Gray had honestly thought he had put Camille in the past. It was obvious now he had merely put her out of his head. And even then, hadn’t she always been there, somewhere in the back of his mind? Wasn’t she there when he danced with another woman, or shared a kiss in the moonlight with someone who might be the start of something new? Or when he had stared at the stars on a lonely night, wasn’t she there, even if he hadn’t acknowledged it? A whisper, a hint, a barely discernible lingering presence that surfaced when he least expected and made him long for something always just out of reach. Unnamed and undefined until now. He was a fool not to have recognized it before. But then, he had always been a fool when it came to her.

He should have realized he loved her, long before it had been too late. He should have returned when she was widowed. He should have . . . So many things he should have done. What he shouldn’t have done was agree to help her carry off her farce. A farce designed to impress the man she wished to marry.

Still, residing in her house opened up all sorts of possibilities, as well as opportunities. He simply had to decide where he wanted them to lead. If, of course, he hadn’t already.

He was more than halfway back to Fairborough Hall when the thought struck him that Camille’s anger might not be a problem to overcome. Indeed, the very fact that she was angry at all might well be an indication of feelings she was not ready to admit. A woman didn’t stay angry for eleven years at a man she didn’t care about for eleven years.

Ah yes, there were all sorts of possibilities and opportunities ahead. If he’d learned nothing else in the past eleven years, he’d learned one did not ignore opportunity when it presented itself.

And Camille’s Christmas farce was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Blasted, bloody beast of a man! Camille sank into the sofa and buried her face in her hands. How dare he insinuate himself back into her life after all these years?

Of course she was angry with him. Why wouldn’t she be? She rose to her feet and paced the floor. Eleven years ago in this very room, he had declared that he loved her and then he had kissed her. It was a kiss that, in spite of her determination, had lingered in her mind, in her heart, ever since that moment. A kiss that had changed everything.