Bluestocking Georgine Thackerly has built her life around independence and caution. As guardian to her younger sister, she shoulders the burdens of responsibility with quiet strength, guarding her reputation as fiercely as her heart. Marriage is a trap she swore never to enter, especially after witnessing her father's cruelty. But when a bullet wound forces her to recuperate under the roof of Robyn Fitzlloyd-the very man who unsettles her ordered world-her carefully laid defenses begin to crack.

Robyn Fitzlloyd, a successful businessman with a quick wit and generous spirit, has little patience for Society's fickle judgments. Having raised his younger sister after their parents' deaths, he understands duty and devotion better than most-and he is determined to shield those he loves from harm. Georgine's cautious reserve and fierce independence mirror his own sense of responsibility, and though their battle of wits both vexes and fascinates him, admiration soon deepens into a longing he cannot ignore.

When a meddling gossip catches them in a seemingly indecent moment and spreads malicious lies, Georgine's reputation-and her sister's and Robyn's younger sister's futures-hang by a thread. There is only one shield against ruin: marriage.

Forced into proximity by necessity, they discover tenderness where there was teasing, and longing where there was laughter. But with pride and past hurts between them, will either dare to speak the truth first-or will silence cost them their chance at love?