The Geary Series Boxed Set (30 page)

“Lilly are you feeling ok?” Olivia asked her as they left the shop.

“No, I’m not feeling all that great, I think I need to go home and take a nap. Do you mind if I leave you, would that be rude of me?”

“Oh, no, not at all, I’m going to head off myself to arrange more wedding details before Jack sends me another message about another decision I have to make.” Olivia replied.

Lilly and Olivia kissed each other goodbye on the cheek and walked off in opposite directions. Lilly’s apartment was near to Evelyn’s shop and she would be home in a few minutes and be snuggled in bed within in fifteen minutes. Her pace speeded up, anxious to be home quickly, she was feeling decidedly unwell.

It was her first shift at the bar that evening and she didn’t want to call in sick on her first night. Elijah had left her the uniform in her apartment while he was staying there. The wise woman on her shoulder told her to call in sick or postpone starting work again so soon and the devil told her to get some sleep suck it up as an evening with Elijah is just what the doctor ordered.

Lilly straightened her waistcoat one more time before she entered the bar. Tonight was her first night working at Blue's and she was wearing their uniform. It comprised of tight black trousers and equally tight waistcoat. It showed off her curves to perfection, but she was a little uncomfortable with the amount of cleavage she was showing.  She felt better after her sleep but still felt tired but she needed to do this tonight or she may put it off altogether.

There was no way out of this, she had to go in or she would be late and she didn't want to be late on her first night on the job. It would already be difficult to convince the other staff that she was worthy of this job without being late as well. The last thing she wanted was special treatment.  It felt like her lawyer’s job all over again, trying to prove her worth.  This was a mistake but she carried on regardless.

Entering the bar, she made her way through the crowded evening customers and reached the end of the mahogany topped counter and searched the galley style bar for Elijah. She couldn't see him anywhere and felt lost. She hadn’t had a first day in anything for more than a decade and it felt like the first day of school. None of the bar staff spotted her standing there as they were busy serving customers.

"Have you any idea how sexy you look in my uniform?” Elijah asked.

She felt the warmth from Elijah's body behind her, like a magnet she leaned back into him but didn't answer his question. She waited for him to say something else and when he didn't she turned her head to look at him. His eyes were fixed on her cleavage.

"Elijah, stop ogling me.” She chided and folded her arms under her breasts. This only made matters worse because it caused them to rise further out of the top of the waistcoat. Elijah's eyes widened and he grinned back at her. "Oh for goodness sake they are just breasts, stop looking.” Lilly said.

"I can't, they’re hypnotic, they look soft and inviting, I want to slip my hand inside and cup your breast. I want to stroke your nipple with my thumb and watch it pucker.” Elijah said in a low voice that only she could hear.

"Stop with the smutty talk, you're going to make me all flustered on my first night and I need to learn how to pull a pint successfully.” Lilly said.

Elijah smirked down at her and lifted his gaze from her breasts to her beautiful eyes. He started to lean down ever so slightly and Lilly shook her head. He couldn't help himself but want to kiss her all the time. He understood and stood upright and looked over at Pete who was at the other end of the bar. Elijah signalled for him to come over, he’d already spoken with Pete about Lilly's training. Pete approached the both of them wearing a huge smile and greeted Lilly with a hug.

“Are you sure you’re up to working tonight Lilly, you’re not looking too great. Are you sleeping ok?” Pete asked.

“I’m fine Pete, thanks for asking, just a little tired but once you show me the ropes, I’m sure I won’t have time to be tired.” Lilly said.

Elijah scowled at the contact, he wasn't allowed to greet her that way so why did she let Pete do it. He was also unhappy that Pete had spotted her not looking great and showed the care and attention he should have. All he seemed to do these days is lust after her and not see what is really going on. Now that Pete had pointed it out, she did look a little unwell.

He didn't have enough time to question her on it and had to get going if he had any chance of catching up on the mountain paperwork that was sitting on his desk. He also needed to contact his friend about Lilly's brother. The sooner he sorted out that the issue the sooner he could concentrate on Lilly.

Elijah smoothed his hand down the silky material at the back of her waistcoat, to say goodbye as he couldn’t kiss her.  He had to leave Lilly in Pete's hands, he pushed the door open to the corridor that housed his office and wandered down in the darkness.

