Page 61 of Her Age Gap Match

I cleared my throat.

“Remember my first appointment?” I asked.

She seemed surprised by that, but she played along. “Two years ago,” she said. “You were nervous.”

“Yup. I got there an hour early.”

“Mmhm.”

“I was—hadn’t been in a relationship for close to six years, and none of those had been good. Been in a lot of therapy. I had Elle and Kim and the boys but…well, damn near nobody else.” I paused. “Then—this girl at the front desk was pretty, of course I noticed, but there was more. She figured I was nervous, told me we could go sit in the kitchen instead if that felt more personable. Ended up sitting back there and having some tea she concocted from scratch with a bunch of herbs off the shelf and it was like…I could have sworn it was a love potion. I was smitten. Knew it was inappropriate, she was way too young and I was literally at that office to get matched up with somebody else, but she’d already made a place for herself and she wasn’t going anywhere.”

I sighed.

“Guess she does that with everyone, huh? Because she’s kind.”

Sophie laughed under her breath. “Nope…just you.”

I stopped.

"What?"

"She's never done that with a client before," Sophie said. "I noticed it that day and I filed it away." A pause. "I should have paid more attention to what I was filing."

I didn't know what to do with that, so I just stood there in the snow for a second.

“It just got worse,” I finally continued. “Every appointment—when you gave me new prospects, I was always picturing her without realizing it. I got to looking forward to the appointments themselves, getting there early because I wanted to talk to her. Hoped we could go back to that kitchen and have tea again, but she always stayed perfectly professional after that first time.”

“Because she was starting to have feelings for you, too.”

“She was?”

“I don’t think this has ever not been mutual.” Sophie sighed.

"Sophie," I said. "I need you to know that I never pushed her. The moment she showed up at that coffee shop I could have shut it down. I didn't. That's on me."

"Johnny." Her voice was gentle. "You're both adults. You're not actually my client in any traditional sense—you're a man who came to me wanting a family and I spent two years not finding you one." A beat. "Turns out I had already found you one. I just wasn't looking in the right place.”

I exhaled.

"Is she okay?" Sophie asked. "Poppy."

"She's good," I said.

She sounded a little concerned with her next question—or, inference, I guess. “She’s with you right now.”

“Sleeping,” I said. “I didn’t tell her I was reaching out to you.”

“Still in Chicago?”

“No, we’re at my place in Michigan. Came up here right after work on Tuesday.”

“You’ve never taken anyone I found for you up to the distillery.”

“Well, she’s different.”

She paused—long enough that I could hear a voice in the doorway, a quick exchange, then Sophie typing.

“I’m taking a look at your profile,” she murmured. “Family…stability. Long-term partnership. You were very clear about what you wanted.” The keyboard again. “Jasper gave me access to Poppy’s as well and…god, I was an idiot not to see it. At the very least I should have been transparent with you both about what I was seeing, but I thought—obviously I haven’t had to deal with this before.”