Page 15 of Revenge Honeymoon

Ruby reassured him, “Don’t worry. You didn’t offend us. The photo package was part of the cruise deal, or we probably would’ve skipped it. Right, babe?” She hit Emily in the thigh with her knee.

Emily had been scrolling through gorgeous black-and-white images of people. Old people, young people, couples, families, individuals. “These are amazing.” She handed the phone to Ruby.Wow, what a talent.“Why did you take the cruise job then? I don’t get it. You’re a true artist.”

Not only was Max amazingly handsome, he was incredibly talented as well. Who in their right mind would debase their skillset to take photos of newlyweds on a cruise?

“These are incredible.” Ruby handed the phone back to Max. “I can see why you had a gallery showing.”

A flush crept across his cheeks.

The man blushed, people. Red alert! Red alert!

“Thanks.” He set the phone on the table. “It was at a small gallery owned by a friend of a friend.”

“Still, not every photographer gets that opportunity,” Emily said. Oh, the poor gorgeous man with his amazing photos. How could no one see his creative genius?

“Wish I’d sold a few. Then maybe I wouldn’t have ended up here.” He gestured with his wine glass at the cruise opulence around them. “I’d like to say I’m filling in for a friend, but truth be told the guy did me a favor.”

The red wine must be working its magic for Max to reveal so much about himself to two strangers. Or maybe he trusted them. Maybe he liked them a teeny tiny bit. Maybe they would sit at this table with Max every evening for dinner and chat and gab about their lives and their troubles and their dating fiascos and their loneliness at eight o’clock on a Saturday night when everyone else had a date, and Emily merely sat at home with a pint of ice cream calling her name in the freezer.

No.

That would be weird.

Without thinking, Emily reached out and touched him on the arm. “Aw, I’m sure it’s not that bad.” A sympathetic touch for a starving artist with incredible talents. Oh, and a very muscular forearm. Unexpected that.

He looked down at her hand and then across the table at Ruby, who had focused her attention on the arrival of several trays of food. In a flash he pulled his arm away and put it in his lap. He pushed away his wine glass.

“Oh, look at that would you?” Ruby gasped as the appetizers were set on the table.

“Yes,” Emily said, her gaze darting to Max. “Would you look at that?”

* * *

“Oh, my God, Em, you’ve got to try this.” Ruby had scooped up hot artichoke dip on a mini naan and held it out as if she were going to feed a baby. “It’s so good.” She opened her own coral lipsticked mouth as if doing so would encourage Emily to do the same.

Emily grabbed one of the small hors d’oeuvres plates the server had brought with the food and held it up under the morsel.

Ruby ignored the idea and shoved the food closer to her friend’s face. “Take a bite. Come on.”

Too much wine had seriously affected the former bride. Maybe Emily should tell the server to cut her off. Did they do that on a cruise? Nobody was driving anywhere. The worst a cruiser could do was maybe stumble into the pool. Or fall over the railing into the vast ocean that surrounded them on all sides.

Yikes.

Emily caught the attention of the sommelier who roamed the main dining area refilling the dozens of wine glasses of celebrating newlyweds. He smiled at her, nodded, and headed to their cozy corner.

As she opened her mouth to explain that their table shouldn’t receive any more wine, Ruby shoved in the naan, dip and all. Emily’s request came out in a hail of crumbs.

Max, who’d been deeply focusing on his trio of sliders – barbecued pork, beef, and salmon—held back a laugh.

The sommelier stood holding a bottle of red in one hand and a bottle of white in the other. “More, ladies?”

“Yes, please.” Ruby held up her glass and pointed at the white wine.

Not exactly the plan Emily had had in mind. But, oh, Ruby had been right. The dip with naan was delightful. Creamy. Rich. Like a night after a good roll in the hay. Oh, so satisfying.

“Well, now that you know all about me, tell me about you two.” Max picked up slider number two. “How’d you meet?”

Crap.

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