I debate heading into the bathroom and getting myself off in the shower, but I’d like to think I’m not that weak-willed. I cast my mind back to first thing this morning, when I saw her briefly, and begrudgingly admit that she didn’t look great. Stunning, obviously, but not too well. She looked bloody exhausted, come to think of it, and I recall too late that she went home early yesterday because she was feeling sick. I sigh.

Fuck’s sake. Looks like I’m sleeping with my executive assistant today without actually sleeping with her. I strip off my clothes and lay them next to Marlowe’s, noting with interest that her lacy bra and thong are on top of her pile. So she’s naked under there, is she?

This should be fun.

Carefully, I turn back the covers and lose a pillow or two before sliding in next to Marlowe. The sheets are cool, but my skin picks up the warmth of hers even without touching it. She has her back to me, but as I pull the duvet over myself, she stirs with a whimper and rolls over.

I freeze for a second. She’s still fast asleep, and, honestly? It’s a captivating sight. I never, ever spend the night with women, so I never get to see women sleeping up close. Her face is so peaceful, it tugs at my heartstrings. The little crease she so often has between her eyebrows is gone, smoothed out by sleep. Her long lashes, black with mascara today, fan across her cheeks.

She looks like an angel. An actual seraph, in the most literal sense of the word. And, as I watch her sleep, something akin to awe floods my body like warm treacle. If she’d ever stop bolting for the doors at 6 pm every day and agree to go out with me one evening, I’d gladly let her sleep over, if just for this.

I know this: my dick may be hardening appreciatively at her scent, at the proximity of all her soft, golden skin. But the rest of me has no intention of waking her. If she needs a nap this badly, I won’t be the one to deprive her of it.

Besides—and this is pretty creepy, to be honest—I can do without sex this once if I get to watch her sleep instead. I thought both our walls were coming down after that amazing sex at my place, but she’s still so bloody boundaried in many ways. I still don’t feel like I know her properly—like I’ve earned the right to know her properly. In this moment, she’s giving me something without knowing it. A piece of the side of her she keeps so carefully hidden away.