Best Man and the Runaway Bride

by Kandy Shepherd

  Max was reeling at the sight of Nikki looking so at home with a baby in her arms. But as she took careful steps towards him he began to think he was hallucinating. She was wearing the same blue dress as at the rehearsal, as in his recurring dream. Her hair was pulled back the same, only now it was fixed with a spray of white flowers. She was wearing the same silver sandals. And her eyes had that dreamy look of love that was so disconcerting in his dreams. Though the love was for the baby, not for Dream Max. ‘Nikki,’ he managed to get out of a suddenly choked throat. Why did he feel as if he’d been aced?

  ‘Isn’t he cute?’ she asked, in a doting tone of voice that did not completely disguise an undertone of yearning.

  Max cleared his throat. ‘Uh, yes. Very cute.’

  He hoped she wouldn’t ask him to hold the baby. He wasn’t used to babies. Didn’t know how to handle them. What to do with them. It had to be admitted—babies scared him. In more ways than one. Their unpredictable digestive systems scared him; their propensity to scream blue murder if placed in his arms scared him; but what scared him most of all was the effect an unplanned pregnancy could have on a guy’s life. His brief legal battle with his former girlfriend had shown him that. Her baby had not been his, but before that had been proven by DNA he’d thought a lot about how he could do the right thing and maintain a relationship with the child.

  But little Putu was cute, very cute, with fine black hair and merry dark eyes. ‘He’s a great little guy. You must be very proud,’ he said to Kadek.

  ‘We are,’ said Kadek, the warmth in his eyes speaking to the truth of his words.

  In fact, each of the other three people in the room were united in looking adoringly at the baby, eyes glazed with fondness. Secure in Nikki’s arms, little Putu chortled with glee at the attention, waving his tiny hands about. Until suddenly he stilled and his face went very red and strained. A symptom, Max suspected, of something alarming happening in that baby digestive system. At one end or the other.

  To Max’s intense relief, Maya expertly swept the baby from Nikki. ‘I’ll see to him and be back as soon as I can,’ she said.

  Kadek made small talk and offered drinks from a tray on the carved wooden coffee table. ‘Nikki tells me you enjoyed your snorkelling trip today,’ he said.

  ‘Very much so. I can’t wait to get out there again,’ Max said. But he was finding it difficult to concentrate on what the other man was saying. It was as if everything and everyone were out of focus, the spotlight shining only on Dream Nikki.

  ‘I’ve seen you in that dress before,’ he said, not attempting to hide his admiration. In fact, he remembered almost to the very minute when he’d first seen her wearing it.

  The tall woman in the blue dress had caught his eye when he’d got to the church for the rehearsal. She’d been laughing at something an older lady was saying. He’d been struck not so much by how she looked—though he’d thought her very attractive—but what could only be described as her aura of warmth and vivacity. Not that he believed in actual coloured auras that psychic people claimed to see surrounding a person. In fact he didn’t believe in anything supernatural of any kind. But there had been something about that girl in the blue dress that had drawn him so his gaze had kept returning to her again and again. He well remembered the intense stab of disappointment he’d felt when he’d discovered she was the bride, about to marry his recently rediscovered ‘friend’.

  ‘When did you—?’ She answered the question herself. ‘The rehearsal. I was wearing it that night, wasn’t I? It was so hot.’

  She was so hot. And he’d seen her many times in the dress since then in his dreams. He certainly had no intention of telling Nikki that. She’d think he was crazy and run screaming. He wouldn’t blame her. Maybe he was a tad crazy when it came to her.

  How sane was it to suggest they see each other alone when he knew what the outcome could be if they were discovered together by the media? His civil break-up with Ellen had degenerated into enmity thanks to the media casting him so unfairly in the role of love cheat. A reputation further cemented by the ‘runaway bride’ episode. If the press caught them together again his totally unwarranted reputation as a sleaze would endure. Yet seeing her here, he wanted to be with her more than ever.

  ‘It’s a lovely dress,’ he said lamely. ‘You look, uh, lovely.’ What was the matter with him? He was usually not short of a reply, of banter and repartee to keep a social conversation going.

  ‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘I’m glad you were able to come tonight.’

  ‘How could I not?’ he said. Nothing could have stopped him from accepting Maya’s invitation.

  ‘If you’re willing to take a risk of being seen out together, I can help out Maya and Kadek at the same time. That’s what you’re here to talk about.’

  Just then Maya swept back into the room. ‘Putu is in bed and now we can return to adult conversation.’ She turned to Nikki. ‘You were explaining the plan to Max?’

  ‘I’d just started,’ Nikki said. ‘Max, you know Maya and Kadek are working hard on making Big Blue an even better resort than it is already. They’ve made a lot of improvements.’

  ‘But more to come,’ said Maya.

  ‘We want to make our restaurant a destination in its own right, not just somewhere for guests to have meals,’ said Kadek.

  The Big Blue restaurant was in a rotunda-type building right on the beach. Max hadn’t eaten there yet—he’d had room service when he’d actually been at the hotel for meal time. Including, of course, the memorable afternoon tea. The food had been consistently good.

  Nikki continued. ‘Maya asked me to visit some of the island restaurants to check out their new menus.’

  ‘To see if there was anything we could be doing better,’ said Maya.

  ‘Maya and I were going to go out together tonight to one of the good restaurants not far from here,’ Nikki said.

  ‘Even though there are risks in that,’ Maya said. ‘I might be recognised as a rival hotelier.’

  Nikki directed her words to Max. ‘You, however, would not.’

  ‘What better front than a couple enjoying a nice dinner for two?’ said Maya.

  ‘While surreptitiously photographing the menu,’ said Nikki.

  ‘And taking photos of the plated meals supposedly for social media but really to show to our chefs,’ said Maya.

  ‘You mean me? Me and Nikki?’ asked Max, bemused.

  He looked to Kadek. Kadek threw up his hands. ‘This is something the girls cooked up.’

  ‘We would be like the secret shoppers they send into stores to check the service,’ said Nikki. ‘Only we’d also get a really good dinner.’

  Her eyes pleaded with him to say yes. Max thought he would do anything she asked of him. ‘Sign me up. I’m in.’

  ‘Wonderful,’ said Nikki. She and Maya gave each other a high five. Max couldn’t help wondering what was more appealing to her, the dinner or his company. He’d take his chance on making sure the pleasure of his company won out.

  Maya tucked her hand into the crook of Kadek’s elbow and looked up at him lovingly. ‘Good. I get to have a quiet night in with my husband.’ Kadek put his other hand over his wife’s and looked down at her with equal affection. Max felt a stab of something uncomfortably like envy.

  What would it be like to have the kind of loving security that Maya and Kadek so obviously shared? As his parents did, even after all their years together? The closest he’d come to the kind of partnership he held as the ideal was with Ellen. But it had never developed past initial high hopes. He wondered if they’d both known deep down that the relationship had no future—that it would always come second to their careers. The break-up had hurt at the time, hurt more when she’d quickly moved on to date and ultimately marry the physiotherapist who travelled with her on tour.

  Kadek stepped forward. ‘If you’re ready to go
now, I will drive you both in the truck to the restaurant.’

  Max frowned. ‘Won’t it look suspicious to have us arrive in the truck with a Big Blue logo on the side?’

  Nikki shook her head. ‘Not at all. It’s common to drop off guests to other destinations. The restaurant would send its own truck to get us if we booked it. But we thought that would be drawing too much attention to us.’

  Us. He and Nikki having dinner together. No matter the pretext, he was going to enjoy it. ‘Okay. Let’s do it,’ he said.

  * * *

  The Big Blue truck was like the others on the island, open at the back and sides with just a canopy over the top that offered little protection from rain. Luckily the sky was clear. Nikki accepted Max’s offer of help to climb in from the rear. Not because she needed it but because, in spite of her resolve to ignore her attraction to him, she couldn’t resist the opportunity to enjoy the sensation of his hand on her arm. Even that light, casual touch sent shimmers of awareness through her. It was doubly intoxicating as she now recognised those shimmers for what they were—the stirrings of desire.

