Page 28 of Revenge Honeymoon

Her body ran hot and then cold at the thought of it.

Sexy.

Private.

Intimate.

Oh my.

“Thank you!” Emily snatched the card so quickly out of Sylvia’s hands, it was as if the card were the last morsel of food offered to a starving woman.

“What a terrible prize,” Ruby said, all the fun and excitement sucked out of her. “Who would want to take photos like that on a Honeymoon Cruise?”

Emily looked at the card in her hand. Guilt stabbed her greedy little heart. Supportive maid-of-honor got tossed out the window and horny single gal had stepped right into her place.

Sylvia’s plastered-on smile wavered. Ruby’s words had been loud enough for all the players to hear. “Let’s give the newlyweds a round of applause.”

Tepid clapping filled the space. A few couples left the casino and headed for the higher decks.

“Maybe we can trade it in for another prize,” suggested Emily. Whatever it took to remove the sad expression from Ruby’s face and encourage a smile, she’d do it. “Something of equal value. How much could a photo shoot be worth anyway?”

“Join us tomorrow night for another round of trivia!” Sylvia’s audience depleted rapidly. Although she tried to keep up the same chipper tone she’d had since the beginning of the event, her tiredness came through. “Same time, same place, more prizes.” Her voice trailed off.

The space emptied in a matter of seconds.

Sylvia snapped off the mic and muttered to herself, “Last time I’m subbing for Mark. What a nightmare.”

Maybe now was not the time to confront Sylvia about trading their prize for something else on the wheel. The woman appeared as if she needed a long hot bath and maybe a bottle of wine to take the edge off. Better not rock the boat.

As Sylvia ordered Javier to pack up the pencils and paper, Max joined them by the prize wheel. “I swear, I did not know that prize was even on the wheel.” Spots of color appeared on his cheeks.

How could a man as hot as this one be so timid about a boudoir photo shoot? Something about his reaction made her even more attracted to him. Was he not aware how absolutely gorgeous he was?

“I really wanted to try out the zip line.” Ruby let out a sigh.

“Maybe I need to remind you about all of the gift cash you wanted to spend?” Emily almost bit off her own tongue. She’d gotten close to spilling the beans about the wedding, the reception, the money tree, and Tyler. Oh, boy, Tyler. Max had no idea her friend was dealing with the sharpest of pains, the worst hurt a woman could experience.

“Gift cash?” Max narrowed his eyes.

The two women looked at each other. Ruby attempted to signal something to Emily with rapid blinking and a lip twitch. Or was she panicking?

Emily ran her mouth to fill in the strange silence, “Uh, yeah, from a birthday. Rich grandma. Ruby’s so lucky. Got a lot of cash. Very generous.”

Max nodded his head.

For some reason he believed it, even though she’d sounded insane.

“Anyway, Ruby, you can do as many zip line runs as you want.” To placate her down-in-the-dumps friend, Emily spoke without thinking. “In fact, since we have a day-at-sea tomorrow, why don’t we spend it on the pool deck? Sun, fun, and some rum?”

“That sounds awesome,” Max said. “I don’t have to work until the afternoon. More honeymoon shoots. I’ll meet you there at, let’s say noon-ish?”

Oh, no.

Emily was reminded she did not have a bathing suit in her minimally packed, wedding weekend only luggage.

Oh, yes.

Emily would be hanging out on the pool deck with Max in swim trunks and no shirt.

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