Page 88 of Revenge Honeymoon

No, she wouldn’t think about it. It had been a mistake. A passing lustful fancy that had ended and would go nowhere. Why bother even fantasizing about it?

Emily didn’t look at him. His presence was bad enough. Her stomach fluttered and rolled and tilted. All the bad things. “Yep,” she answered in a clipped tone.

Did he think she wouldn’t do it? Did he think she’d wimp out? And why did she care so much what he thought of her? This was supposed to be a fun, exciting honeymoon cruise doing fun, exciting things. And, dammit, she was going to do all of it. Ruby would be so proud of her.

“Good,” Max said.

Her nerves began to get the better of her as Miguel/Mateo/Marco handed out helmets. “Everyone at Jungle ATV Adventures must wear a helmet. It must remain on your head at all times. The chin strap must be secured under your chin. Do not remove the helmet when on your ATV.”

Then, as honeymooning couples climbed on the backs of their ATVs, her mouth turned as dry as a batch of cornbread muffins after they’d been left in the oven too long.

Was she really going to do this by herself?

What if she turned around and asked if she could ride on the back of Max’s ATV? Even though she’d decided to be the new, confident, life-grabbing Emily only a couple of hours ago, somehow she’d lost that bravery when her fellow cruisers began to zip into the jungle one after the other.

Why was this even legal? No seatbelts? No air bags? ATVs were deathtraps.

“Miss?” M-something said. “Your helmet?”

She, Max, and a young newlywed couple who looked like they’d stepped out of a travel blog were the last ones waiting.

Emily took a deep breath—so deep her lungs hurt.

Exude confidence.

No fear.

You can do this, Emily!

Too late to back out now.

She grabbed a helmet, put it on, cinched the chin strap, and climbed aboard a mud-splattered ATV with a bright green stripe down the side. For a few seconds, she froze. All the instructions flew out of her head. But handy M-something turned the key and pressed the start button for her. Maybe to make sure their group stayed on schedule?

Somehow she remembered to step on the brake and pull the shift lever from P to H. As she pushed the throttle with her thumb, the ATV jumped forward and zoomed into the jungle. She clamped her hands down on the handlebars as if her life depended on it—wait, her lifediddepend on it.

* * *

The wind rushed through Emily’s hair, cooling her down. At first, she’d been terrified. The speed of the ATV while bumping over the ruts of the jungle trail had been a little too much at first. But then, after a minute or two, she caught herself taking in the beauty of the scenery and forgetting about being scared. As she learned how to adjust her speed and avoid the worst holes to keep a smooth ride, her confidence grew .

Ruby would be so proud of her!

Ruby.

She’d forgotten all about Ruby.

Lord, Emily hoped her best friend’s decision to meet up with Tyler hadn’t been a mistake. Would she return to the cruise ship to find Ruby had chosen to fly back to Florida with her ex-fiancé?

Wait, was he still her fiancé if he left her at the altar? How did that work anyway?

Even though she’d come to terms with the idea of them meeting today and had told Ruby she supported her, hours later on her own with lots of time to think had her wondering if she should’ve gone with her friend. Ruby hadn’t offered, so Emily assumed this was a couple’s thing. Emily would’ve been a third wheel.

But she could have tailed Ruby in another taxi to make sure everything went okay. What if Tyler said nasty things to her, and poor Ruby was all alone in Cozumel surrounded by strangers and bawling her eyes out? He’d hurt her once, he could certainly do it again. Right after Ruby had seemed happy and ready to face a life without Tyler. They’d even talked about a possible career change, as her company seemed intent on edging her out of a job and replacing her with a younger saleswoman.

All positive, woman-hear-me-roar kind of stuff.

But seeing that banner in the sky—what was Tyler thinking? Would Ruby fall for it?

She couldn’t bear it if Tyler hurt her bestie for a second time. She wasn’t sure Ruby could live through that kind of pain again without permanent damage to her psyche.

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