Entering the office, he shut the door behind him and sat in his chair. Leaning back, he thought about Lilly and her family. He thought it an odd relationship but didn’t dwell too much, her brother was his focus. Elijah sent a quick text to Mickey, he ex navy friend to look into William. He knew William was dealing drugs from the information Simon and Steve and implied the night Lilly was drugged. He was dealing but to what extent he didn’t know. William borrowed money from Lilly regularly and didn’t pay it back and let himself into her apartment whenever he wanted. She gave him free reign and he didn’t know why she would give him so much freedom. It can’t be family loyalty or could it?  After seeing him in person, William looked like he was hooked on his own merchandise which was never a good thing.

Mickey sent a text back to Elijah that he was already in the bar and to come out and have a chat. Glancing at the mountain of paperwork, he was grateful that he had an excuse to move away from it and back in the same room as Lilly.

Opening the door to the bar the burst of noise hit him and he smiled. He loved the sound of a busy bar, lively chatter and laughter. It was addictive when you heard so many people having a great time. He looked down the galley bar and watched as Lilly poured a pint and chatted to Pete at the same time. He smiled at his girl, she was already getting into the swing of things and looked a lot brighter than before. Her cheeks were pink and he wondered if they would that look so flushed after he had fucked her. He needed to stop thinking of her as his girl, she wasn’t his, yet.

“Stop gaping at the bar staff and get me a drink.” Mickey said.

“Hey Mickey, good to see you.” Elijah said once he had sought out the gravelly voice and greeted him with a bear hug. They slapped each other’s backs and Mickey pinched his cheek and grinned at him. Mickey was a skinny man but was strong as an ox. Many people misinterpreted his skinniness for weakness and regretted it.

“Stop pinching my cheek, it hurts.” Elijah said and rubbed his cheek.

“Well, don’t be a girl then, who is the new beauty behind the bar. She’s collecting telephone numbers like it’s going out of fashion.” Mickey asked.

“Is she?” Elijah looked over at Lilly who was laughing with a customer and shook her head at a piece of paper and was handed to her. “Hands off, she’s mine,” Elijah said.

“Is that right? Is she your latest rescue project Elijah?” Mickey said, he already knew this information but wanted to hear it from Elijah directly.  This was the girl that Jack had asked him to look into.

“I don’t rescue people Mickey.” Elijah protested.

“Yes you do, you help all the damsels in distress and when they are all fixed they either want to marry you or they walk off into the sunset. Except, you don’t want to marry them and are happy they walk off. Once you have fixed them you get bored and the interest wanes. So tell me, Elijah, what’s this one’s issue?” Mickey asked with innocence.

“I hate that you know me so well, I wish we weren’t friends.” Elijah said grumpily.

“No, you don’t, which is why you text me. Unbunch your panties and tell me what’s going on. I have time on my hands as a job has just finished, so spill.” Mickey said.

He pulled over a bar stool and sat down while nursing his drink. Mickey had a lot of time for Elijah, he was like a brother to him and would do almost anything for him. It was rare for Elijah to ask for help so when he did, Mickey tended to drop everything and head over. Looking over at the beauty he spied earlier and listening to Elijah talk about her, he hoped that she was the one for him. He prayed that Elijah would finally make a decision about who he would trust enough to share his life with.

“Her brother is dealing drugs here, he inadvertently drugged his sister. This incidentally is the beauty behind the bar. The scum bag sold them to a regular here and he forced the tablets down her throat. She reacted badly to them and ended up in the hospital, her parents think she is a drug addict after that one hospital visit and her brother thinks that I don’t know what’s going on.” Elijah said.

“Wow, you’re not trying to rescue her at all Elijah, no, not at all,” Mickey said, trying to keep his tone light. “Is she the one Elijah, are you going to confess to her?”

“Shut up about that. Are you going to help me or not?” Elijah snapped back.

“Of course I will, I can’t stand the scum who sell drugs, you know that after my family history.” Mickey said, a serious tone coming through for the first time this evening.

“Good, can you dig around a bit and see what you come up with, usual fees as normal.” Elijah said.

“Sure I can, I’ll have a look, what is his name?” Mickey asked.

They were both staring at Lilly, watching her laugh and joke with Pete behind the bar.

“William Harrison” Elijah answered him.

