[She's probably right - intense lives, always on the move, never knowing where you'll end up the next week or if the people you surround yourself with will be there with you. It's not strange at all that pacing becomes less important at times, because who can afford thinking about that when your entire life is one big stressful situation? Even more so here where the intense life has slowed down to a crawl but the habits still remain.
He matches her pace best he can, pushing back into it and paying careful attention to whatever signals she's giving out. She's definitely the one leading here, but he's confident enough now to not remain passive - in fact, the hand on her back soon sinks lower, dipping below her waist to caress her hip. Still sticking to the safer zones, but getting more courageous by the minute.]