Brushstrokes of Us

Nova Hale never asked for a bodyguard.
She certainly never asked for Grant Mercer-quiet, intimidating, infuriatingly observant-to walk into her studio and become the one person standing between her and the stranger stalking her every move.

But when a break-in turns into something darker, something personal, Nova realizes the truth she's been avoiding: someone is watching her. Someone who knows her. Someone who won't stop.

Grant is hired to protect her.
Keeping his distance is part of the job.
Falling for her is not.

Yet danger forces them closer-late-night talks, shared spaces, whispered fears, and the kind of slow, simmering tension that neither of them can ignore. What begins as necessity becomes something deeper. Something forbidden. Something that feels like safety for the first time in years.

But obsession doesn't fade.
It escalates.

As the stalker's presence grows more violent, Nova and Grant are pushed into a fight for survival-one that will test the limits of their trust, their patience, and the fragile, burning connection they've spent months trying not to acknowledge.

A tense, emotional slow-burn romance full of longing, danger, and the healing found in the right pair of hands, Brushstrokes of Us is a story about trauma, resilience, and the love that grows in the quiet spaces between fear.

Trigger Warnings include: stalking, break-ins, being followed, threatening notes/messgaes, physical assault, weapons, shooting, death, PTSD symptoms, panic attacks, trauma responses.