She wanted to experience passion—he never expected to find inspiration.

Miss Evelyn Coburn has spent twenty-five years playing the dutiful daughter, the respectable heiress, the unkissed virgin. But now, with her inheritance in hand and her freedom secured, she intends to taste every pleasure life has denied her. Whispered rumors lead her to The Gentleman Courtesans—a discreet agency offering the company of refined men trained in the art of seduction.

Hugh Radcliffe, the disowned son of an earl, needs funds to sustain his dream of becoming a celebrated portrait artist. Posing as a courtesan is meant to be temporary—just enough to keep him afloat until the Royal Academy considers his work. But when he's paired with Evelyn, her curiosity, wit, and quiet strength awaken something deeper than desire.

She becomes his muse—the subject of his greatest work—and the one woman he can't seem to forget. What begins as a calculated arrangement soon becomes something far more dangerous: a connection neither of them expected, and one neither knows how to end.

As their affair deepens, passion blurs the line between business and pleasure. When their time runs out, will Hugh walk away—or fight to keep the only woman who has ever truly seen him?