Best Man And The Runaway Bride

CHAPTER TWO

Six months later

MAX HADN’T COME to the small Indonesian island of Nusa Lembongan for fun. On previous visits to nearby Bali he had stayed with friends in luxurious private villas the size of mansions, with all their needs and whims catered to by a team of attendants devoted purely to their comfort. Near the beach in fashionable Seminyak. Overlooking the sea on a cliff top in exclusive Uluwatu. High in the treetops of Ubud.

Not this time.

The last six months had been hell. Everything that could have gone wrong had gone wrong in both his professional and personal life. He had come to this small island, off the east coast of the main island of Bali, on his own. Not to party. But to make plans to reinvent himself.

Yesterday he had checked in to the Big Blue Bungalows, a small family-run hotel on the beach at Frangipani Bay on the south-west end of the island. He’d come with just a backpack and his laptop. The accommodation wasn’t backpacker basic, nor was it the five-star luxury he was accustomed to. Built as a collection of traditional-style bungalows and small villas with thatched roofs, the hotel was comfortable without being overly luxurious—and not without its own rustic charm.

Lembongan was much quieter and less touristy than Bali, with more scooters and bicycles and few cars on the narrow streets. He hadn’t been there twenty-four hours and he’d already cycled halfway around the island on a pushbike he’d borrowed from the hotel. The friend who’d recommended the island had warned Max he might get bored after a few days. Max doubted that. He just wanted to chill, far away from anyone who had expectations of him. He particularly wanted to escape media attention.

The thing he hated most about his life as a celebrity sportsman—he loathed that label—was media intrusion into his private life. Ever since he’d been thrust into the public eye the media had published exaggerated and erroneous versions of events in his private life. A lunch date with a colleague blown up into infidelity. Such fake news had led to a rift with his former girlfriend and, even worse, the inciting incident that had led to his disastrous accident.

His return to Sydney had been purposely under the radar. He’d agreed to be best man to Alan in a low-key, private wedding. Now it seemed Alan had wanted his wedding out of the public eye for his own underhand reasons. Surprisingly to Max, the groom had not traded on the best man’s celebrity. It wasn’t paparazzi that had taken all those photos. It was the wedding photographer who had fully capitalised on his luck in being in the right place at a scandalous time and sold the pictures everywhere.

As a result, Max’s role in the ‘runaway bride’ story that had so captivated Sydney had catapulted him headfirst into a rabid feeding frenzy of press speculation. Right when he’d most needed his privacy. He shuddered at the memory of it. Especially the photos of him carrying another man’s bride in his arms—accompanied by salacious headlines—that had featured on magazine covers all around the world.

Boring would do him just fine. Today, he anticipated the joys of anonymity.

He’d cycled from Frangipani Bay to the village of Jungut Batu, where the fast boat service brought people from Sanur on the mainland across the Badung Strait to Nusa Lembongan.

Max had taken the fast boat ride himself the day before. On arrival, he’d enjoyed a particularly tasty nasi goreng from one of the local warungs, small family run cafés, on the road that ran parallel to the beach. He fancied trying some other speciality from the menu for lunch, washed down with an Indonesian beer. This was the first time he’d travelled so simply, blending in with the backpackers, without agenda. Already he was enjoying the slower pace.

His talent for tennis had shown up when he was barely tall enough to handle a racket. For many years afterwards, school vacations had been devoted to training. There’d been no gap years or budget bus tours around Europe with friends his own age. Later, vacations had often been linked to promoting events managed by his corporate sponsors. And always there had been tennis. Even on a luxury vacation, he’d trained every day of the year. Training on Sundays and even Christmas Day, when his rivals didn’t, had helped give him the edge.

As far as he knew, there was no tennis court on Nusa Lembongan.

Already he was starting to wind down. Felt the warmth of the sun, the sparkling of the endless aquamarine sea, even the spicy scents so different from his everyday life loosening the stranglehold concern for his after-sport career had on his thoughts. The people of this part of the world were known for their warmth and friendliness—their genuine smiles were also contributing to the gradual rebirth of his well-being.

