“It’s called a stiletto manicure.”
“You couldn’t take them through airport security.” He grabs my hand and twirls me. “Come on, honey. Everyone’s waiting for you.”
We’ve set up for the photoshoot in the orchard.
In the last six years, I’ve done photoshoots in a lot of places. A crumbling Scottish castle. A Sicilian villa surrounded by glossy lemon trees. But this collection is special. It was inspired by Lochview. We have to take the pictures here.
“Careful,” Fraser calls as he leads us down the grassy path towards the trees. “Talent coming through. Now, you may noticethat she has decided to wear The Dress. I know it is difficult, but you must remain professional, we have work to do.”
I bat him off. We have a full crew today. Several models wearing pieces from the collection are sipping juice in the sunshine, and I spot Isla underneath a pear tree, getting her lashes touched up by the makeup artist. Lachlan, a local photographer I found on Picturegram, is fiddling with his camera equipment. And?—
“Thereyou are,” a loud voice calls. I turn to see Lulu marching up to me in head-to-toe Hermès. Fraser mumbles something about lambs and makes himself scarce.
“Sorry I’m late,” I tell her. “My brain is all over the place today.”
Lulu waves me off, unbothered. “You look adorable.” She frowns at my nails. “Your manicure doesn’t match though.”
Lulu is still Lulu—a highly fashionable workaholic—but she’s mellowed out a lot since she started working publicity for my brand. She handles all of the social media campaigns. She reaches out to influencers, and she likes to have a hand in photoshoots. We’ve gotten a lot closer these last few years. Our friendship feels so much more real than when we just drank rosé together and plotted collabs.
“Seriously,” she says, eyeing my pink sparkly manicure. Tiny gems glisten on both of my ring fingers. “You couldn’t have gone neutral?”
“Cameron picked them,” I admit. A couple of days ago, I’d been stressed planning the photoshoot. Cameron had unceremoniously shut my laptop lid and whisked me away to Inverness for a manicure. It’s not unusual for him to take me to get my nails done, and he doesn’t usually care what I get. For some reason, this time, he’d insisted on picking out a sparkly pink polish.
Not that I’m complaining. I’ll never get over the way he stares at my hands afterward.
Lulu sighs and starts fiddling with my hair. “Well, maybe we can fix it in post. This dress is amazing, by the way. It’ll be the first to sell out.”
“Do you think? I haven’t been looking at the numbers.”
Lulu pokes my cheek. “I know you haven’t, you sensitive little flowerbud. That’s what I’m for. Trust me, people will eat this collection up.” She glances behind me and rolls her eyes. “Oh God. It’s Tall One. I swear, if he starts fussing about his schedule again?—”
“How are we doing for time?” Alec asks, stepping up to us. “We need to be on the road for four p.m.”
Lulu throws up her hands. “It’s not my fault that you planned a big family getaway right after Summer’s photoshoot, is it? Hold that thought, I need to speak to the photographer, he just pulled literally the fugliest brown filter out of his bag. Lachlan!” She stomps off.
I smile up at Alec. The sun shines behind his head, picking out the few strands of silver that have recently started threading at his temples. “Don’t worry, this is the last look.”
He just pulls me into his arms. I lay my head on his chest, feeling my body immediately calm down.
“How are you?” he murmurs into my hair. “Still feeling tired?”
I nod. “I’ll be fine.”
His hand curves over my stomach. “Have you taken the test yet?”
I shake my head. I got the notification from my period tracker app that I was late two weeks ago. When I told Alec, he immediately went to the pharmacy and came back with a bag stuffed with pregnancy tests. I’m not sure how much pissing hethought I’d be doing. I should have taken one by now, but I’ve been holding out until I’m done working on this collection.
Besides. I know what it’ll say.
I told the guys I was ready to try for a baby a few months ago. I’ve always wanted children, and with ten collections off the ground and my brain feeling better than it ever has, I felt it was time. Their response was immediate and…enthusiastic. Frankly, if sheer quantity has anything to do with it, I’m pregnant several times over.
I take a deep breath. “I think it’ll be positive,” I admit.
“Aye.” Alec strokes my hip. “Me too.”
I squint up at him. “Really?”
“I’ve spent my whole life on a farm,” he reminds me. “I usually have a pretty good sense of when one of our ewes is in lamb.”
