He Sees You When You're Sleeping

Chloe Hallman is a social media influencer and brand ambassador for Moth to the Flame Designs, a jewelry company in Manhattan. She lives alone on Staten Island in her late parents' rented home, having taken over the lease after they died in a car accident roughly two years earlier. Still grieving, Chloe dreads the Christmas season and declines her Aunt Sue's invitation to spend the holiday in Phoenix. One winter morning, her elderly neighbor Mr. Haven slips on his unshoveled walkway, and a passerby named Jack, a firefighter out walking a dog he is sitting for, helps the man to safety. Chloe notices that her own walkway is always mysteriously cleared after snowstorms and that someone has hung Christmas lights on her hedge. When she calls her landlord, the landlord insists he has never done any snow removal.

Jack's perspective reveals a far darker reality. He was one of the firefighters who responded to the accident that killed Chloe's parents and pulled Chloe from the wreckage. Since that night, he has stood outside her bedroom window, observing her through the glass. He shovels her walkway after every storm partly to eliminate his own boot prints, partly because the act reminds him of shoveling for his late mother, and partly because he does not want Chloe to slip. He has memorized her schedule, mannerisms, and preferences. Each night he promises himself it will be the last time, but he always returns.

Chloe leads a double professional life. At Moth to the Flame, she works closely with Sloane, a designer she considers a genuine friend, and endures Tyler, the company's marketing VP, who peppers her with unsolicited advice. On the side, Chloe collaborates with Hailey, an independent designer whose gothic, BDSM-inspired jewelry feeds a secret alter ego Chloe calls "Chlo," an edgier version of herself she keeps hidden from her corporate world.

Jack engineers what appears to be a chance meeting at Pete's Café, Chloe's regular coffee shop, timing his visit to coincide with hers. Chloe recognizes him as the man who helped Mr. Haven, and they sit together. Jack tells firefighting stories that make her laugh. He feels elation at finally connecting with her and guilt over how much he already knows.

Tyler escalates his pursuit, showing up unannounced at Chloe's home to ask her to the company holiday party. She declines but invites him in for coffee out of politeness. Tyler discovers erotic literature on her bookshelf and makes suggestive comments that unsettle her. After watching Chloe destroy her beeping smoke detector one night, Jack devises a plan to enter her home. Wearing his firefighter uniform, he borrows a spare key from Mr. Haven under the pretext of replacing the alarm batteries. Inside, he installs a new smoke detector and hides a nanny camera beside it, telling himself the camera will replace his nightly vigils.

Jack and Chloe's connection deepens. At Pete's Café, Tyler grabs Chloe's wrist and pressures her for a date; Jack arrives and Chloe uses him as a pretense to escape. Over hot chocolate, they discover mutual interests and feel genuine chemistry. Jack asks for her number, and they plan a date at the Bryant Park Christmas market. Later, at a pub, Chloe reveals she has never thanked the firefighters who responded to her parents' accident. Jack, who was one of them, swallows his guilt and says nothing.

That evening, Jack returns to his post outside Chloe's window and watches as she transforms herself with a dark wig and gothic accessories, then logs in to Dark Secrets, an adult content platform, performing live for subscribers under the username BlackAsChlo. Jack subscribes and discovers her kinks, including bondage, spanking, and exhibitionism, mirror his own. He creates the account WinterWatcher, whose bio reads, "I like to watch from afar. Always from afar" (73-74). Chloe notices the new follower and suspects Tyler.

After a night of drinks with Sloane, a tipsy Chloe initiates a direct message conversation with WinterWatcher that escalates into explicit sexual commands. Jack, watching simultaneously through the hidden camera feed from his fire station bunk, orchestrates the encounter. Their online dynamic intensifies alongside Chloe and Jack's real-life relationship, creating a triangle in which Chloe is unknowingly drawn to the same man in both roles. Chloe confides in Sloane about her conflicted feelings, calling Jack "safe" and possibly too vanilla. Sloane invites her to Naughty and Nice, an upscale adult nightclub, and warns Chloe about the morality clause in her Moth to the Flame contract.

Chloe invites WinterWatcher to meet her at Naughty and Nice. A man in a black velvet mask approaches her, leads her to a private room with floor-to-ceiling windows, and they perform for voyeurs beyond the glass. The masked man leaves before they have intercourse, promising they will meet again. Chloe walks to Jack's apartment afterward, but he is not home. Jack, who was the masked man, follows her at a distance to ensure she gets home safely.

On Christmas Eve, WinterWatcher instructs Chloe to wait blindfolded and naked. Jack arrives and, just before she climaxes, removes her blindfold. Chloe recognizes him immediately and, after a moment of shock, smiles, admitting she had been torn between them. Jack explains he discovered her identity when her face was briefly visible during a stream, omitting the hidden camera and years of surveillance. They exchange gifts and perform a live encounter together on her Dark Secrets stream.

Their relationship deepens over Christmas Day at Jack's fire station, where the firefighters' families warmly welcome Chloe, and continues as they explore their shared desires. Chloe tells Jack she is falling for him, and he admits he has already fallen.

The crisis arrives on two fronts. Sloane confesses that she searched for Chloe's Dark Secrets profile on a company computer, and during a routine IT audit, the search was flagged. Tyler saw the profile, recognized a Moth to the Flame necklace in one of the posts, and connected BlackAsChlo to Chloe. That same evening, Chloe discovers footprints in the snow leading to her bedroom window and spots Jack's silhouette outside the glass. Through the chained door, Jack confesses everything: He was the firefighter who pulled her from the wreck, he has watched her for two years, he entered her home to install a hidden camera, and he discovered her identity through surveillance. Chloe, devastated, tells him to leave and never return. She deactivates her Dark Secrets account and destroys both smoke detectors.

Before Chloe can process Jack's betrayal, Tyler summons her to the darkened office and demands private sexual performances in exchange for his silence. When Chloe refuses, Tyler attacks her. Chloe fights back, headbutting him and breaking his nose. Jack arrives, alerted by Mr. Haven that Chloe left during the dangerous snowstorm, and subdues Tyler. Jack forces a resolution: Tyler will resign immediately and keep silent, or Jack will press charges using potential security footage as leverage. Tyler agrees.

Chloe tells Jack to stay away even after the rescue, and he respects her request. Sloane confirms Tyler has resigned and argues that Jack's behavior, while extreme, was "the insane asylum kind of love" (296). Chloe resists this framing but cannot deny her own feelings. She follows Jack from his fire station to a coffee shop, effectively stalking her own stalker, and admits she does not want him to give up control. Jack promises no more secrets. Chloe responds that she wants him inside her life, not watching from the outside.

On New Year's Eve, they return to Naughty and Nice for a masquerade party. Midway through a public encounter on the dance floor, Chloe tells Jack she wants this moment to be just for them, and they rush home. At Chloe's house, Jack stands outside her bedroom window while she positions herself on the other side of the glass, fulfilling both their fantasies with full awareness and consent. After she climaxes, she opens the window and Jack climbs inside, telling her he wants to do more than just watch as the new year begins.