Page 66 of Revenge Honeymoon

And her mouth would’ve tasted so sweet, so delicious. He knew it.

But then she’d rolled off of him as quickly as she could.

Maybe she had noticed his growing erection and that’s what freaked her out?

Dammit.

That was middle school fear number one.

Okay, Keeling, get it together. You’re a twenty-nine-year-old man, not an eighth grader. Erections were not something to be embarrassed about.

Or were they?

Emily wasn’t interested in him. She made that abundantly clear back in her cabin.

She thinks you’re a creep who takes secret photos of women. Practically a stalker.

His valiant ‘rescue’—that anyone in the boat could’ve achieved if they’d paid attention to the safety briefing—didn’t make up for everything she thought she knew about him. Was there any point in trying to improve his image in her eyes?

Why did he have this deep need to convince her he was a good guy, a nice guy, a guy who hated creeps and stalkers? A guy who wanted to protect her from those kinds of guys? A guy who wanted to laugh with her and find out every little thing about her?

Oh, man.

He had it bad.

After only a few days he’d managed to jettison whatever feelings he had left for Penelope, which hadn’t been much to begin with, and find a girl who he couldn’t stop thinking about.

What was it about Emily Small?

He glanced at her back. She sat in between Pink Twin, Donna, and her new husband.

As they approached the next rapid, Emily raised her clenched fists above her head and yelled, “Bring it! You don’t scare me!”

Max smiled. She didn’t care one bit what people thought about her. She dressed how she wanted, acted how she wanted. So care free. She was the complete opposite of uptight, rules-oriented Penelope. He wished he could be so free and easy. He wished he could live a life without caring about what other people thought.

Yes, Emily had something he wanted, and it was more than a physical attraction. If he could ingest whatever it was that made Emily Emily, he would do it. No matter the cost. Because her life seemed so much brighter and happier and more wonderful than his.

There had to be a way to convince her he wasn’t the creep she and Ruby thought him to be. With only a few more days remaining on the cruise, he had to act quickly. Once they docked back in Tampa, she would disappear and go home to Roanoke and probably run the most successful gourmet picnic business on the planet. All of that joy and fun she carried around with her would be gone.

The raft dipped into the first line of rapids. Water splashed up in a huge wave and drenched the entire group.

Emily cheered while everyone else sputtered and prepared for the next one.

“Paddle left, paddle left,” shouted their guide.

Emily pointed with both hands to the left. “Left, people.” She became guide number two.

The raft chanted in unison, “Ya mon.”

Max grinned and instead of watching the river rush by, he kept his gaze on Emily. Sexy, beautiful, delightful Emily.

* * *

The raft rounded a final bend and gently bobbed in the calm water. A group of three Jamaican men stood knee-high in the river near the shore and waved.

“Paddle left, folks, paddle left.” The Group Four river rafting guide dug in with his paddle to help everyone with the last push.

Emily frowned.

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