“Thank you Elijah,” she said and waited for a reply, when he kept staring she continued. “I’m so glad you were here, I’d be in A&E otherwise.”
“You left your coat behind at the bar, and I could see you down the street, so I came after you, and now I am glad I did. What were you thinking about?” Elijah managed to say, shaking himself out of his desire to kiss her again.
“I was thinking about our kiss, I was lost in my little world. I understand it shouldn’t happen again, but it was good,” Lilly confessed.
“I want to explain about that Lilly. I didn’t mean it to sound like I didn’t like it, it’s just-.”
“You don’t have to explain,” Lilly interrupted him. “I get it, you were in the moment, it didn’t mean anything to you,” Lilly finished for him.
It was Lilly’s turn to be interrupted and this time it was with warm lips kissing the life out of hers. Elijah wrappedhis arms around her back, lifted her and her bag off the floor and walked her backwards to the wall of the building they were standing near. Once her back hit the wall, Elijah cradled her neck and deepened the kiss, probing her lips to open with his tongue. Simultaneously, he slid his thigh between hers and pressed his whole body against Lilly’s.
The moan that came from the back of Lilly’s throat turned Elijah on to a level he had yet to experience from just a kiss. Lilly moulded her mouth perfectly with his and gave gentle licks of her tongue to each side of his. She slid her arms into his jacket and clung onto the shirt on his back as she kissed him as ardently as he did her. This kiss was better than the last one, and she could feel the throb in her belly as she kept up the pace. It was agonisingly slow as they got to know each other’s mouths. He tasted of peppermint and smelt wonderful she wanted to lick every inch of him.
Elijah broke away and held the sides of her face firmly so that she couldn’t move and could listen to what he had to say to her.
“Lilly, you are a beautiful woman and I would quite happily kiss you all day and all night. I would kiss every inch of your body, moving each piece of clothing slowly away from your skin to explore new areas. I want nothing more than to kiss your soft folds and dip my tongue into the sweet pussy. I want to kiss the soft slope of the surface at the side of your ankle and the inch of skin that is just inside your hip bone before it reaches your stomach. I want to see you squirm as I trail my fingers down your rib cage until they reach the dimples at the base of your back. So listen to me well, when I say the kiss we had in Blue’s, did mean something to me, and you mean something to me. I have no idea where this is going, but I wanted to explain. If you’re going to work for me, people can’t see us kissing becausethey will give you a hard time over it. I have no desire to see you upset or have to kick someone’s arse because they’ve been rude to you. I will do it, if it comes to it, Lilly,” Elijah said.
Lilly was speechless, dumbfounded by Elijah’s speech. She had no idea this gorgeous man was attracted to her. They had known each other for so long, and he had never given her any indication that he liked her. He was caring and spent each lunch hour with her when she was at the bar, but she assumed he was a gentleman because she was on her own, and it was his bar. Maybe she had a shot with him.
“Wow. Does this mean we’re going steady?” She joked.
Lilly felt nervous and under the spotlight with his stare. He made her forget her mind, and she loved she could completely get lost in his kiss.
“I would very much like the opportunity to date you, but I have no idea how we are going to achieve this,” he said.
“I have a lot going on at the moment. The first thing is to tell my parents I’ve quit my job. They’re going to be unhappy about this, and I’m not looking forward to the fallout over it. I need to concentrate on this situation first. Why don’t we take things slowly, not rush into anything,” Lilly suggested to Elijah as she watched his face fall.
“Ok, I can work with that. Do you want me to come with you to your parents? I can’t believe they’re going to be anything less than supportive,” Elijah asked.
Elijah stroked her cheek with one finger and traced her full pink lips.
“The relationship between my parents and I is complex. William can do no wrong while I have to jump through hoops and have to be perfection at all times. My motheradores my brother and seemingly dislikes me. It’s something I’ve never understood.”
“Let me come with you to hold your hand, then we can go get a coffee and celebrate?” Elijah asked.
“No Elijah. I need to do this by myself. It will be humiliating enough as it is, without an audience. I’ve just discovered that you and I might have a chance. I’m not going to ruin that by introducing you to the venom of my parents,” Lilly said.
“What about your dad? Undoubtedly he supports you?” Elijah asked.
“He does whatever my mother says, he just wants a quiet life. Sometimes I see flashes of regret when he joins in with her snarky comments but not often. Let’s not dwell on what I have to do. I’ll see you tomorrow for my first shift?” Lilly told him.
“I’m not happy about this you know, I want to protect you from anything that will cause you pain. Please let me come with you,” Elijah pleaded.
“No, Elijah, I need to do this myself, but thank you for offering. So, tomorrow, 10am?”
“Yes, tomorrow, 10am, come to Blue’s. We’ll fill out the paperwork then get you started serving the best pint in Edinburgh.”
Elijah kissed her cheek and then her forehead and watched as Lilly smiled shyly at him. He was besotted with her in that single moment and wanted to take her home and never leave. Reluctantly he dropped her hand that he hadn’t remembered taking and watched her walk away.
Chapter Seven
Lilly took a deep breath, as she needed to put her feelings aside for now because she had an awful discussion ahead of her. Her parents would not be supportive of her decision especially when she told them she would work at Blue’s. Lilly could picture their faces as she revealed her news. It wasn’t a conversation she wanted to have, but she would pull on her big girl pants and do it. The earlier she felt their wrath, the sooner she could get on with the next chapter in her life.
Lilly looked back to see if Elijah was still there but he wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Reaching the end of the street and flagging down a taxi, she climbed into the back, gave her driver an address, and sank back into the seat. Touching her lips with the pads of her fingers, Lilly wondered if they would get to kiss again. Would he want to have a relationship with her once she wasn’t a corporate lawyer? Gazing out of the window, she watched as the city centre shops turned into leafy suburbs until the taxi pulled up in front of her parent’s house.
After paying the cab driver the fare, she climbed out ofthe back of the car and instinctively tied the belt of her coat tighter. Even though it was her life, her future and her decision, the constant need to please her parents increased as she got older. During school and university, she hoped she would care less about her parents’ approval once she had made partner but it was the opposite.
Walking up the path to the front door, she rang the doorbell and waited to see which face would greet her arrival. She wasn’t sure which parent she would prefer to see, her mother would be the lesser of two evils. Fidgeting on the spot, she fiddled with the belt of her coat and waited for the door to open. Just as she thought no one was in the door swung open. She faced her brother, and he looked awful. Dark shadows under his eyes and greasy hair.
