When he sees entrepreneur Mitch O'Shea whirling around an empty building, contractor Ben Behr is enchanted. Even though his two brothers are gay, Ben always thought he was a ladies' man until he met Mitch. Despite his feelings, Ben knows San Francisco native Mitch is totally out of his league. What could Ben possibly do to get out-and-proud Mitch to notice him? Turns out Mitch is just as attracted to Ben. As they compete in car rallies, camp in the Sierra Nevada foothills, and tour the bars Mitch owns in the city, they realize how stifled they've been their entire lives. Maybe looking over the fence and jumping it to explore what's on the other side are good ideas. When these two seemingly opposites get together, will Ben and Mitch find out they have the world at their feet and might even have love in their hearts?

Waking the Behr

Life wasn’t playing fair. When Mitch threw off his downer, it had landed on me and squelched my excitement about eating with him.


Monique’s Bakery and Café overflowed with a bunch of my friends and acquaintances. There went any hope that Mitch and I’d be sitting without interruption. Not only that, we’d driven up in Rita, which was like arriving on a parade float.


As I answered questions about the car, Mitch hooked up with Con, and they were seated. When I looked, they were having an intimate discussion. Since I’d obviously been elevated in my friends’ eyes after getting out of Rita, I kept answering questions. Mitch and Con were sitting close together, their heads bent toward each other.


“I’ll be in the city from this afternoon until Friday night,” I caught Mitch telling Con. Mitch reached into his shirt pocket and handed Con a card. “If you can get away, phone me and we’ll do something. I’ll give you a tour. We’ll talk.”


Chapter 6