Page 149 of Liberating Lily

Harvey hadn’t even had a chance to see his place with all the changes because he'd been so busy with her. She squashed the guilt that thought brought. She'd needed him and she knew that he didn't regret any time spent with her. That was just the sort of amazing man that he was.

He came around and opened her door, helping her out, before clasping hold of her hand to lead her inside. “I'll come back for the bags.”

They had a couple of suitcases with them, mostly filled with her clothes. Some stuff had been left at the cabin. Harvey had assured her they'd go back during the weekends.

As they stepped inside, the smell of fresh paint hit her first and made her wrinkle her nose.

“We're going to have to open some windows in here,” Harvey said as he glanced around.

She studied the living room off to the right. Everything was gorgeous and very clean and brand new. There were some older features, like the crown molding on the walls, but for the most part, it was a very modern, sleek look.

Different from the house she'd grown up in, so that was good. But it had a slightly cold feel to it. Everything seemed untouchable. The couch was a pale beige. The floors were a white tile with gold fleck. There was a rug on the floor, but even it was a shade of beige.

Harvey moved over to the couch, drawing her with him, and then sat down with a groan. “Christ, this thing is as hard as rocks.”

Lily sat next to him and tried to make herself comfy. “I guess we might be able to soften it up.”

He huffed out a breath. “I think I should have paid more attention to what was going on here. I just figured that my taste was obviously crap so I’d leave her to it.”

“I think you've got great taste,” she defended.

Harvey turned to grin at her. “Yeah, that's because I chose you, so of course you think I have great taste.”

She let out a surprised giggle.

His shoulders relaxed. “It's kind of cold in here, isn't it?”

Lily grimaced, glancing around. “ It's very beautiful.”

Harvey cupped her chin, turning her to face him. “Come on, you're talking to me. You don't need to sugarcoat things. It's cold and a little scary. I'm almost afraid to touch stuff.”

“Harvey, you own everything in here. Of course, you can touch it.” But that had been very similar to her own thoughts.

“Come on, let's go explore the rest of the place. Maybe it has some personality in the toilet.”

She let out another surprised giggle. At least she was laughing. And as they moved through the rest of the house, his comments on the different rooms made her laugh even more, the tension leaving her.

Maybe, just maybe, this was all going to work.

Lily stared at the fridge. Why was this blasted thing so damn temperamental?

It had two layers of doors. You had to open the first layer to get into the shelves that she could see, and then the second layer to get into the back stuff. But do you think she could get that first layer open? She attempted again, but only managed to pull open the entire thing once more.

With a groan, she slammed the door shut, and then kicked the fridge.

Pain slashed her toes, and she let out a cry of pain, grabbing her foot with both hands as she hopped around the kitchen.

“What is it? What happened?” Harvey raced into the kitchen and stared over at her. “What's going on?” He was staring around the room as though searching for whoever had harmed her.

“The fridge attacked me.”

“What?” He gaped at her.

“The fridge hates me. It attacked me, and it hurt my toe. I think it might be broken.”

“The fridge attacked you, and your toe is broken. Did you kick the fridge?” he asked.

“Yes, because it's mean.”