The Art of Hanky Panky

A Painting Outside the Lines Series - Book 1


What would you do if a hot, rich, famous artist asked you to pose for one of his painting?

… And, by the way, did I mention you’d have to be naked?

Completely, 100%, nothing to hide those love handles, nude. Honestly, it's mortifying enough to stand naked in front of my own mirror, but to do it in the same room with my mind-blowingly hot, totally off-limits art instructor?

This is so not something that I, June Cooper, had planned for this college semester. What I should be focusing on is working my butt off to pull in awesome grades and get into my choice of law schools.

No distractions allowed.

Especially if they come with male parts attached. Not when things are finally starting to come together. Aside from just being dumped, a waistline that inexplicably keeps growing (damn you, chocolate cake!), and a highly developed caffeine addiction, my life is pretty much on track. Just how I like it.

Then, he showed up.

Ryan Carter.

Famous painter. Artist. And one giant, smoldering, red-hot distraction.

He is devastatingly attractive with the body of an underwear model, the intense soul of an artist, and an oh-so-sexy smirk that sends shivers to all the right places. Just my luck that he would be the visiting painter teaching my extra credit art class.

And then, as if that isn’t distracting enough, Ryan starts to show signs that he might be interested in me. But not in the way I’d hoped for.

My world comes screeching to a halt when Ryan asks me to pose for a painting. All I can do is stare back at him, dazed, with my mouth gaping open.

I know what you’re thinking… Why on earth would an artist like Ryan Carter want to paint someone like me? All I have are wide hips complements of a killer cupcake recipe, awkward glasses complements of bat-like blindness, and a stockpile of student loans.

None of these things are model-worthy traits. But Ryan is a man obsessed with his artistic vision, and he sees something more, something I’ve never seen inside myself. And painting isn’t the only skill that he’s mastered.

I soon learn that this focused, dominant, pushy alpha male has the kind of searing bedroom abilities that could scorch paint off the space shuttle. And he likes to employ those skills—on me—in the most awkward of places… coat closets, cars, standing in the middle of rooms at angles where people can’t quite see us.

But no matter how much I think I can take, Ryan continues to demand more. With every canvas he paints, I become a little more exposed, revealed, unable to hide.

Ryan wants to strip me away till there is nothing left to stand between us—absolutely nothing—but going naked is one of the most terrifying things I’ve ever done. There are definitely some parts of myself that were never meant to see the light of day.

And I don’t just mean my gluteus maximus.

When I discover that Ryan’s past might not be as open as he says, cracks start to form in our shiny, new relationship. And I can’t see the giant hammer that’s about to descend and try to shatter the two of us apart.

Forever.

His craziness and my craziness are about to collide.

When the moment of truth comes, I could never have guessed how exposed I’d really be… And that the steady, secure life I was working so hard to build could be over in an instant.

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