Page 13 of Honeymoon for Seven

“What about your mom?”

“She’s probably loving reading her book in peace and quiet.”

Her grin blossomed. “Okay.”

The front of the cruise ship’s lounge was decorated with bright colorful banners. Two of the staff were set up at a table on the stage. In front of them a massive round cage filled with balls waited for the first spin. Through the lounge, other staff members offered more Bingo cards for sale, but they were content with their one card each.

Since they only had time for the one quick game, they both took a seat near the rear doors, making a quick exit easier.

Raising the microphone to her mouth, a young blonde with her hair pulled back in a ponytail that added to her youthful look, waved at a few people still coming in the door. “Welcome everyone to shipboard Bingo! Grab your cards, find a seat, and get ready for some fun!”

“She seems a tad overly enthusiastic for Bingo.” Ginnie tipped her head. “Don’t you think?”

“Now if you’ll look more closely at your cards,” the blonde kept talking, “you’ll notice we’ve spiced the game up a bit.”

Nick looked down. “S-P-I-C-Y?”

“Hmm.” Ginnie lifted her gaze to the blonde still talking.

“The rules are the same as ordinary Bingo, when the letter and number are called out, mark it with the wipeable highlighters we gave you.”

Pressing her lips into a tight line, Ginnie settle into her seat, clutched the marker and nodded.

“You take your games seriously, don’t you?” he asked.

“Two sisters, big family, lots of egos. Yes. Besides, I want that spa day.”

He bit back a smile. “Let’s get it done.”

As the pair of staffers alternated calling out a number, they diligently marked their cards. More missed numbers than matches.

“S 10,” the blonde called out.

Ginnie bounced in her seat. “One more.”

Her luck was doing better than his, he only had half a dozen matches.

Another number called and a woman with gray hair as high as she was wide sprang up. “Spicy!”

“Darn it,” Ginnie muttered.

“Shall we do it again?”

Her one brow lifted and he was thankful he didn’t blush easily as she sputtered a chuckle. “Sure.”

Scrubbing the marks off with the microfiber towelettes handed out, Nick readied himself for the next round. When he finished he turned to Ginnie who, her card already cleaned off, leaned back and smiled at him. “Care for a private wager?”

His knee-jerk reaction was to sayyou’re on, but another side of him paused a minute. Did he really want to compete with her?

“Chicken?” she teased.

“You’re on.” Who knew Bingo could be so fun?

“First one to get Bingo—”

“You mean Spicy…” he grinned.

“Right. Spicy. First one to complete their card gets a drink of their choice.”

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