Every damn thing in Callie Hamasaki's life is gone in a puff of smoke. With nowhere else to turn, she sublets a friend's apartment, desperate to rebuild her career one canvas at a time. And if her best friend's brother would stop intruding on her with his dictates, she'd unstick and unlock a way forward.

Did she ask Abraham Wells for his help? Not even a little. But he's giving it anyway, because helping is all he's good for. He takes care of people, and so what? No one else complains with over-the-top insults and pointed comments about him acting like a martyr. Only Callie, with her sass and her talent and the way her hips move when she dances.

She could paint a mural full of all Abraham doesn't know about how he's messing up his own life. But if he's going to keep griping at her, why would she bother telling him? After all, baring their truths could leave them stripped down to nothing but the attraction between them, and that's—probably—not worth the risk.