‘Ssshh,’ she says, finding his lips with her fingers in the darkness. She’s heard enough tech speak for one night. She doesn’t know whether he’s telling the truth or not. She doesn’t care any more. All she knows is that she’s got her man back.

‘I’ve lit some candles in the bedroom,’ she says, running a finger around his mouth.

‘I’m enjoying the darkness,’ he says, sliding a hand inside her dressing gown.

‘Me too.’

Because she can’t see his face. And she has no wish to, either. Not in this moment, not tonight.

‘So what did you say to Jake?’ he asks. ‘We don’t want anyone worrying unnecessarily.’

‘I didn’t get through to him,’ she says, wishing they could talk about something else now. ‘I think the blinds shut out the signal.’

‘They’re a bit excessive, I know, but it comes with the package. I’ll get them fixed in the morning, when the power’s back.’

‘Why do you need to lock down this place anyway?’

‘Can’t be too careful,’ he says.

They’ve talked about it before, his obsession with security. It’s one of the few things they disagree about, and now’s not the time for another argument.

Two minutes later, they are undressing each other in the bedroom, where the candles cast a faint, votive light on their naked bodies. She keeps her eyes averted in what she hopes he interprets as shyness. As she thought, it’s not bright enough to see his face, but she doesn’t want to take any chances. She also makes sure he’s in her right field of vision.

‘Close your eyes,’ she says, disentangling herself from him. ‘Surprise time.’

‘That sounds exciting,’ he whispers.

She reaches for the drawer beside the bed and removes a burnt-orange silk scarf that Rob bought her. She put it there earlier, before the power cut helped her out. All part of the coping strategy that Ajay suggested – using her brain’s auditory pathways to re-establish a connection with Rob. She’s not sure a scarf was quite what Ajay had in mind, but she blindfolds herself with it, tying the silk tightly, and lies down on the bed, wondering if it’s still necessary given the power cut. She can’t risk the lights coming back on without any warning.

‘You can open them now,’ she says, her heart racing.

She hears a small intake of breath. And then he’s moving towards her, bending down, kissing her neck and breasts, her stomach. She knows it’s Rob – his voice, his touch, his smell and taste, each sense heightened by the darkness. She can feel herself relaxing.