Giving up his life as a rent boy for his lover William Matheson is the easiest decision Theo Bascopolis has ever made. This smart, handsome man wants him in spite of his past and promises to love him forever. But that past has left Theo riddled with insecurities, which have a tendency to turn up when he’s at his most vulnerable. Case in point: things seem to fall apart when Wills goes on an extended assignment and the number of times he contacts Theo is precisely zero. Theo might be willing to believe work is getting in the way, but then a message he receives appears to confirm another betrayal. Well, his heart may be broken, but he’s not dumb enough to hang around waiting for it to get shattered. He leaves town determined to have nothing more to do with Wills. Wills returns home after an exhausting assignment only to find Theo gone with no explanation. It doesn’t take him long to piece together what’s happened and determine a plan of action. Wills is a man of his word who keeps his promises, and he has no intention of letting the best man he’s ever found walk away from him. But having been betrayed once, is Theo willing to trust his lover not to break his heart again?

Foolish Me

“I’ll put the garland and lights on it if you like.”


“Would you, Sweets? Sorry, Theo? Thanks. That’ll be a big help. I’ll tell Sable to leave the lights and garland out.” She yawned again. “I’ve got to crash. I was a birthday present for a virgin last night, and what he didn’t have in staying power, he more than made up for in recovery time.”


I remembered my own virgin. He had plenty of staying power. Except when I talked of taking him bareback. Then he went off like a firecracker, and I was smugly proud of that.


I knew we’d never make love without a condom, but I could dream.


And almost every night I dreamed that he was home.


I went back to the same Christmas tree lot. In spite of tying me out of my car, they’d sold me a beautiful tree, and they did again. And this time I made sure the door was open when the tree was tied to the roof.


Chapter 15