Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
Lilly straightened her waistcoat one more time before she entered the bar.
Tonight was her first night working at Blue’s.
It composed 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 put it off altogether.
There was no way out of this, she had to go in or she’d be late and she didn’t want to be late on her first night on the job.
It would already be challenging to convince the other staff 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, 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,” Lilly said.
Elijah smirked down at her and lifted his gaze from her breasts to her beautiful eyes.
He leaned down ever so slightly and Lilly shook her head.
Elijah 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 both of them wearing an enormous 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 sitting on his desk. He also needed to contact Mickey 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 had 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 rein, 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, laughing with a customer, 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 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 she was the one for him.
He prayed Elijah would finally decide 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 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’s 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.