In just six days, Lady Jessica Stanton will turn twenty-five and inherit enough money to make her one of England’s wealthiest women. And when that happens, her stepbrother Colin will swoop in to take it all-along with her freedom. The only solution: find a husband strong enough to stand up to Colin. But even if she’s able to find someone able to protect her, what man will marry her once they discover her secret?

Not only is Simon Westland, Earl of Northcote, bankrupt, but the London gossip continues to speculate that he had a hand in the untimely death of his wastrel father. Now he is desperate to find a woman to keep him from losing everything. But what woman will want to marry a suspected murderer?

Thrown together by sheer necessity, Jessica and Simon agree that theirs will be a marriage of convenience. But no legal document can protect Jessica’s heart when she learns of Simon’s hidden motive for marrying her. For despite her best intentions, Jessica has fallen in love with her husband. And love is the last thing either of them wants-though it may be exactly what they both need.