Cycling in the tropical humidity of the day had made him hot; prickles of perspiration stung his forehead, made his T-shirt cling to his back. He decided to walk down one of the narrow alleys that led from the street to the beach to cool off, maybe even plunge into the water. His clothes would dry soon enough.

A nearby boat was offloading passengers, including backpackers and tourists from all over the world. Max paused to watch them. There was no dock. Boats were tethered to shore by mooring lines that ran up the beach. Passengers were helped off the back of the boat and had to wade through the shallow waters to dry land. As people disembarked, he heard excited exclamations in German, Dutch, French, Chinese as well as English spoken in a variety of accents. Fascinated, he gazed at the local women who got off the boat then walked away with heavy boxes of supplies balanced on the tops of their heads.

A young woman with a large backpack turned to thank the boat crew with a wide, sunny smile. Idly, he wondered where she was from, where she was going. She looked like a typical backpacker in loose, brightly patterned hippy pants pulled up to her knees in preparation for her paddle through the water, a gauzy white top and a woven straw hat jammed over wind-tangled blonde hair. As she waded through the aqua-coloured water to the sand, she turned to a fellow backpacker and laughed at something he said. Max froze. That laugh, her profile, seemed familiar.

For a moment he thought... But it couldn’t be. Then she turned to face the beach and he caught sight of her face full on. No. Not her. Not here. The last woman he ever wanted to see again. He blamed her in large part for the hell his life in Sydney had become.

* * *

‘Terima kasih.’

Nikki thanked the crew as she left the boat to wade the few metres onto the beach shore, cool waters lapping around her calves. She’d been to Sanur to pick up supplies from the pharmacy for her friend Maya. Mission accomplished and back on Lembongan, she turned her thoughts to work and the snorkelling trip she was guiding that afternoon, currents permitting. July with its excellent weather was one of the busiest months for tourism here, coinciding with school vacations in both northern and southern hemispheres.

The island didn’t get as overrun as some of the more popular areas of the main island of Bali. But in this peak season there were both day trippers and new guests arriving all the time. Tourists from all around the world seeking a more off-the-beaten-track Bali experience came to Lembongan.

As she neared the shore, she became aware of a man’s intense gaze on her. The guy standing on the beach was hot. Tall, broad-shouldered, hair bleached from the sun, a sexy scruff of beard growth. Blue shorts and a white T-shirt showcased an athletic, muscular body. But she wasn’t looking for masculine company. Not now. Maybe not ever. The experience with Alan had left her too shattered to imagine ever trusting another man again. She ignored the stranger.

But his gaze didn’t drop. In fact it turned into a distinct glare. Was he some discontented dive-boat customer? Some of the tourists were determined to swim with the manta rays or mola mola fish, no matter the time of year or conditions on the day they took a tour. They didn’t understand how unpredictable the sea currents could be here and would go away to vent their anger on Internet review sites. She’d prefer them to express their disappointment to her. How would she have forgotten a man as attractive as this?

But as she got closer she realised exactly who the man was. Max Conway.

Anger and frustration rose in her so bitter she could taste it. After six months surely Alan had given up trying to find her? Now it seemed he’d sicced his watchdog best man onto her.

She marched across the sand to confront him. There was no call for niceties. ‘What the hell are you doing here?’ she demanded.

His blue eyes were intense with dislike. ‘I could ask the same of you.’

She didn’t owe him any explanations. ‘Did Alan send you to drag me back to Sydney? If so I—’

‘No. Why would he? And why would you think I’d jump to his command if he did?’

‘He hasn’t stopped hunting for me.’

Max shrugged. ‘That’s nothing to do with me. I haven’t seen the guy since your wedding day.’ His tone was so decisive, his gaze so direct, she believed him.

His hand went to his nose in a reflex action he didn’t seem to know he was doing. She noticed it was slightly crooked. The slight flaw only made him look more handsome. So it was true.

