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

“Okay, but nothing. We are in their space and we need to be respectful of it. Luckily you didn’t know that bumping thing well or you could have seriously hurt that one shark. From now on, I’ll swim with you,” Cole said, walking onto the beach.


“Okay,” I said, for the first time noticing just how handsome Captain White was.


His body was muscular, and every little line showed up in the moonlight. Although Smith Island wasn’t large, we were on the other side of it from our barracks and the other buildings. There was nothing here but beach, and moonlight.


“I appreciate your help tonight, Cole,” I said, looking up into his eyes.


“No worries,” he replied. “I told you, Dr. Kamara and I both really value you.”


“And I really value you too, Cole,” I said, placing my hand on his arm, something I had seen someone do in a movie once.


Cole looked down at my hand on his arm.


Chapter 20