Hopelessly Devoted to Holden Finn (20 page)

Bonnie pondered this information for a moment. So he had never brought Sarah here? It seemed strange, considering how keen he had appeared to be on her. This seemed like a much more obvious choice than Blossom Palace for a romantic rendezvous, nice as that place was. Romance was definitely off the menu tonight though. He felt sorry for Bonnie, obviously, because he knew how broke she always was; he wanted to do something nice for her because he was Max and that was the sort of thing Max would do. To imagine there was anything more to it than that was silly.

A waiter approached them with a warm smile.

‘You have reservations?’ he asked with the merest hint of an Italian accent.

‘Yes,’ Max replied, ‘Do you think this shirt works with these trousers?’

The waiter stared at them uncomprehendingly as Bonnie stifled a giggle. ‘Sorry, ignore me. I’ve booked in the name of Delaney.’

The man consulted a folder on a desk near the door and then nodded. ‘This way please,’ he said smoothly as he led them to a cosy table with two seats near a window that overlooked a grove of trees strung with fairy lights.

‘Sense of humour malfunction there, eh? I thought it was funny anyway,’ Bonnie said, inclining her head at the waiter. Max gave her a grateful smile.

Once they were seated, the waiter handed them a menu each. Bonnie beamed as she looked around. ‘It’s gorgeous in here. I could get used to this sort of luxury.’

‘Salmon paste sarnies will seem a bit of a disappointment tomorrow.’

‘They will,’ Bonnie laughed. ‘Just like my Pot Noodle.’

‘You could come again if you like it tonight,’ Max said.

‘On my wages?’

‘I’d love to bring you again.’

Bonnie’s eyebrows knitted together, but she couldn’t help the smile that played at the corners of her mouth.

‘Oh yeah,’ Max said with a sheepish smile, ‘just one date to shut Linda up.’

Bonnie put the menu up to her face so that he couldn’t see her and grinned broadly. When she dropped it again, her face was stony straight but Max was grinning at her instead. ‘Can you see that menu ok?’

‘Yeah, but it’s all in foreign, see?’ Bonnie said, putting on her best squeaky bimbo voice.

‘Why don’t we live dangerously and order something at random?’ Max said with a cheeky look.

Bonnie pulled her face. ‘What if we get squid or something?’

‘That’s part of the fun. You should take risks once in a while; you might find yourself pleasantly surprised.’ As Max said this, he looked at her suddenly as if his whole life depended on her answer.

Bonnie felt herself colour. ‘Sometimes you get nasty shocks too.’

Their moment of clarity seemed to disappear as quickly as it had come, and the conversation returned to their easy banter.

‘Perhaps you should get one of the waiters to translate then, I’d hate to see you struggle with a fried octopus leg,’ Max laughed.

‘Hmmm,’ Bonnie replied. ‘Easier to manage than one of Fred’s tempers.’

‘Or being locked in a fridge,’ Max added.

The waiter approached their table. ‘Would you care to order drinks now?’

Max looked at Bonnie. ‘I’m driving so it will have to be mineral water for me. How about you?’

Bonnie thought about the last time she had been steaming drunk in Max’s presence, how very near she had been to saying or doing something she would have regretted afterwards. ‘Perhaps I should stick to orange juice, as Paige will be waiting with a rolling pin and a breathalyser when I get home.’

‘One or two won’t hurt,’ Max said looking up at the waiter with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. ‘Do you have a nice champagne?’

‘Max, no –’

‘One date – you promised, remember? If this is the first and last, let me enjoy it by treating you.’

Bonnie relaxed. ‘How can I argue with that?’ she smiled. ‘There’s an extra biscuit with your tea on Monday, that’s for sure.’

Max returned his attention to the waiter who then took his cue to rattle off a list of their champagnes along with the price of each bottle.

Bonnie frowned slightly at Max. ‘If you insist on buying some, please humour me and don’t get the most expensive.’

‘Which do you recommend?’ Max asked the waiter, ignoring her.

The waiter hesitated for a moment, glancing between the two of them, clearly torn. ‘The
Mumm Cordon Rouge
is very good and excellent value for money.’

‘We’ll have that one,’ Bonnie said before Max had time to reply.

The waiter nodded. ‘Would you like a little longer with the menu?’

‘How about the waiter recommends something for us?’ Max cut in gallantly. ‘What do you fancy?’

‘Maybe chicken? Not too creamy with the sauce.’

