Page 62 of Her Age Gap Match

"It's not your fault," I said. "You had rules for a reason."

"I did," she said. "I do. But…rules are supposed to serve people, not the other way around." She sounded like she was talking to herself as much as to me. "I built this agency because I believe people deserve to find each other. And I had two people in my building for two years who—" She stopped. "Anyway."

I let her think and form her next thought. I was sure she was still working it out.

"Fast doesn't scare me," she said, getting back to herself. "I've been doing this long enough to know that some people just know. The ones who've done the work—they don't need a year to figure it out." A pause. "You've done the work, Johnny."

"So has she," I said.

"I know," Sophie said. "That's why I hired her." Another pause. "Jasper was at my door at six this morning."

I laughed. "Of course he was."

"He told me everything. Took full responsibility. You're the second person trying to fall on a sword for her before she's even awake."

"She's going to be furious," I said.

"Absolutely," Sophie agreed. "With both of you." I could hear the smile in it. "Tell her to come see me Monday. We'll figure out what this looks like going forward. There are some things we'll need to address…conflict of interest, her role while you're still technically a client—but I'm not going to lose her over this."

I exhaled slowly.

"Thank you, Sophie."

"Take care of her," she said simply.

"That's the plan," I said. "For the rest of my life, if she'll have me."

A moment. Sophie processing all of it, when it all felt perfectly ordinary to me, like the only thing in the world that had ever made sense.

"She'll have you," Sophie said. "I ran the numbers."

CHAPTER 19

Poppy

I cracked the door open and I listened.

Of course I heard him get up…noticed he wasn’t in bed, listened as he got dressed. It seemed suspicious, and I got scared, and I ended up following him all over the house like a weird little burglar in his t-shirt, down the stairs, then to the front door.

I made sure I could hear every word.

And instead of hearing him doing something that would break my heart…I listened as he told Sophie how he fell in love with me over two long years.

With every piece of his story, I remembered my own side of it. How that crush had raged like a wildfire through me as we sat at the kitchen table in Bloom’s employee area and made smalltalk that didn’t feel small at all, how I’d seen him on the schedule ever since and gotten a little excited just to connect for fifteen minutes before or after his appointments with Sophie.

It felt like it made sense.

And of course he wanted to take the blame. We were both like that.

It made us connect.

I was standing at the door with my arms crossed when he came back in, his eyes finding me right away and going wide.

“How long have you been standing there?” he asked.

I raised my eyebrows. “Long enough.”

He closed the door behind him, shutting out the cold, and looked at me…phone in his hand, posture awkward.