Page 56 of Revenge Honeymoon

Why bother anymore? He’d lost pretty much everything. Sylvia had the upper hand. It was going to be a long cruise, so he might as well give in.

Sylvia’s snarl transformed into a beaming smile. “I want you to go back out there, wait in the seats, and when they call for the dolphin group, you go with them.”

“What’s the dolphin group doing?”

She waved her hand. “It doesn’t matter what they’re doing—Diana and Donna MacPherson are on that excursion, and I want you to keep them on the hook.”

“But the woman in the photo won’t sign the model release form.”

“Let me handle that part.”

“She won’t do it.” Sylvia had no idea what Emily and Ruby thought of him—a creep taking secret photos of girls in bathing suits. No way would Sylvia change their minds.

“No worries, Max. She will.” She had a strange gleam in her eye. “You keep talking to the MacPhersons, charm them, whatever it is you do to keep them listening. Don’t you dare let them know we’re having trouble with the release form.”

“Fine.”

From a cabinet near the door Sylvia pulled out a bright green wrist band. “Here, put this on. That’ll get you on the bus. They won’t have your name on the list, but you tell them you switched excursions at the last minute. I’ll smooth it over with the tour company.”

As she wrapped the band around his wrist, the touch of her hand was like ice. Then she opened the door and shoved him out into the theater.

“They’re calling your group,” she said. “Go on.”

He tripped over his own feet.

“All right, dolphins, follow me!” A crew member held up a sign with a cartoon dolphin on it. “Everyone who selected the river rafting trip, follow me.”

A leisurely raft trip down a river? Not bad. It could’ve been worse. The twins could’ve been expert scuba divers—and he’d never scuba dived in his life.

As he joined the group forming at the front of the theater, his stomach dropped when Emily and Ruby walked down the aisle and headed his way.

Chapter15

Little White Lies

“He’s holding up the dolphin sign,” exclaimed Ruby, as if she’d found a twenty dollar bill on the sidewalk. “Come on. It’s our turn.”

She squeezed Emily’s upper arm so hard, she thought she’d permanently lose feeling in it. “Ouch, that hurts.”

“Oh.” Ruby looked at the damage her hand was doing to Emily’s arm and released her grip. White fingerprints dotted Emily’s red skin. “Sorry. Since we didn’t have a chance yesterday to try swapping our prize for the zip line instead, I’m super excited we’re going to float some class three rapids.”

“Wait? What?” When did class three rapids come into the conversation? Shouldn’t it be a safe, leisurely excursion with a few waves? Emily’s stomach knotted into a half dozen anchor hitches. She’d learned all about complicated knots from the book she’d found at the bar yesterday when waiting for the bartender to mix up another cocktail:Tie Yourself in Knots. Little good that would do her on the river. She should’ve been reading up onFifty Ways to Survive Class Three Rapids.

“Didn’t you see the detailed description on your cruise app?” Ruby unzipped her fanny pack and hauled out her cell phone, tapping on the screen to bring it up.

Emily held up a hand. “I believe you. And, no, I didn’t read the details. I heard ‘river rafting trip’ and thought it would be like those lazy rivers at a hotel resort pool.”

“Does that sound like something Tyler and I would choose?” Her best friend raised a brow.

No, it did not. Tyler and Ruby chose crazy activities like helicopter tours and cave spelunking and rock climbing. Not lazy rivers and lying like a bump on a log while thinking about nothing. Why didn’t she think of this? Why didn’t she ask Ruby more about what they’d signed up for?

Crap.

As they made their way into the aisle and Emily saw her life pass before her eyes, she spied gorgeous Max joining the dolphin group. Her stomach cramped up.

Double crap.

“Excuse me,” a voice said from behind. “Are you the model?”

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