She was gone. When James woke a few hours after dawn, the realization had been like a knife to his chest. The woman he'd shared the most intimate night with had abandoned him. Rather than James running out like a heartless rogue, she was the one who had fled. It was as though the world had turned upside down on him.

James hunched over on the edge of the bed, staring at the floor where his clothes lay in a crumpled heap. He was completely naked, which wasn't unusual, but for ...