Alicia Wells never asked for a knight in flour-dusted apron to show up full of ideas for saving her surf-side cafe. She’s quite brilliant at plans, which is how she kept Pier 3 Coffee afloat through plenty of tough times already. She’ll just have to do it again. Mateo James doesn’t want to live for his family bakery, but even more, he doesn’t want his father to die for it. So he’ll do what’s required of him, including throwing himself into community organizing. If it helps his parents, and Alicia, to thrive, he’ll sacrifice anything. Even his own chance at happiness. As Alicia charges forward with his plans to save Pier 3, Mateo would love to slow her down long enough to show her the value of their connection. But if she won’t let him in, he’ll have no choice but to let her go.

Every damn thing in Callie Hamasaki’s life is gone in a puff of smoke. With nowhere else to turn, she sublets her best friend’s apartment, desperate to rebuild her career one canvas at a time. And if her 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 what 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.

Austin Wells: everyone’s comic relief, the unmotivated baby brother with the occasional bright idea. In other words, nowhere good enough for brilliant, driven, gorgeous Leyla Robinson. He tries to content himself with admiring her from across the barista counter while she works on taking the world by storm. Austin is, Leyla’s sure, just as sweet and funny and attentive and flirty with her as he is with everyone else he serves at Pier Three Coffee. She’s nothing special. To be blunt, she’s boring. All she ever does is follow the rigorous schedule she sets herself to get through grad school and fight for the career she craves. They’ve been watching each other for so long, each so sure of their own opinions about themselves and each other. But when Leyla finds she can help with Austin’s secret ambitions, so long as she gives up a few layers of her own self-protections, they must both decide how much to risk on the other’s behalf. And what happens if, in the process, they begin to see themselves the way they see each other?