‘I believe Alan didn’t take it kindly when you returned my engagement ring to him.’ She felt bad about what had happened. All her fault for dragging the unwilling best man into her drama. Not that she regretted it for a moment. She still shuddered at the thought of how lucky she’d been to escape marriage to Alan.

‘You heard right,’ said Max. ‘His response was to try to knock me out.’

She cringed. The photos of the best man and the groom brawling had been all over the press. The erroneous implication being they were fighting over her. The photographer she had hired for her wedding had cashed in big time. ‘Did he break your nose when he punched you?’ She found herself mirroring Max’s action by touching her own perfectly intact nose.

‘I’ve had worse injuries.’ He smiled a not very pleasant smile. ‘Trust me, he was hurting more than I was when I punched him back.’

Secretly, she was glad Alan had been hurt. After all he’d done to her, his ex-wives, and others she’d since found out had been damaged by his underhand behaviour, her former fiancé deserved more than a whack on the nose.

‘But you were friends,’ she said.

‘I wouldn’t go so far as to call it friendship,’ he said. ‘I met him at tennis camp when we were teenagers and we became mates of a kind. He wasn’t good enough to make the grade competitively. When he stopped playing tennis we pretty much lost touch. Until recently. I was back in Australia after years of living abroad. He’d returned to Sydney after living in Melbourne for a long time. I was surprised when he asked me to be his best man, but he said his friends were in Melbourne.’

‘By marriage number three—thwarted marriage number three, I mean—he might have run out of best-man options.’ Nikki couldn’t help the cynical edge to her voice.

He frowned. ‘Perhaps.’

‘I didn’t mean that as an insult,’ she said hastily. ‘He was lucky to have you.’

He shrugged. ‘I was the sucker who said yes.’

‘So you weren’t pond scum after all. Not that I ever really thought you were.’ It was a small white lie. She’d thought him pond scum by association. But when he’d picked her up and run with her in his arms, Max had redeemed himself in her eyes. There was still his media reputation as a love cheat but that had nothing to do with her.

‘No. But he proved to be particularly unpleasant.’ Should she offer to pay for plastic surgery on his nose? Perhaps not. He might be insulted. Besides, she hadn’t been the one to swing that punch.

She looked up at him. ‘I’m sorry if—’

He caught her arm. ‘Can we move somewhere more private? I don’t want an audience.’

She followed him to a quieter part of the beach, taking care not to trip over the mooring ropes that snaked along the sand. Max stopped under the shade of a spiky-leaved Pandanus tree. She slung off her backpack and placed it by her feet. A backpack was best for carrying shopping to keep her hands free when hopping on and off boats. ‘I’m sorry for being confrontational,’ she said. ‘I associated you with Alan. Even though you were so kind about helping me.’

He nodded in acknowledgment of her apology. He looked so good with that beard. ‘So why are you here if not to track me down for Alan?’

‘Why does anyone come to tropical islands?’ he said. ‘But I don’t want people to know I’m here on vacation. I’d appreciate it if you kept it quiet.’

‘How long are you here for?’ she asked. Most people only stayed a few days. There wasn’t a lot to do if you weren’t into surfing or snorkelling.

‘Two weeks.’

Nikki didn’t know whether to be concerned by his reply or not. Only her family and very closest friends knew where she’d fled to six months ago. She’d prefer to keep it that way.

He indicated her backpack. ‘What about you? Are you here just for the day?’ He didn’t have to say I hope so. She could see it on his face, hear it in the tone of his voice.

‘I live here.’ There was no way she could conceal it.

‘What?’ She could take his alarm as an insult. But their last meeting hadn’t exactly led to sunshine and moonbeams for him. The media had been ruthless in their pursuit of him after the scandal of the wedding. Determined to drum up a romance, at the very least an affair, between the runaway bride and the best man. She’d run all the way up here. He’d been left in Sydney to bear the brunt of the intrusive attention.