“Her brother is William Harrison?” Mickey asked and swapped his gaze back to Elijah.

“Yes, is that relevant?” Elijah asked.

“Maybe, the name has come up a lot recently on a few other security jobs. Start paying me my fees with a double Whisky.” Mickey said, trying to change the subject, he had already done some digging when he searched Lillian and tried to give the impression this was all new, but Elijah wasn’t a fool and didn’t want to push it.

“Fine, another Whisky is coming up.” Elijah confirmed.

Elijah left Mickey and went behind the bar to get his friend a drink. He stood next to Lilly who was looking at the array of spirit bottles in confusion. The frown knitted between her eyebrows made her look adorable.  He wanted to smooth out the crease with his thumb but resisted the urge, too many eyes on them.

“What’s got you frowning sweetheart?” Elijah said and nudged her with his hip

“That guy over there wants a double Port but has asked for a particular make and I don’t think you have it, Pete told me you have everything.” Lilly said.

“What did he ask for?” Elijah asked.

Lilly told Elijah the make he had asked for and Elijah’s face turned red. He asked her to point out the customer and then marched down the bar to the man with the conceited grin and pulled him close enough to whisper in his ear. The customer backed away holding up his hands and shaking his head and shrugging. He wore a smile that angered Elijah further. His next words wiped the smile of the customer’s face and he backed away from the bar and back to his mates without a drink. Elijah walked back to Lilly and told her that he no longer wanted a drink. Lilly looked at Elijah confused and watched him pour a Whisky and move away without another word.

“What was that about?” Mickey asked.

“Some arsehole trying to take advantage of Lilly being new, asking for a drink that didn’t exist so I told him that he wouldn’t be served here again.” Elijah said.

“And that is you not rescuing the beautiful woman who is looking at you with utter confusion.” Mickey asked, chuckling softly.

“Yes, that’s not me rescuing her, I would do it for any of the staff.” Elijah confirmed.

“Sure, so is that my drink?” Mickey said and nodded to the tumbler in Elijah’s hand. Elijah handed Mickey the drink and Mickey beckoned Lilly over to him. She walked towards the two men and smiled at Elijah and looked back to Mickey.

“Sweetheart would you get me some ice please?” Mickey asked.

“I can get that Mickey, you didn’t need to get Lilly over.” Elijah said.

“It's ok Elijah it's what you pay me to do.” Lilly said.

“Don’t trust him, he has an ulterior motive, I’ll get the ice.” Elijah answered.

Elijah walked back down the bar and put two ice cubes in Mickey’s drink and walked back, in that short time Mickey had Lilly bent over laughing and it made him insanely jealous. He didn’t know why he’d left them alone, then it dawned on him.  Mickey had done the double bluff just to get him away for a few minutes.  Mickey knew that he wouldn’t allow Lilly to be ordered around and he fell for it.

“What you are you two laughing about?” Elijah asked.

“He was telling me about the time you went to the Great Barrier Reef and didn’t actually see it” Answered Lilly.

“Oh, that, well that wasn’t my fault. Stop telling her stories, you’ll make me look bad.” Elijah snapped.

“It was a funny story, maybe when you go back you will be awake enough to see the coral.” Mickey added.

“Not likely.” Elijah added grumpily. “Mickey and I had travelled up to Cairns from Sydney to see the Great Barrier Reef. I suffered from seasickness that is ironic being an ex Navy man. The crew on board were handing out tablets to help with the sickness. I didn’t wait for instruction and swallowed five. Once I got into the water and lay down to see the fish and coral I fell asleep. I was wearing a snorkel so no one noticed for a while until it was time to leave. I had to be hauled into the boat and I never did see the coral.” Elijah said, giving his version of events.

“Aww, poor Elijah.” Lilly said and stroked his cheek.

“See Mickey, this is what your stories do, they make me look like an ass.” Elijah said.

“Oh, calm down, it wasn’t your fault as such.” Mickey said.

“I’m getting back to work and leave you two to bicker.” Lilly said.

“Ok beautiful, it was lovely to meet Elijah’s new girlfriend.” Mickey called to her.

“Dude!” Elijah exclaimed.

Elijah looked at Lilly to apologise but was met with a shy smile, she wasn’t angry, she was happy. It made him want to take her out back and kiss her breath away.