Sophia felt something flutter in her chest but ignored it because this was just a nice stranger helping her out, nothing more. And she definitely wasn’t noticing that he had really nice hands or that his smile made his whole face light up. He worked on her car while snow kept falling, and she watched him, and they talked about nothing important, just easy conversation that felt weirdly natural for two complete strangers on the side of the road. He mentioned he had a daughter. She mentioned she ran a company. Neither of them traded names because it didn’t seem important in the moment.
Fifteen minutes later, her car was running and he was refusing payment and saying “Merry Christmas” like people actually did that anymore. And Sophia found herself wishing the car had taken just a little bit longer to fix. She followed his taillights to the cafe and pulled into the parking lot right behind him, and they both got out at the same time and he held the door open for her like an actual gentleman.
The cafe was warm and decorated for Christmas with lights and garland and a little tree in the corner, and the owner Harper came over with menus. “Jake Morrison.” The mechanic raised his hand. “That’s me.” Harper smiled. “Your date just arrived. Sophia Lauron.” And Sophia heard her own name and looked up and saw the mechanic’s face and watched him turn and see her. 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 had just spent twenty minutes together on the side of the road and neither of them had any clue they were about to meet each other.
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. 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?”