“Here’s how,” she said, and kissed me again.

I opened my eyes and there she was, lying next to me on the divan with one leg curled across my body, her head propped up on an elbow, looking down at my face, stroking my cheek with the back of her fingers. Other than a lamp lit in a corner of the room, it was dark.

“What happened?”

“You fell asleep.”

“Why didn’t you wake me up?”

“I tried, but you were so tired, you wouldn’t be woken.”

“What time is it?”

She looked up. There were several clocks in the room. “Four.” She lowered her head onto my chest.

“So why is it so dark?”

“It’s four in the morning. Thursday morning.”

“Four in the morning! How long was I asleep?”

“Eleven, maybe twelve hours.”

“Well, at least I wasn’t woken by a nightmare.” I stroked her hair for a while until she raised her head.

“I want you to look into my eyes without getting distracted,” she said. “Do you think you can manage that?” I nodded, searching out her lips to kiss. “That means no kissing,” she smiled, pulling her head away.

“All right.”

“All that is required is the willing suspension of disbelief.”