After Shari made me pretty, I was taken to the wardrobe trailer where I was given an identical pair of shorts to the ones I’d had on. “I didn’t know I’d been such a dirty boy,” I joked before I slipped behind the curtain to change.

When I came out, Emersyn emerged from the bathroom, also in a new suit. “This is so weird.”

“It’s just all part of the video making magic.”

“I’m pretty sure I would never make it in the movies. All the wardrobe changes and hair and makeup and shooting and reshooting scenes.” She sighed. “It’s exhausting.”

“Lucky for you that you have a rocking voice and smoking fiddle skills, so you don’t have to worry about the movies.”

Emersyn smiled. “Yeah, thank goodness.”

A crew member led us from the wardrobe trailer back down to the beach where the flames from a billowing bonfire stretched against the darkening sky. “Why am I all of the sudden getting a Tom Hanks Castaway vibe?” I joked.

Marc laughed. “Don’t worry. I’m not planning on having you dance around the fire. Basically, it’s the same setup as before. First, we’ll start off with Emersyn leaned against you with her back against your chest. Then we’ll move to where she’s straddling you.”

I swallowed hard. “Yeah, okay. We can do that,” I replied, sounding a lot surer of myself than I felt. We spent the next half hour working through the scene. Marc would add in different direction like kiss the side of her neck or run your fingers up her arms. It was thrilling stuff.

Of course, my resolve was yet again tested when Emersyn moved from leaning against me to straddling me. I wished to be back in the water in case my dick thought now was a good time to rear his head.

Just when it was safe to assume Marc wasn’t going to ask us to do anything extreme, he went and pulled the rug out from under me. “Great, now Eli, can you loosen the ties of Emersyn’s bikini top.”

A strangled cry came from Emersyn’s lips at his request while I shook my head furiously back and forth. Snatching my arms away from Emersyn, I jabbed my finger at Marc. “Hell. No!”

“I’m sorry. What was that?”

“I said hell fucking no! This a music video not porn.”

Marc had the nerve to laugh. “I’m well aware of that, Eli.”

“If you’re asking Emersyn to take her clothes off, apparently you’re not.”

“I’m not going to shoot her topless. It’ll just give the illusion that the two of you are naked. Her back will be to the camera the whole time.”

“Dude, this is for CMT, not MTV,” I countered.

When Emersyn giggled, I couldn’t help staring open-mouthed at her. “Excuse me, but did you just laugh?”

“The absurdity of it all got to me. Not to mention, I couldn’t help it when you alluded to CMT being a bunch of prudes.”

Thinking about it from that perspective, I laughed myself. “You know it’s true though,” I countered.

“Yes, there’s a lot more denim than skin.”

“I rest my case.” Cocking my head at her, I asked, “Are you seriously okay with this?”

“Not exactly.”

“Then you won’t do it.”

“I didn’t say I wouldn’t do it. I just said I wasn’t entirely okay with it.”

I blinked at her. “Seriously?”

As she chewed on her bottom lip, Emersyn appeared to be waging a battle inside her mind. “It’s just a piece of fabric, right?” she tentatively asked. From the tone of her voice, it seemed more like a rhetorical question than one I was supposed to answer.

“Listen to me, you don’t have to do this.”

“I know. Part of me realizes it isn’t that big of a deal while the other part is horrified I would even consider it.”

“It’s been a long day with a lot to process. Don’t do anything you’re going to regret.”

Without replying, Emersyn glanced over her shoulder. “I’ll do it, but I want the area cleared to where it’s only the three of us.”

Marc nodded. “I can do that.”

“And you’ll only shoot my back, right? There’s no chance of any side-boob?”

Inwardly, I groaned at the mention of side-boob. It conjured up too many images in my mind of that day I accidentally walked in on her in the shower.

Holding up his hand, Marc replied, “Scout’s Honor. To show my good faith, I’ll allow you to see the playback when we finish so you can see for yourself I didn’t get anything else.”

His promise seemed to bolster Emersyn’s confidence. “Okay, then. I’ll do it.”

“Don’t I get a say in this?” I blurted.

With amusement twinkling in his eyes, Marc asked, “What would that be, Eli?”

“That I’m all kinds of worried about Emersyn and I shooting this scene. I think it’s way too much for our audiences.” I stared pointedly at Emersyn. “Not to mention our parents.”

The corners of her lips quirked up as she reached a hand out to cup my cheek. “You’re really cute when you’re being a Neanderthal.”

“I am not.”

“It’s okay, Eli. I’m okay with shooting the scene. But there is one last thing I will ask?”

“What’s that?”

“Will you promise to close your eyes and not look at my chest? I mean, I know we’re kind of past all that after you saw me in the shower, but this is way different.”

FUCK. Why did she have to ask that question? Now all my eyes wanted to do was volunteer to be tribute to take in the boobapoolza that would be on display. “Fine,” I croaked.

“All right, everyone let’s set this up, and then you can scatter for the filming.”

Emersyn and I watched in silence as the crew prepared the scene. Once everything was ready, they headed back up the beach to the trailers. I drew in a deep breath and tried to still the erratic beating of my heart. As an ache grew in my chest, I had to wonder if thirty was too young to have a stress induced heart attack.

When Emersyn once again straddled my lap, the potential for cardiac arrest was immediately forgotten, and instead, I focused on fending off a potential boner. Even though the crackling fire warmed our skin, the heat between her legs was unmistakable. I immediately started up my meditation mantra in my head.

