Mark Dauphin loves his nephews, Sam and Logan, and he'll do anything his brother-in-law Cole asks, but when Cole wants Mark to play nice with Stefano Magnussi, Mark isn't sure he can comply. Stefano is hotter than fire, but Mark can't see past the fact that Stefano is one of those guys, the type of men who date guys half their age, the type of guys who made Mark give up on dating.<br><br>Of course, a little wine and several cocktails later, Mark finds himself dropping more than his defenses with Stefano. But when Logan and the rest of Mark's family surprise them in the morning, Mark and Stefano are suddenly at odds.<br><br>When Logan's ego is wounded, not only does Mark find himself desperate to fix his relationship with his nephew, but he also questions whether his night with this beautiful man meant anything to either of them. Mark isn't given much time to reflect though, as the war that's been brewing between the shivers comes to a violent head, and he soon learns that sometimes you just have to trust in those around you.

Mark's Midlife

“No, it’s always a pleasure,” Stefano replied in his charming soap opera voice that I was surprised he could bring to life so early in the morning.


“We had a late night,” Cole said with a chuckle.


I looked to see him standing behind the couch that we had backed up to, and realized that he was probably the person who had put the blanket over us. He was dressed already and looked fresh.


“Oh, you were in on this too?” Sam asked, puzzled, but trying to be polite.


“No. Oh, God no!” Cole said, a little too emphatically. “I slept in the guest room. I thought we locked the gate last night.”


“You did,” Sam said. “Logan knew the code though, so we thought we’d surprise you guys.”


“We brought bagels,” Logan said from the door, and then stopped right behind the twins.


“Good morning,” Cole said in his overly diplomatic voice while walking around the couch and trying to stand in front of us.


Chapter 10