Patrick Holt is lonely. A bad breakup with his boyfriend has left the forty-year-old ophthalmologist reluctant to get involved with another man. When his neighbor sets him up with her brother-in-law Eric, Patrick prepares himself for disappointment. But Patrick quickly finds himself surprised and charmed by Eric, and Eric, who’s had relationship problems of his own in the past, falls hard and fast for Patrick.<br><br>On the outside, Eric seems like a great guy: young and attractive with a promising job as an assistant manager at a Chicago hotel. But Eric has a dark side he and his family are hiding from Patrick. When the truth is finally revealed and Eric’s secrets are exposed, will Patrick be willing to go the distance with Eric? Or will he run as fast as he can from the new man in his life?

Baggage

Finally, Clay went to the cleaners and picked up the clothes without the ticket. When he came home, he threw them at me.


“Here’s the fucking dry cleaning!” he yelled before storming out of the house again.


About a week or two after that, I found the dry cleaning ticket stuffed into the back pocket of a pair of jeans I was about to wash. Apparently, I’d taken the ticket with the intention of going to the cleaners and forgotten about it. Once I found the ticket, I should have told Clay what happened and apologized, but I didn’t because I was embarrassed but also because I knew it would set him off again.


“Patrick,” he said with a sigh, bringing me back to the present, “I’m sorry I cheated on you. I’m sorry things didn’t work out between us. I loved you very much. Hell, I stilllove you, but our relationship was a mess. I had to get out of it.”


Chapter 42