I was the last of my group of friends to find “the one.”

The guys would always tease me that I needed to hurry up and settle down.

But I was in no rush.

Until I met someone worth rushing for.

Alex was one of the weekend volunteers at Ryan's House—a charity I founded to build housing near hospitals.

Little did I know she was the same person I'd been arguing with over email before the project started. At the time, I'd thought Alex was a dude.

In reality? She was a smoking hot blonde who captivated me from the moment we met in person.

Our chemistry was off the charts, and I fell hard pretty fast.

Unfortunately, Alex insisted I was too young for her. I hated that she felt that way. Because age was just a number.

Not only that, her words didn't match the way she looked at me—like she was very interested.

I lived for the weekends we'd spend out of town volunteering. Alex and I side-by-side hammering during the day, while sharing intimate dinners together at the hotel at night.

Eventually, the walls she'd put up to protect her heart began to crumble.

Until fate threw us a doozy that I wasn't sure we could come back from.

If I'd thought our age gap was the biggest hurdle, I didn't know anything yet.

Rule number one for dating an older woman who insists you could never be together?

Don't fall in love.