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

But to have Mitch bring me to a museum, uh, well, now what?


While I was thinking, Mitch started laughing. As we picked up our visitor tags, he leaned over to whisper, “C’mon. You’re actually going to like this.”


I nearly bumped into a sign saying the current exhibit was The Art of Weapons. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.


As we tromped down the narrow stairway, I could hear Mitch chuckling behind me. Evidently he’d seen me catch on.


The exhibit was spectacular. Intricately carved guns and knives, some ceremonial and some practical, were displayed in cases between battle dress from various centuries and cultures. I stood next to a full suit of armor that looked puny beside me. I even dwarfed the colorful Samurai outfit with its horned helmet.


Chapter 19