Would madam perhaps enjoy
chicken a al cacciatore
?’ The waiter asked. ‘It is a tomato based dish, with a little piquancy.’

Bonnie looked at Max enquiringly.

‘You like a bit of spice, don’t you?’ Max grinned.

‘Shut up,’ Bonnie said, biting back a grin of her own. ‘It sounds lovely, I’ll order that.’

‘Would madam care for a starter?’

‘Bonnie shook her head. ‘I don’t think so.’

‘Yes she would,’ Max cut in. ‘We’ll have the sharing bruschetta platter.’

‘I thought you said you hadn’t been here before,’ Bonnie said arching an eyebrow.

‘I haven’t. I just checked the menu online before I came to pick you up. I wanted to be sure it was classy enough.’ He glanced up at the waiter. ‘No offence, mate.’

The waiter nodded, ‘None taken, sir.’

Max turned his attention back to the menu. ‘I’ll have the seafood linguine. As long as it doesn’t include any live octopus...’

The waiter gave them a confused look and then smiled knowingly. ‘There is no octopus on the menu tonight. Chef lost a wrestling match with one and it refused to go into the pot.’

Max burst out laughing. ‘That’s a relief then!’

The waiter took their menus and glided away.

‘Looks like he found his sense of humour after all,’ said Bonnie. She added in a whisper, ‘This is going to cost you a small fortune.’

‘I know,’ Max said. ‘I’ll have to add it to Fred’s bill next week.’

‘He’d love that, he says you’re dear enough already.’

‘Actually, I wanted to take you somewhere more expensive than this, but I knew you wouldn’t let me. I’ve been waiting long enough.’

‘Don’t be daft,’ Bonnie laughed lightly, digging her phone out of her bag in case Paige or her mum needed her.

‘I mean it.’

Bonnie narrowed her eyes. ‘It wasn’t you that put Linda up to the fridge stunt?’

Max gave her a look of mock affront. ‘Of course not! How could you suggest such a thing?’

‘Don’t bull me, Max.’

Max put his hand on his chest. ‘I swear it was nothing to do with me. But Linda did me a huge favour.’

‘Hmmm, I’ll believe you, thousands wouldn’t.’

The waiter returned with the champagne and opened it with a flourish. He poured a glass for Bonnie before leaving them. She took a sip.

‘Wow! That’s amazing.’

‘That’s good,’ Max took the bottle from the ice bucket and gave it a swish, ‘because you have to drink all this.’

‘Ruddy hell, you’ll be carrying me to the car.’

‘Don’t worry; I’m used to lugging huge weights around.’

‘Cheeky bugger!’ Bonnie slapped his arm and her phone pinged. She picked it up with a frown.

‘Everything ok?’ Max asked.

‘Yeah…’ Bonnie said distractedly as she opened the message. ‘I just don’t recognise the number.’ She was silent for a moment as she read it. The silence continued as she processed it.

U haven’t replied to my letters. Y not?

H

Bonnie felt the blood drain from her face.

‘You’re sure you’re ok?’ Max asked, his face now a mask of concern as he watched her put the phone back on the table without tapping out a reply.

Bonnie shook herself and tried to smile. ‘Something and nothing.’

‘Is it something I can help with?’

Unless you can offer a blow job to a teen heart throb in my place, then probably not
. ‘I don’t think so,’ she replied.

‘You want to go home?’ Max asked earnestly. ‘I can take you if there’s trouble.’

Bonnie reached across the table and squeezed his hand. ‘Thanks, Max, but I’m finishing this champagne if it’s the last thing I do.’ She drew her hand away and lifted the glass to her lips, determined not to let Holden bloody Finn ruin her one and only date night with her mate Max.

***

The food at
La Bella Roma
was incredible, as it turned out, and Bonnie couldn’t remember a time when she had laughed so much. The champagne had helped, of course, the warm effervescence seeming to make the roots of her hair tingle deliciously. As the evening wore on, Bonnie pushed all worries about Holden to the back of her mind, and concentrated on having a good time. Max had gone to so much trouble to make this a special treat for her, she at least owed him that.

Max himself became somehow more and more attractive the longer she spent in his company, and no matter how much Bonnie tried, she could think about little else. When the bill arrived, she watched Max settle it with a stab of regret that the night was almost over.

