A Nashville woman opened up about how she started a relationship with a man who is 35 years her senior when she was just 17 years old.

Cheyenne Baker, who is now 22, met James Hines, 58, on a dating site five years ago. Although both were initially attracted to the other, they waited seven months before they decided to meet in person. Once they began dating, they decided to keep their relationship a secret because they were afraid how their families would react, Baker told the Daily Mail.

“We've actually broken up a few times because we thought that it just wasn't possible to have the dream outcome with our families and society accepting and all of that,” Baker said, adding, “That's part of why we kept the relationship a secret for nearly three years. My mother was very opposed, but now she loves James dearly.”

Although there was some opposition at first, Baker revealed that her mother eventually came around and is now supportive of their relationship. Although Cheyenne has the stamp of approval from her mom, not all of her family is aware of the relationship.

“I wouldn't say that all of my family knows about James, not that it's a secret but I'm not entirely close with everyone because there's just too many people and I'm not going to make a special announcement to people that I don't talk to frequently. I'm not going to hide him either,” Baker told the Daily Mail.

James, who is a United States Marine Corps veteran and purple heart recipient, says he knew he had to tell his family once his feelings for Cheyenne deepened.

“We reached a point where we had to be honest with our families or our relationship would have ended. If we didn't tell our families it would have been a fake relationship and it was taking an emotional toll on the both of us, so we decided to be free,” James told the Daily Mail.

The couple also says they were surprised to find that they haven’t received many negative comments from people. 

“People are mostly polite, no one's really accosted us about being together,” James revealed. “If anything, they're curious but don't know how to ask us."

“We don't really care anymore. If anyone were to approach us on the street with negative remarks, we'd probably just laugh and walk away,” he concluded.