Page 68 of Before the Encore

Madison froze beside Bonnie, opening her mouth to speak, but Bonnie’s dad beat her to it.

“Yes, dear.” He pressed his hand to her mum’s back. “We have tickets. Don’t worry. It’s all sorted.”

“Oh. Okay. Good!” She flashed a relieved smile at them both. “I never miss a show!” Her enthusiasm slipped away, lips falling slowly, something whirring behind her blue eyes. “But…”

“Come on, Jane,” Mel encouraged. “Let’s go get some food, eh?”

“I hear it’s lasagne,” Dad added. “Your favourite.”

Mum nodded, letting the two of them guide her out of the music room and down the hall. “See you tonight,” she called over her shoulder.

Bonnie couldn’t move, her boots firmly planted in the carpet as she watched them walk away, a familiar sadness sinking inside her.

* * *

“I’m sorry for putting my foot in it earlier,” Madison said for the hundredth time as Bonnie parked her car inside the gated car park of her London apartment.

Bonnie switched off the engine, the radio cutting into quiet. “You don’t need to keep apologising, Madison. It’s an easy mistake to make.”

Tension ran along the hard line of her jaw. “I feel so stupid for ruining it right at the end.”

Bonnie reached out, closing her hand over Madison’s clenched fist and smoothing it out. “Please stop beating yourself up about it.”

Those sharp eyes flicked to hers, and she sighed. Outside, distant hums of London traffic filled the quiet.

“I know what I said yesterday about us needing this conversation,” Madison started, her gaze pinned outside the window. “But we don’t need to do this now. I get why this morning might’ve been a lot for you. And I don’t—”

Bonnie leaned across the centre console, cupping Madison’s jaw and pressing her lips to hers. Soft and warm, her mouth welcomed her, deepening the kiss, tasting a hint of mint laced with something sweet and smoky. Madison’s fingers gently tangled in Bonnie’s hair; Bonnie’s traced the soft cotton of her shirt. When she pulled back, the dreamy look in Madison’s eyes squeezed at her chest.

“What was that for?” Madison asked, breathless.

“To say thank you.” Bonnie traced the angular lines of her face with her eyes. The subtle quirk of her lips. The crook in her nose. She couldn’t have done today without her. A million thoughts and feelings piled on top of each other, with one leading the charge. Bonnie opened the driver’s door, casting a suggestive glance over her shoulder, lips still tingling from Madison’s kiss. “Are you coming in?”

Chapter Seventeen

Madison

Madison followed Bonnie into her apartment building, hands already skimming Bonnie’s hips and sliding up her waist. Bonnie slapped them away with a giggle, blushing under the eyes of the polite concierge.

Somewhere under the heat pulsing through her veins, Madison knew she should hold off. They needed to talk about all of this before they fell back into bed again, but when she was around Bonnie, the logical part of her brain—if Madison even had one—was completely overcome, like she’d been implicated with a Bonnie Bloom virus, and it had taken over her system.

The metal doors of the lift opened with a hiss, and Madison’s mouth captured Bonnie’s before the doors closed behind them. She pressed her to the mirrored wall, lips brushing her jawline and the sensitive skin of her neck, chasing every touch with her tongue. The lift whirred, taking them to the top floor, but all Madison could focus on was the heat of Bonnie’s body and every soft gasp leaving her lips.

“Every inch of your body is perfect,” she bit out, nipping her neck with her teeth. She dug her fingers into Bonnie’s arse, holding her closer. Bonnie moaned, rocking her hips into her, and a shuddering pulse rippled low in Madison’s belly, hot and velvety. She kissed her harder. Bonnie’s fingers threaded through Madison’s hair. Control frayed at the edges, a growl catching in her throat.

“Why is this lift taking so bloody long?” Madison asked between kisses.

“It’s the penthouse.” Bonnie pulled at Madison’s hair, sharp but teasing. “What do you expect?”

“Of course, it is.” She rolled her eyes. “My apologies, princess. Please allow me to repent for my peasant foolishness.”

“You may.” Bonnie sucked Madison’s bottom lip into her mouth, fingers curling into Madison’s shirt. She slipped under the fabric, dragging her nails up Madison’s spine, and she shivered, a rush of heat pooling in her navel. Fuck, she needed to get out of this lift.

The lift finally dinged, the doors whooshed open, and Madison bolted straight into something hard.

A surprised ooft left the man’s chest. He stepped aside, patting his slicked-back blond hair like she might have knocked one out of place. He regarded their heavy breathing and red faces with distaste.

“Uh—sorry, mate,” Madison ground out, exiting the lift on shaky legs.