Can we stop going to bed together without losing our favourite part of the evening?

At ten-thirty, my husband closed the book I was holding out to him and said, "I want to stay up and finish my model." I went to bed alone and felt oddly rejected. He came in later, kissed my forehead and seemed to think nothing had changed.

For years we've gone to bed together, chatted for a while and read beside each other. Recently he's enjoyed working on his model after the flat gets quiet. I still want to turn in early. He says we spend the whole evening together already, and he doesn't want an earlier bedtime just because it's mine.

I don't want to monitor when a grown adult puts down a paintbrush. I also miss the conversation we used to have when everything else was finished. Is it fair to ask for some nights together, or should I work out what I'm missing and find it at another point in the evening?