Loving Lilly (Geary Brothers #2) by Grace Harper

My Rating: 4 Stars

Series: Yes, Geary Brothers #2.

Sex Scenes: Yes.

Subject: Finding what you love and build your life around it.

Synopsis

Lillian Harrison is trapped in a life she doesn't really enjoy. From the outside everything looks rosy. She has had a successful career for a decade as a lawyer, money in the bank and her own home. She is lonely and worse still is addicted to Elijah Geary.

Elijah Geary owns a popular bar in the center of Edinburgh, he is ex military and wants to settle down. The highlight of his day is the forty minutes when he speaks to the woman he wants to spend the rest of his life with.

Loving Lilly tells the story of Elijah and Lilly and how they dance around each other to find out if they are meant to be together or stay as customer and bar tender. Elijah brings out Lilly's passion she never knew she had.

Happily ever after was never meant to be easy.

Loving Lilly is a steamy, passionate tale, for readers over the age of 18.

My Review

I got this book by the author as a gift and I enjoyed it just as much as the first one!

In this second book in the series we get to read about Elijah’s life and if we were already falling for him on the first book, this one settles it, he is AMAZING!

We then meet Lilly, she seems like a weak small character at first but she definitely surprised me, she was so much stronger and determined that what she led on.

Their story felt natural and beautiful to me, he had some secrets that were not that bad at all and after he lets go of them they are in a perfect place together.

Elijah’s story was a complicated one and it was what made him who he is, he wants to save the people he loves, from little things and from bigger and scarier and that was the thing I loved the most about him.

Everyone loved him, because he had that amazing energy around him that just made you want to spend time with him.

Cute and simple love story, it’s a must read !

Add on Goodreads

Get now on Amazon.

Excerpt

The following day, Elijah watched as Lilly Harrison walked into Blue’s, with the same look, which graced her beautiful face every day. Desolation. He couldn’t work out why she kept doing the job she did if she felt so unhappy there. He had watched her spend her lunch break in his bar for too long and listened as she complained about the job she had and the people she worked alongside. She worked with the biggest set of bitches he had met, they were regulars in his bar on a Friday and Saturday night. Hanging out and looking for their next rich man so that they could give up their jobs.

 Elijah was leaning against the tall wine refrigerator and he pushed himself off the glass front and walked towards the dark headed beauty that was Lilly. Lilly pulled herself onto the tall bar stool and laid her arms on the metal pole that ran along the bar edge. Her head rested on her forearms and she massaged her head on her forearm, moving it from side to side like she is ridding the ache in her head.

 Elijah had only ever seen her in Blue’s so had no idea what she did for fun. At this moment in time he didn’t think she ever had fun. Moving towards her, he picked up a glass and poured her the drink she ordered every time. Lilly always ordered, lime and soda water, with plenty of ice.

 Standing in front of her, Elijah placed the glass on a coaster and stroked the back of her head. Smoothing down the stray strands of hair that had come loose from the bun she wore at the back of her head.

 “Are you ok Lilly?” Elijah asked her.

 Lilly raised her head in slight confusion and beamed a broad smile as she looked at Elijah’s face. That look she gave him made his heart thud, hard. To be responsible for making someone else smile was a great feeling. When Elijah made Lilly smile, it made his day.

 “No different from yesterday Elijah, but I’m fine now I have seen your face, thanks for the drink.” She answered.

 Elijah tilted his head to the side in question and raised an eyebrow at Lilly. She mimicked his action and smiled back.

 “I’m ok Elijah, the bitches are keeping themselves to themselves today.”

 “Why do you stay in the job? You don’t enjoy it and do it under sufferance.”

 “I do it because I owe it to my parents, they schooled me to be a lawyer and have high hopes for me. I couldn’t possibly leave, they would never forgive me, and I would never hear the end of it. They would go on about how much money they spent on me. What else would I do with my life?” Lilly said and resumed her position of rolling her head from side to side on her arm. It was the most she had ever revealed to him about why she stayed in the job, and he was delighted that she had shared with him the confidence. This meant he had something to work with, he hoped that his scene with Elaine yesterday meant that she would open up more to him.

 Elijah walked around the bar and stood next to Lilly and tapped her on the shoulder. He waited for her to sit up and slide around on the seat to face him. Elijah was tall and able to trap her knees between his thighs. He rested his large hands on her shoulders and bent slightly so that his eyes were level with hers. His green eyes were looking into her green eyes.

 “Now, you listen to me and listen well. Life is far too short to be miserable. You need to do what you want to do. You have spent the last six months complaining about your job and how much you hate it. I have seen you lose weight and become unhappy. I promise you that if you continue to work in that job, with those snobby bitches any longer you will make yourself ill. I’m not prepared to watch that happen. Are you listening to me?” Elijah asked and shook her to emphasise his point.