She wobbled slightly as he led her with a protective arm to the car. She hadn’t managed all the champagne, sadly, and had considered asking if she could take it home. It seemed like such a shame to leave it behind and it wasn’t likely that she’d ever drink something that good again, but in the end she hadn’t wanted to embarrass Max. She glanced at him as they walked the length of the car park. Usually she thought his height and his messy blonde hair made him look gangly, but tonight they gave him the air of a Byronic hero. It was the champagne, of course, but she felt a stirring, not like the infatuation she had felt for Holden Finn, but something like real, honest desire, something she hadn’t felt in a long time.

After Max had opened the car door and helped her in with a wry smile as she hiccupped, they began a quiet journey home, the joviality of the evening now replaced by weariness as the car and the alcohol lulled Bonnie to a half-sleep.

***

Max shook her gently.

‘I wasn’t asleep,’ Bonnie mumbled as she came to and found that the car had pulled up outside the apartment block where she lived.

‘Of course you weren’t,’ Max grinned.

‘I was resting my eyes.’

‘Booze does make your eyes very heavy.’

‘I’m not drunk… much,’ Bonnie giggled.

‘That’s a shame,’ Max said slyly. ‘I consider our date a failure then.’

Bonnie stretched herself awake. ‘I had a great time. I’m kind of glad Linda locked us in the fridge.’

Max laughed. ‘Me too.’ He paused for a moment. ‘You do realise that there is one more part of the deal you have to honour before I let you go in?’

Bonnie frowned. ‘Deal?’

‘Traditionally, when a man and a woman go on a date, at the end of the night, this happens…’

Before she had time to react, he leaned across and kissed her. She didn’t fight it. She knew that there was no point in trying to; she couldn’t fight the rush of desire that coursed through her and she didn’t want to.

‘Friends don’t do that with each other,’ she murmured as his lips left hers.

He smiled. ‘Clearly you have the right sort of friends then.’

‘Except you,’ she said.

‘Except me. I’m a bad, bad friend…’ he whispered as he moved closer, his lips grazing hers again. ‘Can you forgive me? You just look so kissable.’

Bonnie was about to reply when they were both startled by a frantic hammering on the window of the car. They turned in unison to see Paige staring in at them, her face contorted in a look of horror.

‘That’s so gross!’ she wailed.

Ten

Bonnie slammed the front door as she followed Paige in.

‘I can’t believe you were spying on me!’

Paige wheeled around in the hallway. ‘I can’t believe you were kissing that loser!’ She wrinkled her nose. ‘And you stink of booze. I bet you’re drunk, that’s the only reason you could have been kissing him.’

‘It’s none of your business!’

Jeanie came from the living room rubbing her eyes. ‘What’s going on?’

‘Ask her!’ Paige shouted, flinging an arm in Bonnie’s direction as she stomped away to her bedroom.

Jeanie threw Bonnie a questioning look.

‘Paige just caught me kissing Max. And before you say anything, it was nothing, a goodnight kiss, that’s all.’

‘Why would I say anything? You told me before that you know what you’re doing, so you go and give goodnight kisses to anyone you want.’

‘Ha ha.’ Bonnie kicked her heels into the corner of the hallway and squeezed past Jeanie.

In the kitchen, Bonnie flicked on the kettle and spooned some instant coffee into a mug. ‘Do you want one?’ she asked as Jeanie joined her and sat at the table.

‘Go on then.’

Bonnie’s tipsiness had dissipated like the rush of air from a popped balloon, so that her thoughts were crystal clear again. Why did Paige have to go and see her kiss Max? More importantly, why couldn’t she get the taste of his lips out of her mind?

Then another worrying thought came back to her. When was Holden going to get the message that she wasn’t interested?

Jeanie sat at the table yawning in silence. Bonnie stood at the worktop, tapping her thumb on her mobile as she waited for the kettle to boil. They both jumped slightly as the phone pinged in Bonnie’s hand. With her heart beating wildly, Bonnie read the text.

Once isn’t enough. How about we get Linda to lock us in the fridge again?’

Bonnie smiled as relief washed through her. Another date with Max… maybe that wouldn’t be such a hardship after all.

She looked up as Paige came into the kitchen wearing a scowl.

‘Aren’t you tired?’ Bonnie asked. ‘It’s late.’

‘I’m not five, Mum. I can stay up if I want to.’

‘Suit yourself. I’m knackered.’ Bonnie glanced at Jeanie. ‘Your nan looks exhausted too.’

‘I fell asleep on the sofa for a while,’ Jeanie admitted sheepishly.

‘For a while?’ Paige scoffed. ‘More like three hours.’