I snort inelegantly to conceal my awkwardness at the very inappropriate thought I’ve just had: that a part of me would very happily spread her legs and take some of Brendan Sullivan’s particular brand of magic.

Where the hell did that come from?

Probably from the pheromones that I’m sniffing through his t-shirt—pheromones I’m all too familiar with—and from the warm solidity of his muscular body against mine, as much as from the sweetness of his words.

‘Seeing Tabs well and happy is enough magic for me,’ I say, which is the truth but possibly not the whole truth. I allow myself to nestle further into his body, because this really is very, very nice.

‘I have a confession to make, sweetheart,’ he says after a moment. His voice sounds strained. Reluctantly I ease myself out of his grasp so I can look up at him.

‘You have the entire cast of Hamilton coming in tomorrow?’

‘No, thank fuck.’ He pauses. ‘But I want to make my intentions clear so you can’t try to claim down the line that I pulled the wool over your eyes.’

Intentions? How very Mr Darcy of him. My poor, bruised heart gives a little thump. ‘Okay…’

‘I told you I’m not going to lay a finger on you at work. That’s because I want a clean break from the kind of relationship we had before.’ He blows out a breath. ‘And that’s because I want a different kind of relationship with you.’

Thump, thump, thump goes my heart, like Daniel the Spaniel’s tail on the floor when he’s waiting for a treat. Brendan reaches down and takes hold of my hand, and I don’t know why the warmth of his huge hand around my smaller one feels so life-affirming, but it does.

He smiles at me, but it’s not cocky or expectant. It’s pleading. Apprehensive. ‘I’m not going to tell you how I feel just yet, because I’ve done such a shitty job of showing you so far. But remember how it was in my bed after we played the piano?’

I nod wordlessly.

‘That’s how I feel. But you don’t have enough datapoints yet, you just have a few moments of me not behaving like an absolute dick. So I’m going to give you more, a lot more, because I want a future with you, love. And with your permission, I’d like to spend time with Tabs too when we get back. I want to get to know her better and prove to you that I’m worthy of giving you both the future you deserve.’