‘Good,’ I say curtly. I have no idea if I’ll ever get to hear those moans again for sexual reasons, and just now, I’m not even entitled to entertain the possibility. I haven’t earned the right.

My dick is getting harder. Perhaps it is time for a little distraction, after all.

‘So if Tabby is actually a human, who the hell is that dog you showed me?’

She opens her eyes a little and laughs weakly. She’s still pretty shaken up. ‘I’d forgotten about that.’

‘Well?’

‘Daniel the Spaniel.’

‘Daniel the—good Lord. Okay, I think I see why you didn’t want to bring him into the office, in that case. He yours?’

‘He’s my parents’, actually.’

‘Strong name. Maybe I should have gone that route for Mark. Daffy the Staffie? Raffy the Staffie?’

She laughs a little, then hesitates. ‘I’m sorry I lied to you about so much. For what it’s worth, I hated every minute of deceiving you.’

‘Head back.’ I swallow as I angle her head so that I can rinse out the suds. I’m not about to make her feel bad, but the truth is that I wish she and Athena had had enough faith in me to let me in on their secret from the outset. ‘You don’t need to apologise for anything,’ I tell her, ‘but I wish you’d trusted me to tell me. It wouldn’t have changed anything for me.’

She opens one eye to peer at me. ‘With all due respect, Brendan, that’s bullshit and you know it. You would never have hired me if you’d known I was a single mum.’

Hearing her swear makes me a little relieved. It’s a small sign that this crisis hasn’t completely wiped out her life force energy.

‘What, you thought I’d take one look at that beautiful little girl who has your eyes and your smile and run for the fucking hills? Is that it?’ The vehemence in my voice takes even me by surprise, but she just rolls her eyes before closing them again.

God, she’s exhausted. She needs a nap, and now. I pump a dollop of conditioner into my hand. I have no idea how much is enough, but I pull her out from under the spray so she’s leaning against me again. Once I’ve covered both my palms in conditioner, I begin to smooth it down her hair. It might not be perfect when I’m done, but it’ll be clean, at least.

‘I think you’re rewriting history a little,’ she says sleepily. ‘It must have been quite emotive to turn up here and see us like this. But yeah, if you’d found out I had a sick little girl at home and you hadn’t seen her hooked up to machines in a hospital ward, then I think you would have run for the hills.’