Once we were alone with Marc, he nodded at us. “Whenever you guys are ready.”

Staring into Emersyn’s eyes, I asked, “Are you ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.” When I opened my mouth, she shook her head at me. “I’m not changing my mind, Eli.”

“Fine, fine.” Glancing past Emersyn, I looked at Marc. “Okay, we’re ready.”

A few seconds passed, and then he said, “Action.”

With my gaze firmly locked on Emersyn’s, my hands slid around her ribcage and up her back. When my fingers reached the ties of her bikini, I worked the strings loose. Emersyn sucked in a breath when my hands trailed up her back to grip the top of the bikini. Before she could remind me of the deal we’d struck, I slammed my eyes shut.

After I pulled the bikini top over her head, I let it drop from my hand onto the sand. Keeping my eyes shut, I flattened my hand against Emersyn’s lower back. Slowly, I slid my palm up her spine, dipping under the cascade of hair. When I reached the back of her neck, my fingers caressed the soft skin there, causing Emersyn to shiver.

At the arch of Emersyn’s back against my hand, I dipped my head and placed a kiss directly underneath her chin. I slid my tongue down her windpipe into the dip where her neck met her collarbone. “Mmm,” she murmured, her hands leaving my shoulders to come to my hair.

Although I’d promised not to look at her breasts, I couldn’t help my eyes popping open at her reaction. When I met her gaze, a tiny smile played on her lips. As if she knew the thoughts running through my mind, she whispered, “I know you’re keeping your promise.”

My focus dipped from her eyes down to her full mouth. Cupping her cheeks, I bent my head. My lips grazed against hers, and I wanted so desperately to kiss her. We’d been two kids the first time we’d kissed, and I certainly hadn’t done it for any romantic reasons.

When she didn’t try to move away from me, I inched my lips closer and closer until they met hers. Holding my breath, I waited for Emersyn to jerk away or maybe even smack me for getting too intimate. But she didn’t. Instead, I felt the gentle swirl of her tongue against my lips. Immediately, I parted my mouth and welcomed her tongue.

I couldn’t bite back the groan that escaped me at the feel and taste of Emersyn. It was a sexy mixture of sweetness and strength that sent a shudder through me. I knew if I didn’t pull back, I was going to ravage her mouth…maybe other parts of her.

But before I had a chance, Emersyn’s fingers tugged harder through my hair as her tongue delved deeper into my mouth. It hit me in that moment that this wasn’t acting. There was no way she could be kissing me like this if she wasn’t feeling something for me.

That revelation bolstered me, and I thrust my tongue against hers. One of my hands left her cheek and slid into her hair. I tangled my fingers through the silky strands. When I tugged her closer against me, she moaned, which caused my dick to twitch.

Shifting her ass further down my thighs, I managed to cut off the heat that was scorching my crotch, and at the same time, ward off any chance of her feeling an erection that happened to pop up. I then turned my attention back to worshipping her with my mouth. When one of my hands got twitchy wanting to touch more of Emersyn, like her breast, I dug my fingers harder into her shoulder. Anything I could do to keep our make out session from leaving PG territory and entering rated R.

I don’t know how long we made out like that. In some ways, it seemed like an instant, and in others, it felt like blissful hours. I finally pulled my mouth from Emersyn’s. Opening my eyes, I saw Emersyn still had her eyes closed, a serene expression on her face. My heart tugged at how gorgeous she looked in the firelight. A quick crotch check showed some how I’d mercifully managed not to get completely hard.

When I glanced back up, Emersyn had opened her eyes. As she looked at me, a flush entered her cheeks. I held my breath as I waited for regret to enter her face when she realized what had just transpired between us. But thankfully, it didn’t. Instead, we just remained staring at each other. Both utterly gob smacked about what had just taken place. It was unlike anything we had experienced before. Making out on the beach of a private island certainly made what happened at the Moose Lodge pale in comparison.

The sound of Marc’s voice shattered the moment. “Wow…I don’t have words, guys. Okay, maybe I do.” He flashed us a grin. “That was fucking intense.”

Yeah, it sure as hell was. I couldn’t remember another time when I lost myself so deeply with just a kiss. Even though I’d wanted to touch more of Emersyn, I would have been content just to stay lip-locked with her. Of course, I couldn’t help wondering what her lips and mouth would feel like on other parts of my body.

“Everything about that was pure gold. I don’t think I even need to bother shooting reaction shots from Emersyn’s perspective.” When we still remained intertwined together by the fire, Marc closed the gap between us. “Did you guys get that?”

“Get what?” I asked, not taking my eyes off of Emersyn’s.

“I said I got enough. We’re done with the shoot. You can head back to your trailers. I’ll have the boat come pick you up.”

Emersyn’s gaze slowly slid from mine over to Marc’s. The moment she focused on him, a shudder went through her like she’d been zapped with an electrical current. From the way the color drained from her face, I knew the realization had just hit her about what had happened between us. How something turned over in us, and we stopped acting and gave in to our feelings.

Her somewhat horrified reaction caused my heart to shrivel a little in my chest. It also made me realize there was no way she was ready or that she was receptive to seeing me as anything more than a friend. It seemed like we were going to forever be frozen in a miserable and painful limbo, and I wasn’t sure I had the strength in me to keep being a part of it.