He laughed, grabbed her hand and pulled it to his lips. “Among other things.”

“But this is not the sort of thing I do.” She sighed and pulled her hand away. “Why, I am practically engaged to another man.”

“And we can put an end to that nonsense right now.”

“That nonsense?” Still, he was right, it had been nonsense. And no one was more aware of that than she. “About Nikolai—”

“I thought you had come to your senses?”

“Why?” She stared at him. “Because you and I have—”

“Well, yes. No!” His brows drew together. “Are you mad?”

“Possibly.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “I allowed you in my bed, didn’t I?”

He ignored her. “You’re not still considering marrying Pruzinsky?”

She drew a deep breath. “About that—”

“Well, I won’t allow it!”

“You won’t ‘allow’ it?” she said slowly.

“No!”

“I believe you forfeited all rights to tell me what I can and cannot do a very long time ago.” She stared at him. “I have managed my own life and made my own decisions for four years now, and I have done a fine job of it.”

“Have you?” Doubt shone in his eyes.

“Yes, I have.”

He shrugged. “Not according to what I’ve heard from Win through the years.”

“Oh, and what have you heard?” she said sharply.

He met her gaze directly. “Brighton.”

She sucked in a hard breath.

“Need I say more?”

“I think you’ve said quite enough.” She clenched her teeth. “I do not appreciate having my mistakes thrown back in my face.”

“And yet you’ve had no problem throwing mine back in my face.” He slid out of bed, found his trousers and started pulling them on.

“We’re not talking about a silly escapade whose end result would have been no more than scandal. Admittedly, my mistakes are the result of foolish impulse, of not thinking before I act. But in the scheme of things, they are relatively minor. Your mistake changed the entire course of our lives!”

“And I’ve admitted I was wrong.”

“It’s only taken you eleven years to do so!” Her voice rose. “Eleven years!”

“At least I learn from my mistakes.”

“Do you? Hah!”

“I’m here, aren’t I?”

“It’s no more than coincidence, Grayson. You can’t deny that.” She stared at him. “You left and you never came back. Not for me, anyway.”

“And that, too, was a mistake. But at least I don’t repeat my mistakes.” His eyes narrowed. “Whereas you are determined to again enter into a marriage for all the wrong reasons.”

“Then why don’t you tell me the right reasons.”

He stared at her for a long moment. “I thought I had.”

With that, he yanked open the door and slammed it closed behind him.

Camille crossed her arms over her chest and stared at the door. What exactly had just happened?