Francesca Wyndham knew the folly of gambling. She had seen her father, Lord Wyndham, lose the family fortune, forcing her to become a plain chaperone to an empty-headed young Miss.

But now Francesca was taking a gamble even her father would have blanched at. She was falling in love with the irresistible Arden Lyons, a gentleman who was clearly anything but a gentleman when it came to winning what he wanted, whether a hand of cards, a test of strength, or a lady’s favors.

She knew nothing about this man except that she wanted him from the moment she saw him…and though his past was a dark mystery, his motives for choosing her over other seductive or wealthy young beauties were even more mysterious. Still, Francesca dared to pit her innocence against Arden’s expertise—in a game where passion took all….