‘Do you remember I said I had a plan?’

He nodded.

‘Well, I didn’t. I escaped up here the day after the wedding to stay with my Indonesian friend while I thought about what to do. She was a boarder at the girls’ school I went to in Sydney. We’ve been great friends ever since. She’d come to Sydney for the wedding, one of my bridesmaids, and I went home with her. I knew she’d keep my whereabouts secret. What I didn’t know was that she was pregnant and suffering severe morning sickness that went on and on. She and her husband run a hotel here. I stayed to help her. And I’m still here.’

He shrugged. ‘The island is small. Just four kilometres long, I believe. But large enough so we can stay out of each other’s way,’ he said.

‘True,’ she said. ‘I promise to keep your whereabouts secret if you do the same for me.’

‘Done,’ he said. His shoulders visibly relaxed. She hadn’t realised how tense their chance meeting had made him. If it weren’t for what she had dragged him into six months ago she might feel hurt by his aversion to her.

‘Where are you staying?’ she asked. ‘So I’ll know which resort to steer clear of.’

‘The Big Blue Bungalows in Frangipani Bay,’ he said.

Nikki’s mouth went suddenly dry and her heart sank somewhere below sand level. She couldn’t look at him. ‘It...er...might be difficult for you to avoid me. That’s the hotel run by my friend Maya and her husband, Kadek. Not only do I work there, I live there.’

CHAPTER THREE

EVER SINCE HE’D helped Nikki flee her wedding, Max had been haunted by dreams of the lovely runaway bride. Dreams, not nightmares.

The real-life nightmares had been played out in his waking hours with the photos of the best man and the runaway bride splashed all over the media, rabid with speculation about a relationship between them. ‘Cheater Best Man’ was one of the most innocuous. His past dating history had also been dragged out and picked over—again and again. Would they ever leave him alone?

He was, in his own way, famous. The media had become interested in him when he was still a teenager and had snatched the glory of winning the Australian Open from a much older international player. Then he’d dated a rising female tennis star until their conflicting commitments and ambitions had ended it.

Though apparently, it wasn’t a juicy enough story that he and Ellen didn’t make it because of their careers clashing. In London, a reporter had used an intrusive lens to shoot him and a female friend having a quiet lunch together and blown it up into a ‘Love Cheat’ scandal. The resulting headlines had made it impossible for him and Ellen to retain any kind of friendship. She’d been convinced he’d cheated on her while they were still together. If he ever played against her in a doubles game it was always a ‘grudge match’, according to the press. His love life—or lack of it—was of continuing interest.

What he hadn’t realised was that Nikki had a public profile too, as daughter of a wealthy property developer and in her own right as a successful entrepreneur. That had ramped the interest in them as an illicit ‘couple’ up to a higher level. Those few weeks after the wedding when they were hot news had been nightmarish.

His ongoing dreams of Nikki might not be nightmares but they were unsettling.

The dream always started at the same moment. He was back at the wedding rehearsal in the church on the Thursday night before her wedding. As best man, he was standing next to Alan near the altar. Nikki walked down the aisle, slowly and gracefully, just as she had that night. She was wearing the same short, sleeveless blue dress and silver sandals. Her hair was tied back off her face in a ponytail. She carried a bunch of fake flowers so she could practise handing it to her sister, the chief bridesmaid. All just as it had been.

What differed in the dream was that Nikki veered away towards him not Alan. Her smile, the loving anticipation in her eyes, was for him. He was the groom. As she neared him he held out both hands to her and drew her close with a possessive murmur. She looked up to him and raised her face for his kiss. He dipped his head to claim her mouth—

And that was when he always woke up. Confused. Yearning. Disconsolate. Until he shook himself into consciousness and a return to common sense.

The dream was all kinds of crazy. For one thing, he had no interest in getting married. Not now when his injury had turned his life upside down. Not until his life was sorted. And not until he could be sure his marriage was for keeps. He’d seen the stresses the life of an elite sportsperson could place on a relationship. He wanted the for ever kind of happy marriage his parents had. That meant stability and certainty. Right now all his energies were single-mindedly focussed on his new post-tennis direction.

