Luke stared at the name until the rest of the card blurred around the letters.

The confirmation should not have surprised him. He had already connected the mole beside her lips, her voice, her daughters, and the abilities they shared.

Seeing the name printed on her identification still made everything feel far more real.

Lauren really was Yvonne, which meant the woman who cooked his meals and reminded him to rest was also the woman who had worn a magical thong into their first dungeon.

Miss Lauren had sat on his hips, nearly kissed him, and called him darling while making him admit that he found her incredibly hot.

Luke covered his face with both hands. "Oh my God."

Lauren laughed. "You already figured it out. Was seeing it in writing really that shocking?"

"Yes. Now I know I wasn’t imagining it."

"Imagining what?"

Luke lowered his hands enough to look at her. Her innocent expression did not fool him.

"You know what."

"I’d still like to hear you say it."

"That’s exactly what Yvonne would say."

"Of course it is." Lauren placed one hand against her chest. "She is me."

Luke’s face remained bright red, but the amusement in hers gradually faded.

"I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner."

The apology caught him off guard.

"At first, I only wanted to meet you inside the game without all the awkwardness between us," she continued. "I wanted to see how you would react when you didn’t think of me as Miss Lauren."

"You wanted to see whether I stared."

"That too."

"You wore that outfit on purpose."

"Of course I did."

Luke groaned and covered his eyes again.

She laughed, though her voice soon grew quieter. "Then everything became complicated. You trusted Yvonne. You flirted with her, even though you barely knew how, and you looked at her in a way you were always too embarrassed to look at me."

Luke lowered his hands.

Her fingers tightened around the edge of the card. "I liked it more than I should have. Whenever I thought about telling you, I worried that you would feel tricked."

Luke did not answer right away.

She had tricked him. Lauren had lied about doing paperwork, entered the game in secret, and allowed him to believe Yvonne was a stranger.

She had also fought beside him, trusted him with her life, and shown him parts of herself that she normally kept hidden.

"I was confused," Luke said. "But I’m not angry."

"You should be a little angry."

"I might be later."

"That sounds fair."

"For now, I’m mostly trying not to remember everything I said to Yvonne."

Mischief returned to Lauren’s eyes. "Gorgeous and incredibly hot?"

Luke made a pained sound. "Please forget that."

"Never."

"The dungeon forced me to be honest."

"Yes, Luke. That’s why I plan to remember it forever."

She slipped the identification card back into her purse. When she looked at him again, a rare shyness had entered her expression.

"I’m happy you still find me attractive at my age."

Luke frowned. "At your age?"

"Mhm."

"Of course I find you attractive. You’re gorgeous."

His voice rose before he noticed.

Lauren blinked, and Luke gestured helplessly toward her. "You look like you’re in your early thirties. Maybe even your twenties."

She stared at him for a second before bursting out laughing.

"Hahahaha!"

Luke’s embarrassment returned. "What?"

"My twenties?" Lauren pressed one hand against her stomach. "Luke, I would look more like one of my daughters."

"You do look like them."

"They look like me."

"That’s what I meant."

Her laughter only grew louder.

Luke waited for her to calm down, unable to understand why his guess sounded so ridiculous.

She looked young. Her skin was smooth, her body was firm and full, and nothing about Yvonne had suggested that she was old enough to have adult daughters.

Lauren pulled out the card again. "Here. Look properly this time."

"I already saw your name."

"Not the name."

She tapped another line.

Luke looked down at the date of birth printed beneath her photograph. He read it once and then again.

His mind attempted the calculation, but the answer made so little sense that he checked the number a third time.

"Forty-eight?"

Lauren started laughing again. "You sound horrified."

"I’m not horrified. I’m confused."

"About what?"

"How are you forty-eight?"

She raised an eyebrow. "That is generally how time works."

"No, I mean..." Luke looked her over before realizing how openly he was staring. "You don’t look forty-eight."

"Thank you."

"You don’t feel forty-eight either."

The words left his mouth before he understood how they sounded.

Lauren’s eyebrows rose, and Luke immediately remembered every part of Yvonne that had pressed against him. Her body had been soft, firm, warm, and very real.

"I meant your energy," he said quickly.

"Mhm."

"And the way you move."

"Mhm."

"Please stop doing that."

Her grin widened.

Luke stared at the identification card again, almost hoping the numbers might change.

He had assumed she was around twice his age, but she was closer to three times as old. The number did not match the woman standing in front of him.

Then he remembered her daughters.

"You had them young," he said.

"I did."

"That should have been a clue."

"It really should have."

Lauren returned the card to her purse, then stepped closer and pinched his nose.

Luke made a startled sound.

"You’re adorable when your brain stops working," she said.

"I’m trying to process everything."

"You can process it upstairs."

She released his nose but remained close enough for him to feel the warmth of her body.

Gradually, the playful confidence left her face.

"When the criminal attacked, I thought I was going to lose you," she said. "Then I woke up in the hospital and didn’t know where you were."

Luke’s embarrassment faded. "I thought the same thing."

"I know."

Her fingers traveled down his arm and settled around his hand.

"I don’t want us sleeping in separate rooms tonight."

Luke’s heart began pounding again.

Lauren squeezed his hand. "You’re sleeping with Mama, and I’m not accepting any arguments."

His mouth went dry. "In your room?"

"Mhm."

"In your bed?"

"Of course. I said you’re sleeping with me."

Luke glanced toward the staircase as every memory involving Yvonne rushed through his mind, followed by several involving Lauren that were even more dangerous.

She watched the realization spread across his face and laughed softly. "Don’t look so frightened. I only want to hold my hero and make sure he’s still beside me when I wake up."

Luke turned back to her.

The teasing remained in her smile, but the vulnerability beneath it was impossible to miss.

He tightened his fingers around hers. "All right."

Lauren beamed. "Good boy."

Those two words nearly destroyed whatever composure he had recovered.

After releasing his hand, she headed toward the stairs.

"I’m taking a bath first," she said over her shoulder. "Lock the front door and check the lights."

Luke remained in the middle of the café.

Halfway up the stairs, Lauren turned around. Her smile now belonged completely to Yvonne.

"Don’t make Mama wait too long, darling."

She disappeared into the apartment before Luke could answer.

Standing beneath the warm café lights, he tried to process everything that had happened since they returned home.

During one conversation, he had agreed to become a hero, confirmed that Lauren was Yvonne, discovered that she was forty-eight, and accepted an invitation to sleep in her bed.

His gaze slowly moved toward the staircase.

"Y-Yes..."

No one remained downstairs to hear him.

Luke locked the café and turned off the lights with trembling hands.