Page 55 of Revenge Honeymoon

“So karaoke?” Ruby’s thumb levitated over the ‘add to my day’ button.

A familiar figure, Sylvia, came down the aisle followed by another familiar yet handsome figure, Max.

Emily halted her squirming. Why was he here? Why was he with Sylvia? Why wasn’t he going on his own excursion?

Her gaze followed him with way too much interest.

Ruby thought he was a creeper, and maybe he was.

“Did you believe his explanation about why he took photos of us?” Ruby noticed the handsome photographer, too. As she followed his movements from aisle to stage, she tucked her phone into her water-proof fanny pack.

“I don’t have any reason to not believe him at this point.”

Max leaned toward Sylvia, and she whispered something in his ear. He smiled and lit up the whole stage with his perfect white teeth.

Her stomach hardened. It killed her to think it, but the two of them looked good together up there on the stage. Tall, beautiful people with athletic bodies. They would have tall, beautiful children, no doubt.

Emily let out a sigh.

Ruby raised a brow. “You’re not serious?”

“Huh?” Emily broke her visual contact with the former man of her dreams as he flirted and chatted with Sylvia. Why did it bother her so? She’d only known the man for two days.

“That Max character. You have a crush on him?” Her best friend in the whole wide world crossed her arms. “I know his kind, Em. It’s about him all the time. Those pictures? I mean, who does that? He was hoping to use us to advance his career.”

“Useyou,” Emily mumbled. There had been no discussion of Emily signing a model release form. The pictures he’d taken of her in that bikini must’ve been awful. He didn’t even mention them except as a throwaway as he’d left their cabin.

Ruby touched her arm. “He took secret photos of both of us in our bathing suits. I know how private a person you are, Em.”

Privatemeaning self-conscious of her body in public. Yes. Ruby hit that nail on the head in a very kind, best-friendy way. But Max’s reveal he’d taken pictures of them on the pool deck didn’t outrage her like it did Ruby.

Why?

Maybe deep down she’d felt somewhat attractive in her crazy-wild metallic green swimsuit and wanted Max to see her in it. Was that part of the disappointment she’d felt when he didn’t show for their pool date? Could it be her interactions with Max over the last couple of days had made her believe a super-hot man could be interested in a not-so-perfect girl like herself?

But Ruby didn’t like it, and she was on this cruise to support Ruby. Hot guy or no.

“Right.” Even as Emily agreed with her friend, she peeked past the large bun on the woman sitting in front of her to sneak one last glance at Max.

Max and Sylvia descended off the stage and disappeared through a door near the front of the theater labeled ‘crew only.’

Emily chewed at her lip. It was time to give up on her Max fixation.

* * *

Max followed Sylvia through the crew door half-hidden behind some drapery near the front of the theater. He rubbed his forehead. “I paid to take the deep sea fishing excursion. That was my own money. You can’t stick me on some other excursion.”

As soon as the door shut behind them, the cruise director whirled to face him. “You screwed me over, so you owe me.” Her hands fluttered over her crown of braids balanced precariously on the top of her head.

“I already told you when you pulled me out of the line: the sisters recognized me in the dining room.” The whole pool deck photo shoot grew into a worse situation every minute. First, he’d ticked off Ruby and Emily. Then, the twin sisters when he had to confess to them he couldn’t acquire a signature on the model release form. And now Sylvia. “I didn’t pursue them. Heck, I didn’t even know who they were.”

Why didn’t he stay in Miami and sulk about his failed art show? Why did he have to try to run away from his failures as usual? It never worked. And now he’d walked right into another mess. Another fucked up situation with no good solution. No matter which choice he made, it ended up a disaster.

“I knew you had a photo of the hot girl, and you held out on me.” Sylvia’s finger got awfully close to Max’s face. “That was going to be my ticket out of here. Don’t you get it? You screwed me. If you don’t want me to screw with you and make sure you never are hired as a photographer ever again, you’d better fix this fuck up.” Her face twisted into a mask of mean—a sneer to her mouth, crow’s feet around her eyes, and flared nostrils. “I will ask every one of the crew I manage to log onto Yelp and destroy you. You won’t even be hired to take dog portraits at the animal shelter.”

Max’s breathing sped up. His career flashed before his eyes. Was it worth it to defy Sylvia’s demands? Over a deep sea fishing excursion he could probably do back home if he wanted?

“Fine.” He tamped down the burn of defeat, and his stomach soured. “What do you want me to do?”

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