Ted MacTaggart's overbearing father is still trying to control his life, even from the grave. His will insists that, in order to inherit the family company, MAC Superior, Ted must be married by his twenty-fifth birthday -- and the marriage has to be "real." As in the board of MAC has to sign off on it.<br><br>Ted could fight the will, but then the handsome, artistic Ryan Costa, an old friend from school days walks back into his life, offering to be his groom-of-convenience. Ted draws up the contracts and Ryan, who has family medical bill problems, agrees gladly to the terms. Ted, emotionally walled off and afraid of his attraction to Ryan, also suggests they should keep their relationship strictly professional. Caring for people has always proven a weakness for him. Now isn't the time to start.<br><br>It's not long before Ryan's charm breaks through Ted's walls, but Ted isn't his own worst enemy in this case. Other forces are vying for MAC Superior, and even when their relationship is becoming the real deal, its shaky foundations land Ryan and Ted in trouble.

Poor Little Rich Boy

He looked…rumpled and confused. Not the lap dance aftermath Ted would’ve expected. He frowned. “You all right?” he asked as Ryan approached.


“Pushy dancer. I think she was trying to get me to pay for sex?”


“I thought that wasn’t legal in Vegas,” Ted wondered.


“Yeah, I thought that was just, like, everywhere else in Nevada. Anyhow, weird.” Ryan shook his head but smiled. It didn’t seem forced.


“We should tell a manager.” Ted had a growing sense of unease he couldn’t quite pinpoint


Ryan shrugged. “She probably gets a lot of weirdos at this place. It’s cool.”


Wally turned to the bar suddenly and said, “Another drink for the grooms-to-be, please!”


A half-naked man in a bowtie poured two drinks without having to ask what they wanted. Wally disappeared, for which Ted was too grateful to question the suddenness of it all. “You’re sure? You weren’t being sexually harassed?”


Chapter 25