 Elijah swept his eyes over her face, looking at the dark shadows under her beautiful eyes and wished she would leave for a happier job. His beseeching look startled Lilly, who sat there wide-eyed, unblinking into Elijah’s face.

 “I’ll think about it Elijah, I know what you’re saying is right but I don’t think I have the courage to leave. What would I do instead? I have no idea what I want to do with my life; I have never known what I wanted to do when I was in school as a career. Mum and dad decided for me, and I went with what they said I should do.” Lilly answered, her voice started to falter and Elijah thought she might get upset. To rescue the situation he blurted out the first thing that he could think of.

 “Work here, I’ll give you a job,” Elijah said. He didn’t know where the notion had come from but now he had said it, he went with it. He always offered help without thinking. H told himself he must stop doing this as that got him into trouble time and time again. He had just ended his relationship with Elaine after helping her out with a commission.

 “You can work behind the bar until you decide what you want to do. The wages are not great, but the tips are good and we are a good team and have fun.” He said, he couldn’t believe the words that were tumbling out of his mouth, he couldn’t stop them pouring out.

 “Work here? I don’t know how to pull a pint let alone make a cocktail.”

 “I’ll teach you, please consider it Lilly. I don’t know how much longer I can watch you fade away and become a shadow of your former self.”

 “That’s a bit dramatic Elijah, I’m not that bad.” Lilly replied.

 “You don’t see what I see, please consider it.” Elijah pleaded.

 “Ok, I will think about it.” Lilly said, resigning herself to the possibility that she might have to face the fact that she needed to change the direction of her life.

 “Good,” Elijah said, grinning from ear to ear.

 “I said I would think about it so stop grinning, I haven’t made any decisions yet. Tell me about Elaine, it looked like you had an argument yesterday?” Lilly asked to change the focus from her life.

 “It was more of a discussion really, our relationship, if you could call it that has ended. I should never have started it, but I wanted to help her and then started dating her without realising. I won’t make that mistake twice.” Elijah said with conviction.

 “I will remember that Elijah, it’s good to know you don’t want to date the people you help.” Lilly replied, her hurt feelings filtering through her words.

 “I didn’t mean it like that Lilly, I’d like to help you and wouldn’t object to dating you either.” Elijah said, cursing himself for his careless words.

 “Wouldn’t object to dating me? Is that your romantic side coming out there?” Lilly said, keeping her face straight and her tone flat.

 “No need for sarcasm, you know I am digging myself into a deep pit, I’ll stop talking now.”

 “Oh, don’t be so sensitive, I’m just teasing you.” Lilly said and pinched his cheek.

 “I’m such an idiot, sorry for being crass, let’s get back to your job and not my appalling romantic skills.” Elijah said and rubbed his cheek.

 Elijah could have kicked himself, he was finally single in the presence of Lilly, and he made a total arse of himself. It was a good job Mickey wasn’t here to witness it, or he would never hear the end of it. Lilly completely floored him when he was near her and anything he planned to say flew out of the window.

 “Do we have to talk about my work? We always talk about that.” Lilly asked, desperate to change the subject.

 “Yes we do, now, tell me Lilly do you love your job?”

 “I’m excellent at it.” Lilly said proudly.

 Elijah took Lilly’s hand and stroked the back of it with his thumb, soothing her stresses and encouraging her to answer him. He bore holes into her face as she had dropped her head so he couldn’t see her eyes. He thought they were beautiful and lifted her chin so that he could see them. He had caught a flash of sadness before she put her mask back in place.

 “That’s not what I asked Lilly and you know it. Do you love your job, do you wake up in the morning and look forward to getting dressed and arriving for work? Do you stay late because you love your job enough to get the job done?” Elijah asked her softly.

 “No.” Lilly replied quietly.

 “Then why are you wasting your life there Lilly? I don’t understand.”

 “I’ve already explained, my parents have paid for my education and paid for me to go through law school.”

 “But you are a partner, you have paid them back tenfold, you’ve studied hard, best in your class and have won hundreds of cases, they should be proud.” Elijah argued.

 “They aren’t proud. They see that, until I am a senior partner with my name on the letterhead I have not paid them back. They have social circles that depend on this and I am failing in their eyes to them. I have been a lawyer over a decade and still haven’t managed it. If I left now, my parents would see me as a complete failure.” She said and straightened her jacket.

 “Lilly, this is your life to make the most of, why do you feel the need to make your parents happy?”

 This question stumped Lilly, she didn’t know the answer, and she assumed that all children needed to make their parents happy and proud. Elijah could see Lilly was struggling with the answer and asked a different one instead.