A kiss in the gardens. A ruined reputation. A wager without a winner.

Having been caught kissing an earl's heir in the gardens during a ball, Miss Lucy Fitzsimmons has been relegated to the company of potted palms and wallflowers at London entertainments. Despite behaving as a perfect young lady up until that fateful night, she knows time won't lessen the stain on her reputation. She'll rarely be asked to dance, nor does she expect to be courted by anyone, but then given the terms of the wager, she won't need to-her brother apparently gave the rake permission to court her!

One thing is certain-when Marcus Higgins returns in two years, she intends to collect what she's owed. They had made a wager, and she won.

Meanwhile, Marcus has disappeared from London. The second son of the late Earl of Greenley, he left on a Grand Tour the day after he accepted the terms of a wager and kissed the young woman he has secretly been in love with since they were children. Two years away from her will be torture-he can't get her out of his mind. His only saving grace is they made a wager, and he's quite sure he was the winner.

When he returns to British shores, a surprise for Lucy's brother in tow, Marcus is determined to collect what he's owed.