  Once in the truck, she settled herself on one of the narrow, padded benches that formed the seating. She slanted her legs neatly to the side, aware that her dress easily rode up to expose rather too much bare leg.

  ‘Be warned, there’s not much padding on these seats,’ she said to Max as he swung himself aboard. She was tempted to offer him a hand up but decided that might be just too obvious. With his athletic build it was very apparent he didn’t need help.

  ‘I’m tough,’ he said, as he sat next to her at a polite distance.

  Tough in body and, she suspected, tough in spirit. He must be to have got where he was in his sport. To be one of the top-ranked tennis players in the world. It was a mind-boggling achievement and she could only imagine the perseverance it had taken him to get there. For the umpteenth time she wished she could get to know him better. Tonight might give her that opportunity.

  Kadek was a careful driver, but the roads were narrow with unexpected ruts, and tourists riding motor scooters two or three abreast. They were not long out of the hotel when the truck swerved and Nikki was swung hard against Max. ‘Sorry,’ she said in that ridiculous way she did when apologising for something for which she wasn’t responsible.

  He looked down into her face with the slow, lazy grin that made her melt. ‘I’m not sorry at all,’ he said, his voice low and husky.

  They’d been thrown together so closely their thighs were touching. It would be crass to move away. To tug down her skirt from where it had, predictably, ridden up. As if she found his nearness distasteful—which was far, far from the truth. Nikki let her shoulders relax and leaned against him. She realised how long it had been since she’d been as close to a man. But she gave no thought to other men. Just this one. Max. She breathed in the scent of him: lemongrass, a hint of cologne, healthy, fit male. Heady. Intoxicating. Dangerously close to arousing.

  He made no attempt to move away either. In fact he wedged his legs closer, which kept her from sliding in her seat but also brought them kissing-distance close. ‘Where are we headed?’ he asked. Did he mean something deeper by that than a question about the truck’s direction? Don’t overthink things, she told herself.

  She took a deep breath to steady her racing pulse. Tried to speak normally. Even so, her words came out rather too quickly. ‘The restaurant is right on the beach near the most western point of the island. We’re passing through the village now. Those beautiful buildings are the temples where families worship. Over there is the elementary school.’

  ‘So you’re as good a local area tourist guide as you are a snorkelling guide,’ he said, teasing.

  ‘I do my best to excel,’ she replied in the same tone.

  She spoke with mock modesty but it was true. Nikki did try to excel at whatever she did. Which was why it was a constant nagging undercurrent to her life that, while she’d succeeded in business, done well with investments, had long-time close friends, she didn’t seem to have what it took to succeed in a relationship with a man. Here she was staring thirty smack in the face with nothing but failure—spectacular, public failure in the case of Alan—behind her. No wonder she was terrified of trying again, of ever letting herself trust.

  ‘Is the restaurant far?’ Max asked.

  ‘Just a few more hair-raising twists and turns. We should be just in time to catch the sunset.’ She was about to say the sunset was very romantic but decided against it. This wasn’t a date. They were on an information-gathering mission.

  Kadek stopped the truck a short distance from the restaurant. Nikki called a ‘thank you’ to him then went to get off the back of the truck. Max jumped down first. ‘I’m here if you need help,’ he said.

  ‘Of course I don’t need help,’ she said as she prepared to jump. ‘I’ve done this lots of times and—oh!’ She stumbled a little on the uneven ground and landed heavily against him.

  ‘Whoa,’ he said as he caught her and steadied her with his hands on her upper arms.

  ‘Th...thank you,’ she stuttered.

  ‘You okay?’ He looked down into her face.

  ‘Fine,’ she said. And feeling finer every second he kept his hands on her arms. His tennis-player calluses felt pleasingly rough against her sensitised bare skin, his fingers strong and firm.

