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

“The MacTaggart Foundation. Be in my office at nine on Monday. Not nine-twenty with Starbucks.”


“Yeah. Yeah, cool.” Wally blinked a few times as if stunned.


Ted stood. “I’m going home. See you Monday?”


After passing out in his own bed for damn near twelve hours, Ted awoke to mid-afternoon sunshine through his window. He picked up his phone first, as usual, and groaned to see some fifty alerts on the lock screen. He dropped his phone, rolled out of bed, and headed directly to the shower.


When he emerged, scrubbed clean and feeling far more human, he found Ryan in the open living room painting in the warm light. It was the view from their villa in Aix-en-Provence, the bare olive trees, the well, and Sainte-Victoire in the distance. “A regular Cezanne,” Ted commented.


Chapter 51