Damian, Earl of Windermere, rues the day he drunkenly gambled away his family's estate and was forced into marriage to reclaim it. Now, after hiding out from his new bride for a year, Damian is finally called home, only to discover that his modest bride has become an alluring beauty-and rumor has it that she's taken a lover. Damian vows to keep his wife from straying again, but to do so he must seduce her-and protect his heart from falling for the wife he never knew he wanted. Lady Cynthia never aspired to be the subject of scandal. But with her husband off gallivanting across Persia, what was a lady to do? Flirting shamelessly with his former best friend seemed like the perfect revenge . . . except no matter how little Damian deserves her loyalty, Cynthia can't bring herself to be unfaithful. But now that the scoundrel has returned home, Cynthia isn't about to forgive his absence so easily-even if his presence stirs something in her she'd long thought dead and buried. He might win her heart . . . if he can earn her forgiveness. Contains mature themes.