Lies Inside (25 page)

Lucy woke up safe and sound the next morning in Finn’s arms. She snuggled in a little closer as her hand slid under his t-shirt. Her fingers strummed up and down his torso as she held herself up on her elbow. A smile slowly crept across his face before he even opened his eyes.

“This is exactly how I want to wake up every morning.”

She crawled on top of him and pressed her lips to his as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

“Mm. This is even better,” His sparkling blue eyes finally flickered open.

“I thought this day would be hard enough; might as well start it off on the right foot.” She pecked at his lips before rolling off onto the floor.

She dug through the bag of clothes Jack had put together for her. She almost cried when she pulled out her favorite pair of jeans. She still couldn’t believe her brother was so thoughtful. Rylan must have helped. Most were her favorites, and only Rylan would really know that.

“We should go see if the girls are up. I’d like to eat breakfast with them before we leave.”

She pulled off her pajama pants and slipped on a fresh pair of underwear before pulling on her jeans. Still, Finn hadn’t moved.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, pulling off her t-shirt. She still had her bra on, so she slipped a navy blue v-neck tee over her head.

“Nothing’s wrong. I just like this routine so much better.”

Lucy walked over to sit down next to him on
thei
r bed, as she liked to call it.

“I don’t think we’ll have any sort of routine for a while at least.”

“It’ll be nice to wake up with my wife beside me every morning. Knowing we can do whatever we want, whenever we want.” He kissed her collarbone, trying a bit of distraction.

“Whatever will have to wait for a little while longer. I’ve got to pack, and you’ve got your appointment with Dr. Styles.”

“You’re going to meet me there at one, right?” He kissed her favorite spot below her ear.

“Yes.” Lucy took his head in her hands, away from temptation. She gave him a quick kiss before dragging him to his feet. “Come on. You’ve got to get dressed.”

“On one condition.” He sat back down and wrapped his arms around her waist as he tried nuzzle her neck. Lucy pulled him back up, and he pretended to pout, sticking out his bottom lip. “One condition?”

“What’s that?”

“You and I make a little time for each other tonight.”

“I think that can certainly be arranged.”

After a quick breakfast with the girls, Finn left with Murphy, and Lucy reluctantly went back to her father’s house with Rylan and Claire. Packing was never one of Lucy’s favorite things to do.

She hadn’t realized how much crap she had accumulated over the years. Most of it was a result of her shopping adventures with Claire. Half of Lucy’s closet was full of stuff that had never seen the light of day.

“I remember this dress. It would work if we have a rehearsal. One more thing you won’t have to worry about. Have you thought about your colors yet?”

“I really haven’t thought much about any of it in a real sense, Ry. The wedding book we made as kids is very outdated, so I need to start from scratch. I just want it to be simple. Just family, you know.” Lucy folded another sweater and placed it in one of the many boxes strewn around the room.

“Sweetie, you’re only getting married once. I know you and Finn are going to last. I don’t want you to regret not having the wedding of your dreams,” Claire added with a warm smile.

Lucy smiled as she saw how excited Claire looked. She really wanted this to be special for Lucy; it was a little shocking at first. Claire had always been like a mother to Lucy, but she had never felt it more than at that moment.

“As long as I have Finn, it will be the wedding of my dreams. We don’t want everyone fussing over us. Plus the press...I know they’re leaving us alone for the moment, but if they get a hold of this, they’ll have a field day.”

“I guess I never thought about that.” Claire brushed the hair from her shoulders as the wheels in her little head started turning. “I can do simple. Simple yet elegant. We can do it in the garden. It’ll be beautiful.”

“I’m sure it will.” Lucy looked over at the clock. It was already twelve fifteen. “I’ve got to meet Finn at one. We should get these boxes loaded up.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll get it moved while you’re with Finn. Jack and Aiden will be here in a little while. You go. I’ll even let you drive the Bug.”

Lucy grinned. She hated to admit it, but she loved driving that thing. “Okay, if I have to. Thanks.” She grabbed the keys and kissed Rylan on the cheek. She hugged Claire before skipping down the hall and sprinting to the car.

Finn was in with Dr. Styles when Lucy arrived. She was a little early, but she was hoping she could go in and find out if they’d made any progress.

“I’ll let him know you’re here.” The slender redhead at the receptionist desk picked up the phone to dial into the office. “Lucy Butler has arrived...Sure thing.”

“Have a seat, and the doctor will be out to get you in a few minutes. Would you like some coffee or tea while you wait?”