Besides, he wasn’t interested in Nikki Lucas in that way. He couldn’t be. She was attractive, yes. Not just in her looks but also her warm, engaging personality. If they’d met in other circumstances perhaps he would want to pursue that attraction. But she’d impulsively stood up her groom and left him standing at the altar. That showed a certain messiness of thought that alarmed him. Max had abandoned all the rules that had governed his life to aid and abet the runaway bride. And paid the price with his name all over the scandal sheets. They’d both paid the price. The only way he could deal with the adverse press was the knowledge that he had nothing to hide. He could truthfully plead he was innocent of any romantic intent towards Nikki. No affair. No ongoing relationship. Just those cursed dreams.

And yet here she was. Not the Nikki of his memory or his imagination. But just as lovely. Just as appealing. Just as off-limits. With the uncertain future that lay ahead of him, he needed to stay scandal free with no appearances in the press for the wrong reasons. His behaviour that day had been quite out of character for him. To get where he had in the ultra-competitive world of international tennis, he’d had to stay focussed. He planned. He strategised. He drove himself with iron self-discipline. He did not let his emotions get the better of him.

Now Nikki looked up at him, not with the loving gaze of his dream but eyes again narrowed with suspicion. ‘How did I not know you were staying at Big Blue?’ she asked. ‘I help out at the check-in desk. I didn’t see your name.’

‘I’m checked in as Maxwell James. James is my second name. It’s a privacy thing.’

Her feet were firmly planted in the sand. She looked as combative as someone could in billowing hippy pants with the light breeze blowing her hair around her face. He noticed she didn’t wear any make-up. She didn’t need it. ‘Why the Big Blue? Why Lembongan island? Isn’t it a remarkable coincidence that you should end up here?’

‘That’s all it is. A coincidence. I’d never heard of the island until recently. And my travel agent booked me into the hotel. It ticked all the boxes for what I wanted.’

Her brows drew together. ‘You really didn’t know I was staying there?’

‘Absolutely not. I would have steered clear if I’d had any idea.’

Hurt flashed across her face at his words. Max mentally slammed his hand against his forehead. ‘Please don’t take offence. I didn’t mean to be rude. But you must realise that after our time in the headlines, I wouldn’t want to see you again. To risk all the media speculation starting up afresh. That was hell.’

She took a moment to reply. ‘It must have been awful for you. Being up here, I escaped the worst of it. Though my unavailability for comment sent them into a frenzy. I stopped reading after someone claimed to have sighted me with you hiding in a...in a love nest in Fiji.’ She flushed high on her cheekbones at the words love nest. Max had to force himself not to conjure up images of how it might play out if that were actually true.

He cleared his throat. ‘Yeah. I stopped reading them after a while too. Then, thankfully, the stories dwindled away when the next big beat-up scandal took over. I don’t want to give them something new to gossip about.’

‘Me neither,’ she said fervently.

‘I’ll move to another hotel. Maybe you can recommend one.’

She shook her head. ‘No need for that. Big Blue is a great place to stay this end of the beach. My friends only took it over not so long ago. They won’t want anyone cancelling a two-week booking. I especially don’t want that to be because of me.’

Max didn’t know how to talk about avoiding her without sounding offensive. He remembered how he’d felt—as if his heart were melting—at the sight of her tears on the day of her wedding. He didn’t want to upset her, or feel any urge to comfort her. He didn’t want any kind of relationship with the woman who had thrust him back into those hideous headlines. ‘We’ll have to steer clear of each other.’

But she didn’t sound offended—in fact it seemed she wanted to avoid him as much as he wanted to avoid her. ‘We can do that. For one thing I’m part of the staff, unofficially that is, and you’re a guest. That means few opportunities to mingle. What room are you in? One of the lumbung on the beach?’