Catherine isn't in bed when I wake up, but the sheets are still warm where she's been lying. I leave it five minutes, but she doesn't return, so I get up and pull on the t-shirt she lent me. I find her in the kitchen, in her dressing gown, waiting for the kettle to boil.

'Hi.' I yawn and run my fingers through my hair.

She half-turns, and the slope of her breast just peeps out from under the material of her dressing gown. Her nipple is erect. 'Hey, sexy.' I enjoy the way her eyes run unhurriedly over the shape of my breasts in her t-shirt, and over my bare legs. I lean my weight on one hip, half-instinctively pointing my bent knee at her, and like the way she blatantly eye-fucks me for a moment. She grins, when she realises. 'Is coffee OK, Fi? Or would you prefer tea?' The kettle flicks off and she pours the water onto a heap of ground coffee in a cafetière.

'Coffee's good, thanks. Especially if it's nice, real coffee.' I breathe in and enjoy the smell.

She brings the cafetière over to the breakfast bar. As she puts it down, her free hand slips onto my hip and she pulls me a step closer to kiss me softly. I'm glad it isn't awkward between us, this morning after, and she does kiss nicely. We linger over the kiss.

'I hope you don't take milk, Fi, because I haven't got any.' She strokes my hip through the t-shirt. 'In fact, I haven't got much of anything in. I was supposed to be going shopping yesterday.'

I reach up and run my fingers over her ponytail. 'Oh dear. I am sorry.'

'Rubbish. You're not sorry at all, and I'm not either.' She presses herself a little more firmly up against me, and I like the feel of her body warm through her thin dressing gown. Her knee pushes gently at my thighs. 'We can go out for breakfast, there's a nice café on the way back into town.'

'It's OK. Whatever.' I kiss her quickly, softly. 'I might need some sugar in the coffee, though.'

'There's some in the cupboard there, I think.' She touches her finger to my cheek, and traces the line of my lips. 'You should try to give that up, you know. It's bad for you.'

'Yes, Doctor.' I grin at her, unsure to what extent she's joking. We kiss again. I pull her hair out of its ponytail and comb my fingers through it where it falls around her face. She sighs in pleasure into our kiss. She pulls me a little closer again and desire starts to pulse urgently between us. The kiss gets deeper, then she puts both hands on my hips and starts to move me backwards. I bump back on the edge of a stool and she guides my hips as I slide myself up onto it. One of her hands moves to rest on my bare thigh and she begins to stroke my skin, and I feel my body start to throb in anticipation of welcoming her inside me again. She nibbles my lip and pulls my tongue into her mouth as I press her neck with my hand under her hair. Then it's my turn to sigh with pleasure as she pushes my legs apart gently and moves between them.

***

I go down on her again on the sofa after we've drunk the coffee, and we have sex in the shower as well. For the sake of thoroughness, Catherine says. (Every room in the flat, at least once. Catherine also says that oral is so much better with my mouth still warm from a hot drink, which is probably true because she gets an amazing orgasm from it.)

We get dressed and she takes me out for breakfast. We sit in the corner of a quiet café and talk while we eat. We avoid the issue of what our time together means, until I ask why she doesn't seem to want a relationship. 'I don't mean with me, particularly, Catherine. Just at all, really.'

She sighs and stirs her coffee unnecessarily. 'I'm a doctor in A&E, Fi. I have an incredibly unstable shift pattern, and when I get home I'm usually knackered. There's a nurse at work who likes to take pity on me sometimes when we have the same days off, and we're probably as close as either of us is likely to get to someone. But I haven't got the time or energy for a girlfriend.'

'Felt like you had plenty of energy to me.' I grin at her and put my hand over hers for a moment.

She grins back and turns our hands so she can run a finger over my wrist gently. 'It was great. I don't know about you, but I really needed that...for various reasons. I think yesterday just happened at the right time.'

'I needed it too, Catherine. I'm happy we've met. And I think we've proved that I'm not frigid.'

She laughs. 'We've proved that beyond doubt. Definitely.'

I know I have to ask, but am not sure which answer I want to hear. 'Do you want to see me again?'

She takes my hand gently and strokes my fingers, as she opens her mouth to speak. Then she shuts it again and holds my hand while she does me the compliment of thinking about her answer for a moment. 'I was going to say no straight away.' She smiles kindly. 'I'm still going to say no, but I want you to know that part of me doesn't want to.' She reaches for my phone and texts herself from it, then holds hers up to show me. 'And I have your number, in case I ever change my mind.'

***

Back at her flat, I gather my stuff together. I look round the living room and think for a fleeting moment how good it could be to be Catherine's girlfriend, to come home to her awesome flat and be there for her when she gets in from a demanding shift at the hospital. She comes up behind me and we hug and she kisses my neck softly, then I turn round in her arms and we almost kiss on the mouth. I slightly deflect my head and graze her cheek with my lips instead.

'Well,' I say. 'If this isn't to be, I'll just have to try and get into the habit of sitting in bars trying to pick up horny doctors.'

'You do that. Sounds like a good idea.' She looks at me carefully. 'Seriously, Fi. If it helps you get a sense of perspective on Diana, it could be a positive thing to go out and have a bit of fun. It might help you decide whether she's the one, or you might meet someone else. Or whatever.'

I nod, and rest my head against her shoulder while we hold each other for a long moment. She kisses my hair, then I make a move to leave. 'OK, bye then. Thanks.'

'Bye, Fi. And thank you, too.' She pauses with her hand on the front door handle. 'And, Fi? If you do, you know, find yourself getting lucky lots...don't forget to get yourself checked out at some point. Please?'

I laugh.'Yes, Doctor.'