“No, thank you. I’m fine.”

Lucy walked over and sat down on the couch in the waiting area. She picked up a magazine and started thumbing through it. She almost choked when she saw a picture of her and Finn. She closed the magazine to look at the cover. She couldn’t believe that they had been in a national magazine.

She flipped it back open and read the article. Published a few weeks after they had disappeared, it gave a little background on their lives, their families, and their seemingly storybook romance. It went on to describe the two of them as the couple that parents dream about. Rylan was quoted, saying Lucy and Finn were soul mates. Their families stated they had always known Lucy and Finn would end up together.

The article continued, covering the horrendous abuse and that Viktor was the main suspect. She looked at the pictures of people searching the road where they’d disappeared. That’s when Lucy remembered Finn’s beautiful car and wondered what happened to it. She was sure Finn hadn’t given it a second thought, but Lucy knew how much he loved his baby. She would have to do something about that.

“Lucy?”

Dr. Styles brought her back to reality. “Yes? Oh, hi, Dr. Styles.”

“Come on back. Finn’s in my office.”

Lucy got up from the couch and followed him into the room.

As the doctor closed the door, Finn stood up from the brown leather couch, wrapped his arms around her, and kissed her softly before releasing her. She could see his eyes were red and puffy.

“I’m fine.” Finn whispered before he kissed the top of her head.

He took her hand and led her over to couch. As she sat next to him, he held her hand. She could see that doctor really wanted to jump right in.

“Finn and I have had an eventful morning. I think he’s making some great headway, but so much of his progress includes you and your recovery as well.”

“I know we’ve got a lot of work to do, but I think we’re both ready.” Lucy snuggled a little closer to Finn.

“Finn and I have gone over a lot of what happened to him while he was at Two Roads. He’s told me about what happened when the Karpovs took you and what happened in Montana.”

“That about covers it then.” She gave Finn’s hand a squeeze.

“I’m not saying that I want to desensitize you to everything that happened, but I want both of you to be comfortable talking about your experiences. I’m sure there will be a trial, and I want you both to be able to tell the judge and jury what happened without feeling uncomfortable. Do you think that’s something you can work toward?”

“Yes. It’s exactly what I want.” Lucy was so amazed that he could sum up everything so simply.

“Also, Finn tells me that the two of you have decided to get married.”

Oh great, she thought. Another adult trying to shoot them down. “Is that going to be a problem?”

“No, of course not. It’s not my place to judge your decisions, just to help you make the right ones. Finn is concerned though.”

Lucy turned to Finn. “About what?”

He took her hand and looked into her eyes. “I have no doubts about spending the rest of my life with you. I want to make sure I can be your husband in every possible way.”

A light turned on. “You’re worried about our sex life?”

“Well...right now we don’t really have one.”

“Have you told him about when we’ve tried?”

Finn nodded. Lucy knew they were making progress, and she had no doubt it would be beautiful when they finally made love for the first time.

“Before I knew what had happened to him, everything was a little rushed. I think maybe he was trying to prove to himself that he could. That didn’t work out so well. But since then he’s been honest with me about what happened to him, we’ve taken things slower, exploring what is comfortable and what isn’t. I think we’ve made a lot of progress. And if it happens by the time we get married, fine. If it doesn’t, it’s not a big deal. We have forever to get there.”

“See. I told you she was amazing.” Finn kissed her cheek as she saw the doctor smile and nod. “She has shown me what it feels like to touch and be touched with real love. She really has healed parts of me that I thought were broken forever.”

Lucy suddenly felt a like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders. They’d been completely honest about how they were feeling, about being together, and about being able to make love to each other. She knew the way he touched her was in no way like how Viktor or Camille had touched her. It seemed like he realized that too.

Now that they had an understanding of this problem, Lucy knew the only one left to face head on was Claire and her grand wedding scheme.

When Lucy and Finn left Dr. Styles’ office, they both felt a huge sense of accomplishment. They’d spent two more hours exploring their past and their future, and finding a path to get there in one piece. Lucy was overcome with a sense of relief, knowing they finally had a clear plan to get to their happily ever after.

“I can’t believe she let you drive her baby.” Finn slid into the passenger’s seat as Lucy revved the Bug’s little engine.

“It was the only option. We don’t really have a car right now.”

“I never asked if they found my car. I’m sure they would have mentioned it by now if they had.”

“Maybe. We probably need to think about getting some kind of transportation. I’m not opposed to sharing.”