He paused and swallowed. A build-up of bile attacked his gullet and stung like a bee.

After abandoning the tray on the coffee table, he went back into the hall, knowing this time he’d see what he should have noticed minutes earlier when he’d taken the breakfast upstairs.

Her purse was gone.

“Jesus,” he muttered, shoving his fingers through his damp hair. “She really has just vanished. What the hell is the matter with this woman?”

A battle of anger, frustration and concern warred within him. What was going on? Last night she’d been the one to suggest coming back to his place after the meal. She’d been the one who’d started undressing him, who’d pulled him close, closer still. Why run? Why vanish?

He opened the front door and glanced left and right, looking up and down the street, knowing he wouldn’t see her but hoping he might.

Of course he didn’t.

Well, she couldn’t just disappear. Not really, he knew where she lived, where she worked.

Damn it.

Was he really that awful to be around? He was a bit out of practice in the bedroom department but once you could do it, well…you could do it. And she certainly hadn’t complained, in fact she’d convinced him of the opposite—she’d had a great a time, the same as he had.

He shut the door and paced to the kitchen. He flicked the kettle back on to make coffee. He needed it, and the stronger the better.

One hour later, James was in the studio working on the final credits. He was tense, on edge, there were knots in his shoulders that had wrapped around his nerves and were stabbing at him like hot needles.

“Got a face like a long weekend, you have,” Grant muttered.

“What?” James frowned at the screen and clicked the mouse so hard he wondered for a moment if he’d broken it.

“You, what the hell has rattled your cage?” Grant tutted. “You march in here two hours late, don’t say hello to anyone and drink coffee as though the planet is going to run out of the stuff tomorrow.”

“Nothing has…rattled my cage. I just want to get this done and dusted.”

“It will be soon enough. Not much more to get through.”

“Huh, well the sooner I’m back in bloody LA the better.”

“It’s that woman again, isn’t it?”

“No.” James dragged in a deep breath and held it for a few seconds. His heart did a couple of annoyingly fast beats.

“It is, I can tell. I haven’t been your best buddy for all these years and not learnt to tell when you’re lying about a chick.”

“Why would I lie?” His frown deepened.

“I don’t know but you are. You always pull that face and hold your breath when you’re about to lie.”