of comfort food that steams invitingly. The aroma wafts up, rich and savory, filling the air between us.
"John made it special for us," I explain. "I thought about fancier stuff, but this felt more like us. And since the last time we ate at his place, we didn't get to finish eating, I figured I owed you." Inhaling deeply, I plop the lids down on the counter. "I've eaten at restaurants with multiple Michelin stars, and I still would choose John's cooking every time. It's fun to go to those places, but there's nothing like home."
"No," she says, eyes gleaming in the candlelight. "There isn't."
She's so fucking beautiful I have to force myself to stay present. All I want to do is prop my chin in my hand and stare at her. That's a lie. I want to do a fuck of a lot more. But it's not the time.Stay the course."Beer? Wine?"
"What kind of woman do you think I am? Beer, of course."
We fall into easy conversation after that, chatting about the minutiae of our lives. It should be boring, but with her, nothing is. "How’s Molly doing?"
Cadence's eyes light up. "She’s a miracle worker.” She purses her lips. “I planned on being picky and pushing the whole thing off, you know. I was going to go through the motions, and not hire anyone. But sitting there with Janey talking to these bright energetic kids, I felt…so old!" She laughs, tossing her head back. "And some of them were amazing. I'm not sure how she found such perfect people. Molly is a whirlwind of efficiency. Between her and the part timers, everything is covered.”
Her obvious acceptance of it is a relief. And I’m not surprised, in the least, that Cadence never planned to hire anyone, but I’m glad that she finally did. Cadence deserves to have a life outside of her rescue. "That's great. Must be a load off your shoulders."
She nods, taking a sip of beer. "It really is. I didn't realize how much I was carrying until I didn't have to do it all myself."
Her words hit me hard. I think about all the times I've pushed myself to the brink, thinking I had to handle everything alone. "I get that," I admit. "It's not easy to let others help."
Cadence gives me a look that's both understanding and challenging. "Pot, meet kettle?"
"Yep. I'm still trying to figure out how to offload some of my workload, but it's not easy."
"Where do you need to offload? Like, can you just quit your day job and let your staff handle everything? Or are you letting go of your other clients?"
"I would never leave Brash. They need me too much. I could maybe have my staff handle more of the workload, but it's hard to let go. One mistake could cost millions. And besides, it's my family business. I want to be a part of it." We built it together and I'm really fucking proud of that. And the idea of not seeing my brothers every day? No chance.
"I get that. Our jobs are very different, but I found it hard to turn over some of the work to volunteers. I always worry that they might make a mistake and underfeed one of the dogs or miss a medication. I don't want any animal hurt under my care, but mistakes do happen. Luckily, most of the mistakes at the rescue were small, and fixable."
I am not a dog person, yet every time I go there, those little suckers are cuter. I don't even mind the dog hair anymore. Not that I ever really did. A fur-covered Cadence is still fucking adorable. "Yeah, they are different, but you understand what it's like to be the boss and feel responsible for everything."
"I do," she says, studying me with soft eyes. "So it's the other people's cases you're going to cut back on."
I groan and rub the back of my neck. "It's the logical thing to do."
"But it seems like it's the more emotional side of things for you."
"I don't know. I'm pretty fucking emotional about my family. But we're all good. Yeah, we deal in the Billions, but it's not like fucking up a deal is going to change our lives that much. But my other cases feel like life and death, sometimes literally."
Cadence purses her lips, and rests her chin on her hand. "Is it…Do you like to be the one solving their problems? Is that part of it? Or do you just want to make sure that someone helps them?"
She’s way too insightful, seeing things I haven’t even admitted to myself. "I just — shit. I think I like being the one tohelp them. But it's more than that. The people I'm helping are in shit situations, and I like being able to help in a real way. In business the stakes are buildings, or profits, and shuffling fuck loads of money around. But forcing a landlord to fix a person's home? That feels damn good."
"It sounds like you get a lot of fulfillment from that. So do you really need to make a change?"
