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

“Your father was a bit of a matchmaker, too,” I said.


“Speaking of which,” Logan replied. “Do you think it’s time we start looking for someone for Dad?”


“I don’t know,” I said honestly. “Your dad has suffered a great loss. We all have, but his is a little different. I don’t want to scratch a scab.”


“Let’s play that one by ear,” Sam said. “You on the other hand…”


He patted my back and I laughed. We joked around for the next hour or so while we walked back to Stefano’s beach house. As we approached the house, I got a strange feeling, the kind of feeling you get when you know something is up, but you’re not quite sure how you know it.


When we entered the back door, the house was silent. There was an odd feeling to the place. We looked at each other strangely.


“Maybe they’re not talking because now they’re pissed at each other,” Logan suggested in a whisper.


Chapter 34