We step outside the restaurant, and Sophie scans the street. She’s looking for a cab.

I suddenly realize that I don’t want her to go. After all these years apart, a few hours to reconnect doesn’t feel like enough. I want to spend more time getting to know her again, memorizing all the changes in her face, learning all her new ways. She’s fascinating.

“Would you think I was being too presumptuous if I invited you back to my place?”

Sophie looks down at the ground with a shy smile, then looks up at me from under her lashes, biting down on her lip. “It depends—are we just extending the reunion?”

I cross my heart. “I swear.”

She nods. “It does seem too early to call it a night. We have so much to catch up on.”

I hold out my hand to take hers. “Come on, I’ll get us a Lyft.”

I schedule a Lyft and hold open the door for Sophie when it arrives a short while later. I give my address to the driver, and soon, we’re outside my apartment building.

Sophie’s eyes travel up the exterior of the building, and I wonder what she’s thinking. I told everybody I’d be huge by now.

I pay the driver and lead her into the building and to my apartment. We step inside, and I stand back a while to let Sophie explore.

She steps into my living room, and I see her looking at all the framed photographs and papers on my wall. She points to the picture of the child being reunited with her parents in the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake under the headline, “Search for survivors continue.”

“Is this when it happened?”

I stand behind her, looking over her shoulder at the shot. “I took that only a few hours before the building collapsed on me.” I point to a structure in the background of the picture. “That one there. It was rubble, that same afternoon.”

“Oh, my God,” Sophie breathes. “That’s unbelievable.” She turns around, not realizing how close I’m standing behind her, causing her to turn into me. She presses her hands against my chest and looks up into my face with a pained expression. “I can’t believe you put yourself in so much danger. Thank God you’re home and safe.”

“Thank God.” I pull her away from the wall. I don’t want to look at photographs—I want to look at her. Sophie is the only part of my old life that I want to revisit right now. I lead her to my sofa and invite her to sit. “Wine?”

She smiles. “You’re not going to offer me a vodka and cranberry?” There is a mischievous gleam in her eye.

“You’re never going to let me live down how smooth I used to think I was, are you?”

“You still think you’re smooth.” She laughs. “Don’t forget that I got more than a few messages from you before you realized I wasn’t that other woman.”

I flush at the memory. Sophie is sitting on my sofa with one leg crossed over the other. I hand her a glass of wine, which she accepts, shyly twisting a strand of her long blond hair around a finger. Her lips are crimson. She has no idea how sexy she is. Only a week ago, this very woman was sending me messages that would make a sailor blush. I recall all the explicit acts she’d promised me. I feel a rush of blood downward.

“I got the impression that you were on Tinder, too. It was mistaken identity on both ends, wasn’t it? Unless you’re in the habit of sending dirty messages to any old stranger who gets the wrong number.”

She blushes, and I feel a surge of pleasure at the sight. I always loved to tease her.

“I wasn’t taking it too seriously,” she tells me. “I went on a few dates, but sparks didn’t fly with anyone. You, on the other hand. You were at the sexting stage with someone.” She sits up and stares at me intently. “You said you broke up with her? Was it serious?”

I shake my head. “No. I’d been on a few dates with Fifi, but we were hardly head-over-heels. She was so unfazed by the breakup that I was almost offended.”

“And before her? Have you dated much over the years?”

I sit down beside Sophie, my own glass of wine in my hand. I take a deep swig. It’s not the best wine, and I curse myself inwardly for buying the cheap stuff, intending to drink it alone. Still, it does the job.

I edge closer to Sophie. “No. There have been a few women I’ve dated casually, but nothing ever stuck. You?”

“Nothing ever stuck.”

“Well. Maybe this is fate after all.”

Sophie says nothing, but there’s a sparkle in her eyes. She takes a long sip of her wine and places the glass down on the side table, then looks across at me. “It feels good to be together again, doesn’t it? Almost like old times.”

I reply with a kiss. It takes her by surprise. She draws back for a moment with a gasp, her eyes scanning my face. Then, she leans forward and kisses me with a passion I didn’t expect—like she’s been waiting to do it all along.