  When she didn’t move away he pulled her closer, so close she could sense the hammering of his heart, breathe in the exciting maleness of his scent, thrill at the warm strength of his body. She slid her arms around his waist and looked up at him, feeling nervous, excited, uncertain, on the brink of something unexpected. His eyes seemed a deeper shade of blue in the waning light and the intensity of his expression made her breath come short. For a very long moment their gazes locked in what seemed a series of unspoken questions with only one answer. Yes.

  She was only vaguely aware of Kadek driving away. The world had shrunk to her and Max. Her lips parted in anticipation and she murmured her pleasure when he kissed her. His mouth was firm and warm against hers, his beard surprisingly soft against her skin. She tilted her head so she could more easily kiss him back.

  ‘Is this because we’re pretending to be a couple,’ she murmured against his mouth.

  ‘No, it’s because I want to kiss you,’ he said.

  ‘I want to kiss you too.’ She licked along the seam of his mouth with the tip of her tongue. ‘No chilli this time. You’re naturally hot.’

  ‘You think so?’

  ‘Oh, yes.’ She wound her arms around his neck and pulled him to her, deepening the kiss. What had started as tender very quickly escalated into something intense, demanding, passionate, so all-consuming all she could think about was Max and the heat they were generating. Desire burned through her. She pressed her body to his as lips and tongues became more demanding.

  This. Him. Max. She wanted him.

  She didn’t know how much longer they would have stood there in the middle of the narrow lane kissing, oblivious to their surroundings, if another truck hadn’t driven up to deposit visitors to the restaurant. At the sound of its blaring horn, she came plummeting back to reality. Reluctantly she pulled away, immediately had to hold onto Max’s arm to steady herself on legs that had turned to jelly. She blinked with bewilderment.

  ‘What happened?’ She choked out the words.

  Max looked equally shaken. He took in a deep, shuddering breath. ‘The inevitable,’ he said.

  Nikki didn’t have to ask what he meant. No matter how she’d tried to deny it, they’d been heading towards this.

  ‘The...the question is where do we go from here?’ She knew her voice sounded strained and uncertain.

  Max reached out and gently smoothed the strands of her hair that had come loose back off her face. She stood very still, briefly closed her eyes at the pleasure of his touch on her skin. ‘Wherev
er it leads us,’ he said.

  Could she do that? Could she risk it? The thought was terrifying.

  The people from the bus rushed towards them. She and Max stood aside to let them past. ‘They’re hurrying so they don’t miss the sunset,’ she explained. ‘We should do the same. We need to go.’ She went to turn away.

  He put a finger under her chin, tilted her face upwards so she was forced to look at him. ‘Regretting it already?’

  ‘No. Yes. I... I don’t know.’

  He released her but then took her hand in his. ‘I’m not usually an impulsive person. But I feel compelled to follow where this is taking us—wherever it might be.’

  ‘I’m not sure. I—’ She could be impulsive, had used her quick decision-making to her benefit in the past. But feeling like this, about him, was scaring her. She wanted him too much.

  ‘We don’t have to think any further than tonight,’ he said as he looked down into her eyes. ‘Just tonight, Nikki. One night.’

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  THE RESTAURANT SAT by itself on the edge of a small, sandy beach lashed by fierce surf. People at the front tables could wiggle their toes in the sand. To the left were limestone cliffs where wild waves rolled in at all angles and crashed onto the cliff walls. The sunset was glorious, an enormous glowing red orb casting a fiery pathway onto the sea as it slowly sank into the horizon.

  Nikki knew the sunsets on this coastline were reputed to be among the most splendid in the world. But she scarcely noticed nature’s splendid display. She only had eyes for Max. His face seemed infinitely more interesting. Equally nature’s masterpiece. Quite the best-looking man she had ever met. And hers for tonight. A thrill of pleasure and anticipation shimmied through her.

  She was seated next to him at a table discreetly set towards the back of the restaurant. While the ones at the very front overlooking the beach caught the best view, the people seated there were also on display. Nikki’s choice of table was as private as it could be in the well-patronised, fashionable restaurant. It was just as well no one was looking at them for several reasons, not least of which was that she was entranced by Max and he seemed equally entranced by her.