Brett Bale is a young artist with an established demand for his work. He has an art broker. He has contracts. He has the opportunity of being reviewed in an international publication, but during a critical moment in his career, he's preoccupied by a steady flow of admiring girls. His dating record is less than stellar, and he has a history of self-destructive behavior when relationships go south.

Into Brett's life enters Olivia Martin, who is whip-smart, tough-as-nails and has the teeth to eat Brett alive. When the novel opens, Olivia is bent on maneuvering her way to the boardrooms of the Fortune 500. She quits her fancy job at a New York City hedge fund to join a start-up in San Francisco, but before she can pop the champagne, she's informed that she can't work in the industry because of a do-not-compete clause in her employment agreement. With her life on hold, she flees to her parents adopted home in Richmond, where she reconnects with a curious college acquaintance and meets Brett for the first time. With the fog of 80-hour work weeks lifted, she gets swept away by her rekindled love of painting and excitement for the boy that introduces her to his world. All of Olivia's decisions prior to meeting Brett had been calculated in decimal points, but once she steps into the artist's world, her numbers begin to lose their significance, her algorithms begin to lose their persuasive power. . .