Chapter 37
Chapter Thirty-Seven
She kept gazing and only stopped when she heard his voice.
Her heart stopped, and she felt a rush of excitement at the sound of him and then the fear set in.
He was about to see her first commissioned work and she was nervous.
Lilly wanted him to like it, needed him to like it.
Not only was the mural going to be on display for all to see she had a need to please him.
She dropped the sheet that covered the wall and turned to walk to where Elijah was standing.
They had spent two days in her apartment getting to know every inch of each other’s body.
Once they made love the first time, there was no stopping Elijah.
He wanted to christen every room in her place and then move onto his place and repeat the process.
He had the stamina of an ox, but Lilly was exhausted and gave him a timeout after two days of being naked.
She spent the next two days, day and night, painting the mural in Blue’s because she wanted it completed before the wedding. Happy with her results she was ready to show him.
Slipping her hand into his while he was talking to Pete warmed her heart.
His hands were familiar to her now, and she found comfort in holding them.
It was always the same, her left hand in his right.
It didn’t feel the same the other way around.
Elijah broke his conversation with Pete to kiss her quickly in welcome and went back to his discussion pulling her close.
He was discussing plans for when they would be away at the wedding.
It was to be held at Jack and Olivia’s house further north of Edinburgh and they would be away for a few days.
Pete was humouring Elijah with the instructions he was giving, paying close attention.
He’d been helping Elijah run Blue’s right from the start but knew better than to interrupt when Elijah was in full flow.
Lilly waited patiently until Elijah was finished and pulled him gently towards the wall at the back of the bar.
“It’s finished, do you want to see?” Lilly asked.
“Very much so, I’ve been looking forward to this for two days, mainly because then I can ravish that body of yours again.
You showed me heaven for two days and then made me go cold turkey.
You’re a harsh woman, soon to be Mrs Geary, harsh woman.
” Elijah kissed her soundly to show he was just teasing her.
“Well, if you still want me to reconsider being your wife, you need to ask me again properly after you ruined it the last time with that temper of yours. You can start by loving this mural,” Lilly said.
Lilly nervously went to the makeshift cover sheet and gave it a good yank and it fell away. She waited with her back to him to hear his reaction. She didn’t want to see his face if the first flicker of emotion was distaste.
“Holy hell, that’s amazing.”
It wasn’t Elijah’s voice she heard it was Mickey’s.
She accepted that response and turned around.
Searching Elijah’s face she couldn’t work out if he liked it or not.
She had bought some white gloss paint in case he hated it and she could start again.
Elijah’s face was blank and expressionless, his eyes roamed over the painting and he began to move forwards to the dancing men and women.
“Where did you get their pictures from?” Elijah asked in a quiet whisper.
“She got them from me. I hope you don’t mind but she wanted to include your family in the dancers,” Mickey answered for Lilly.
Lilly was growing concerned, she still hadn’t heard from him whether he liked it or not.
“Well Elijah, so do you like it or am I painting over it?” Lilly asked.
“Don’t you even think about painting over this wall, but there is just one problem. Where is your face, I can’t find it,” Elijah asked.
“I didn’t know if you wanted me in it, it’s my body in your arms just my face is turned away,” Lilly answered.
“You need to change that, immediately, can you do that, you need to fix it, can you fix it?” Elijah said.
Lilly was thrown by the desperation in Elijah’s voice. She needed to placate him but didn’t know what to say to him. Mickey came to her rescue.
“I’m sure Lilly can rectify the situation, just tell her you love it and put her out of her anguish. She’s desperate to know if you like what she has done for you?” Mickey said.
Elijah showed her first how much he loved it by his kiss, he showed how grateful he was.
“I’m over the moon with what you’ve done, it’s transformed this area, not many people would come to this part of Blue’s and now they will flock. Thank you so much for doing it,” Elijah said.
“Good job, Elijah, well said. Lilly can I borrow the best man for a second. I have usher questions for him to answer,” Mickey said.
Lilly nodded her agreement and went to retrieve her paintbrushes to add her face to the family of dancers.