Page 58 of Revenge Honeymoon

Wait, he did it secretively. That was it. And secretively Emily sorta kinda was okay with it. Did he take the photos because he was forced to? Because he wanted to? And did she look good in these photos?

A slow smile built on her face.

A young Hispanic woman with her super tall, super Nordic-looking husband sidled up to them, her chocolate eyes ablaze. “Are you the ones everyone is talking about?”

“Excuse me?” Ruby had rushed them toward the dolphin group so quickly, she didn’t even notice the newlyweds approach.

“Who’s talking about who?” Emily swung her head around. A few other couples were looking in their direction and talking quietly. As if the Weird Twins and their strange fixation on Ruby weren’t enough, now they had cruise gossips saying things?

The dark-haired, dark-eyed woman clutched her hands together. “The runaway bride and her bridesmaid taking our honeymoon cruise. Is the groom after you?”

“Runaway bride?” Ruby scoffed, but her face paled. “Emily?”

This was her moment. Emily had the perfect opportunity to salvage her friend’s reputation and smooth it all over before it blew up into something bigger. Sure, she’d blabbed on the pool deck about Ruby’s failed wedding after she had a few too many margaritas, but this lovely woman had given them the perfect response that would garner eight days’ worth of sympathy.

“Yes, she’s a runaway bride,” Emily said in a rush of words. Oh, did it feel good to pour it on thick. “The groom was a monster, and she had no idea until the day of the wedding. Can you imagine? So the cruise line was kind enough to let me take his place. Wasn’t that wonderful?”

Ruby’s mouth opened and closed like a fish stranded on the sand.

Was her bestie upset at the slight twist to the truth? Or merely in shock? To Emily it was a better story than the real one. Who wouldn’t be sympathetic to a woman who’d barely avoided being married to a bad guy?

“How horrible.” The Nordic husband’s face darkened. “If you two need anything when we get back to Tampa, I’d be more than happy to help.”

“Thank you,” Emily said. Ruby was still too shocked to speak. Tyler had been reduced to a cartoon villain in a Lifetime movie. But did it matter? Her friend’s reputation had been saved. What was one more little white lie?

“Dolphins,” the crewman announced. “Before we get on the buses, let’s break up into four smaller groups—one for each raft.” He touched Emily’s shoulder and gestured to his left. “I need six of you over there, and six more here.”

As the group of dolphins split up, the Nordic man and his wife joined Emily and Ruby in their group. The husband had decided to be their protector of sorts—at least for the day.

The Weird Twins, their husbands, and Max ended up in the last raft group, which would mean they’d be on a different bus.

Emily let out a sigh of relief. Only one drama per day. That’s all she could handle. The situation with the women who wanted Ruby as their model using Max’s secretly taken photo would have to wait for another day.

Max caught her eye across the crowd and mouthed ‘I’m sorry.’

* * *

Pink Twin, Donna, squished into the empty seat next to Max.

This was going to be the longest bus ride of his life. Emily and Ruby already hated him—that was clear in the theater. As he’d made his way up the aisle, Emily had walked right past him, and when he had tried to make an apology from a distance, she all but rolled her eyes.

How did Sylvia expect him to smooth things over and make this photo deal happen? He was a photographer, not a salesman. He knew about light and apertures and focal length. Solid things he could manipulate for effect very easily. But human beings? Penelope had been the one with the ability to win people over to her side with a few words.

He was screwed.

“Max,” Donna said, squeezing his forearm with her bony hand. “I know you can make that girl sign the model release form. You’re a good looking man. I’m sure you know how to charm a young thing like her.” She batted her eyelashes at him.

Diana, in blue, took the seat across from theirs with her new husband. Donna’s husband, Bob, sat directly behind Max and Donna and leaned forward literally breathing down Max’s neck. Hot, moist, and decidedly uncomfortable.

“She thinks I’m a creep.” Max might as well tell her the truth. There was no papering over that fact, and his stomach roiled at the thought. “She’s not going to sign.”

“Bob, we want that photo.” Donna crossed her arms. “She’s perfect. Absolutely perfect.” She turned in her seat partway to converse with her spouse. “Isn’t there another way? Can’t we use it without the release form?”

“Darling,” Bob said, only his eyes, eyebrows, and bald head visible above the seat. “That would be illegal. She could sue you. There’s never been a problem money couldn’t solve. Have you thought about offering her more?”

Diana leaned in across the aisle. “You did tell her we would pay twice the going rate, right?”

Max backed up against the window to put some distance between him and the insistent gang that surrounded him. When was the bus going to reach the starting point of their trip? Soon, he hoped. “Um, I told her you’d pay her well.”

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