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know,” I said coolly, frowning at him. “I guess we’ll find out when we get out there. Just remember, you promised not to mess this up.” Turning my back on him, I began stripping down as casually as if I got naked in front of him every day. In fact, my stomach was churning with anxiety, but I wasn’t about to let him see that. Behind me, I heard Kurt growl impatiently, but I knew he would take my implied dare. If I was brave enough to go out on the set in only a robe, he had to be too. From the rustling sound behind me, I knew he was getting out of his T-shirt and jeans.

    I was only naked for a minute, but I have to admit I felt relieved when I got the plush robe belted around me. There was a little feeling of excitement stirring inside me, though. It looked like there was going to be some nude work after all. I expected that I would be the model for the women’s exercise part of the book, and Kurt would be the model for the male part. This was exactly the kind of situation I’d been hoping for -- better, in fact, because not only was I going to pose nude, Kurt was going to have to as well. It would teach him a lesson about letting me pick my own assignments and at the same time give him a little taste of my world.

    Lisa was waiting impatiently when we made our way back out to the set. I began to feel a little nervous when I noticed something that had escaped my attention earlier. The set had a black velvet drop cloth suspended on a large frame as its background, but the foreground contained only one prop -- a large double bed.

    My hand crept to my throat. What was this? Where was the exercise equipment or failing that, the yoga mats? What kind of exercise book advocated exercising in bed? Obviously, Kurt was thinking the same thing.

    “I don’t like the look of this,” he murmured in a tense voice. “What the hell kind of exercises can you do in bed?” He kept his voice pitched low, but Lisa heard him anyway.

    “Erotic exercise, of course,” she said. “That’s the name of the book -- The Art of Erotic Exercise: A Modern Kama Sutra .” She frowned at us when we stared at her blankly. “You did know that, right? Why else would you have come?”

Chapter Three

    “Okay, if you two are ready, let’s get rolling.” Lisa clapped her hands, apparently not noticing the silent tension between Kurt and me. “Now, Kurt, Melanie, if you’d just drop your robes and get on the bed together --”
    “Wait a minute.” I held up a hand like a kid in class asking a question. Beside me, I could feel Kurt about to blow he was so angry.

    “Yes, Melanie?” Lisa frowned at being interrupted.

    “I just… I wasn’t aware that this was…this kind of book,” I said, stumbling a little over the words. “I mean, what exactly is involved here?”

    Lisa straightened her thick glasses, still frowning. “Well, we’re looking to take pictures of the different sexual positions. The author of the book has actually worked out how many calories you can burn with each one, the different health benefits, how flexible you have to be… There’s a whole chart, but I don’t seem to have it on me at present.” She patted anxiously at the many pockets on her shorts, shirt, and vest as she spoke. Finally, she gave up and shook her head. “Never mind. The point is we’re just doing a few basic positions today, so don’t worry about your flexibility -- I’m actually flying in a couple who do a contortionist act to pose for some of the harder ones, like the Rainbow of Bliss.”

    “Oh, well, that’s a relief,” Kurt muttered beside me. “Nice that we don’t have to do the hard stuff.” But I was still stuck at the first part of her explanation.

    “Uh, you said sexual positions?” I asked weakly. “As in, have sex in front of the camera?” I felt like about a thousand butterflies had taken off in my stomach. Get naked and do the nasty with my hot stepbrother on film? It was unthinkable -- unbearable --