Page 29 of Fore-Ever Yours

“Oh, come on, grumpy. It’s for your fans, like Sally Jo,” I tease.

Matthew turns his head slowly. “Seriously?” he asks, throwing a skeptical side-eye glance my way.

I bite my lip, concealing a laugh, and move on to the task at hand. “So we need some shots of us looking like a real couple who’s in love, or deeply in like, at least.” I nervously grin.

“Just tell me what you want me to do,” Matthew says begrudgingly.

I explain a few of my ideas and how I want him to pose. I get a few of him by himself (never can have too many of those), and then I set up for our couple shots.

“Stand here and put your arm around me, like this.” I show him a sample photo on my tablet.

I lean in next to him as he wraps his arm around my shoulder.

“Like this?”

My face starts to feel hot, and my heartbeat picks up speed at the warmth of his arm. “Mhm.” I press the button on my wireless remote to capture a few photos.

“Okay, next pose.” I flip to my next inspiration picture of a guy standing behind the girl with both arms around her. “I’ll do a video of this one too, just move naturally.”

“Naturally…right. Like any of this is natural.” His tone is lighthearted, but there’s something underneath it.

“Okay, just sway a bit to create some movement…And now, look at me.”

His eyes shift down to meet mine, and suddenly, I feel all the air sucked out of the room. His gaze is intense, yet soft. It’s like he’s looking right into my soul.

“Next!” I manage to choke out only one word. I scroll through the sample images, but each one just seems more intimate than the last one. “Let’s do some candids.”

“Candy?”

“Can-did, Matthew.” I laugh, readjusting my phone on the tripod. “It means natural, unposed. Like you’re not even aware of the camera.”

“I’m very much aware of the camera.” I roll my eyes at him. “Plus, candy sounds more delicious.”

“Just be yourself,” I remind him as I press the record button and come to stand next to him.

“Like this?” he asks as he pulls a ridiculous face.

“Matthew!” I swat at his shoulder, laughing.

He pulls me in and then twirls me around. His silliness is infectious. He spins me out, then pulls me back in, our bodies colliding. I yelp as we both collapse onto the floor in a fit of laughter.

As our laughter slows down, I become aware of our position. His arm is wrapped around my back, my hand on his chest, our faces inches apart. I can feel his heart pounding as his eyes intensely bore into mine.

“Beth…” he whispers, his warm breath fanning my face.

My eyes flit down to his lips, then back up to meet his gaze again.

“I…” he begins.

“Yeah, I think we got it,” I say, quickly getting up to check the photos.

As I silently scroll through them, I can feel his eyes burning into my back.

What just happened?

“All good?” Matthew asks, his voice layered with what sounds like the same sense of confusion I’m having.

“They’re perfect,” I reply quickly. “See?” I turn the phone around to show him, a smile plastered on my face.

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