A Jewel for the Taking by Ellie St. Clair

She’s the only one he’ll ever love. And the only one he can never have.
The love of her life abandoned her. Injured. Penniless. Alone. Juliet Simpson is now making her own way in the world, by any means necessary — including a scheme in disguise with a payout that would change her life forever. All she has to do is pretend to seek marriage to the baron, steal his jewels, and replace them with forgeries until she’s captured the greatest prize of all — his diamond necklace. Then one night, an innocent glance with a footman changes everything.

Xander Murphy is relieved that his role of footman is only a means to an end. It’s a simple job. Get in. Find the jewels. Steal them. Get out. Return to his family. He just never expected that the baron’s intended bride is the one woman who haunts his dreams — the one he can never forget and who has no business being here, in the very life that he tried to save her from.

When neither Juliet nor Xander have any intentions of leaving nor ceding the jewels to the other, they decide there is only one thing left to do — work together. But while they each are determined to focus on the jewels — and only the jewels — old feelings resurface and begin to battle with all that first tore them apart.

Will trust between the two of them ever be possible again? Or will old wounds and family loyalty prove too strong for a second chance romance overcome?