And they both just froze. "You're Jake." Sophia's voice came out way higher than normal. "You're Sophia." Jake sounded just as shocked. "The blind date." They said it at the exact same time and then both started laughing because this was absolutely insane.
They just spent 20 minutes together on the side of the road, and neither of them had any clue they were about to meet each other. Anyway, Harper was grinning like she'd planned the whole thing. "Well, looks like you two have already broken the ice. Your table's ready whenever you are." They sat down across from each other in a corner booth and just stared for a second before Sophia shook her head.
"So, you didn't know it was me when you stopped?" Jake ran his hand through his hair. My sister didn't show me a picture. Just said her name's Sophia. Be nice now.
Don't screw it up. Sophia laughed. Mia didn't show me anything either. Just said you were a good dad and I needed to give this a shot.
The absurdity of it hit them both at once. How they'd been heading to the same place. How his help had literally saved their date. And Jake leaned back in the booth.
So, should we start over then? Sophia felt herself smile for the first time all week. A real smile that wasn't forced for investors or employees. "Hi, I'm Sophia. My car broke down on the way to a blind date I didn't want to go on." Jake's grin matched hers.
"Hi, I'm Jake. I stopped to help a stranger so I'd be late to a blind date I also didn't want to go on." Harper appeared with coffee pot. Can I get you two started? And Sophia and Jake both said "Coffee" at the exact same time, looked at each other and started laughing again.
And maybe, just maybe, this night wasn't going to be a disaster after all. 2 hours disappeared like they were nothing. And Sophia couldn't remember the last time she'd sat somewhere without checking her phone every 5 minutes or thinking about work deadlines. But Jake had this way of making everything else just fade into the background.
They talked about everything and nothing. the kind of conversation that flows easy when you're not trying to impress someone. And she found herself laughing at his stories about the ridiculous things people brought into his garage thinking they could be fixed with duct tape and prayer. I had a guy last month bring in a transmission held together with zip ties and actual chewing gum, Jake said.
And Sophia nearly spit out her coffee. "I'm sorry, chewing gum, like the kind you chew?" Jake nodded completely serious. big red cinnamon flavor. I could smell it from 10 feet away.
He looked me dead in the eye and said his buddy told him it would work temporarily. Sophia was laughing so hard tears were forming. "What did you tell him?" Jake grinned. "I told him his buddy was an idiot and sold him a rebuilt transmission at cost because I felt bad for him. Sophia leaned back in the booth studying him. "You do that a lot, don't you?
Help people even when it costs you." Jake shrugged like it wasn't a big deal. My dad always said, "You can either be rich or you can sleep at night." And I'd rather sleep at night. Something in Sophia's chest did this weird twisting thing because she'd spent the last 2 years surrounded by people who'd sell their grandmother for a good quarterly return. "And here was this guy who fixed transmissions at cost and stopped for strangers in snowstorms." "What about you?" Jake asked, flagging Harper down for more coffee refills. ""What's it like running a fashion company?"" Sophia felt her smile fade just a little. Honestly, right now it's like watching something you built with your bare hands slowly fall apart and not being able to stop it. Jake's expression shifted. Genuine concern replacing the easy humor.
"That bad?" Sophia found herself telling him everything. stuff she hadn't even told Mia about the investors breathing down her neck in the expansion deadline and the 200 people depending on her not to screw this up. "We need to expand by January 15 or they pull all funding," Sophia said, staring into her coffee cup like it held answers. "And the only location that works is this property on Market Street, but the timeline's so tight and I just keep thinking, what if I can't pull it off?" Jake reached across the table and squeezed her hand.
And the contact was so unexpected and warm that Sophia looked up. Hey, you're clearly brilliant and tough as hell. You'll figure it out. His confidence in her.
This guy who'd known her for all of 3 hours made her throat tight. Harper brought the check and Jake grabbed it before Sophia could react. And when she protested, he just smiled. "You can get the next one." Sophia raised an eyebrow.
"Pretty confident there's going to be a next one." Jake's smile got wider. Well, yeah. I still owe you for the entertainment value of watching your face when you realized I was your date. They walked out into the parking lot where snow was coming down heavier now, covering everything in white, and Sophia's car looked like a frosted cake.
"That alternator's not going to last the night," Jake said, looking at her car with a mechanic's critical eye. I can fix it properly tomorrow if you want. Shops closed for Christmas, but I'll be there anyway doing paperwork. Sophia hesitated because accepting felt like crossing some line from blind date into something more real.
I don't want to ruin your Christmas. Jake laughed. Trust me, my Christmas is going to be a six-year-old waking me up at 5:00 a.m. to open presents and then watching Elf for the millionth time.
Fixing your car would actually be a nice break. "Can I meet her?" The words came out before Sophia could stop them, and Jake's expression shifted to surprise. "Lily? You want to meet Lily?" Sophia felt her face heat up.
I mean, only if that's okay. You mentioned she likes fashion, and that's kind of my whole thing. But if it's too soon or weird, just forget I said anything. Jake was smiling at her in this soft way that made her stomach flip.
Tomorrow afternoon, say around 2. Fair warning, though, she's going to lose her mind when she finds out who you are. The next afternoon, Sophia stood outside a door above Morrison's garage, wearing jeans and a sweater instead of her usual designer armor, holding a bag of art supplies she'd grabbed from an overpriced craft store, more nervous than she'd been for any investor meeting in her life. Jake opened the door and his whole face lit up when he saw her.