Pam was not joking about going back to work. Only a little over a month after her baby was born, she reported in, and Emily met her by the reception desk."I see we have two new employees!" she exclaimed.Pam was carrying her baby in a colorful sling with a teddy bear print."I hope you don't mind," she said, "It's not like I'm going to have any sales meetings on my first day. I'll need to learn about the company first.""Of course I don't mind." Emily felt cuteness overload coming on when she saw the baby's sleeping face. "She's so adorable!""Thanks, I'm not going to bring her every day," Pam explained, "but it was hard to let her go today.""So we can bring our kids to work once in a while?" Allie, one of the designers asked as she passed by.Emily thought she had been a bit selfish since she never talked with her employees about bringing their kids to work. But since she had no kids, it just never occurred to her. She was still new to owning such a successful and large enter

"The success of Freerange Rider depends on you now," Emily said to her models. Twenty tall, handsome, and stylish men listened to her inspiring speech. A few of them looked bored, but that was just the way with male models. Also, a couple of them were missing… "Now get changed into your outfits, go out there, and make me proud! I know you will."At least Carter showed up, which seemed like a good sign since he was the face of Freerange Rider. The models went to change, while Emily turned to Katie, who hovered nervously behind her."Any word from those laggards?" Emily asked."Terence is sick," Katie replied, "He just texted. And I have no idea where Milo is.""Great! I have to find two models on short notice. Just what I needed today." Emily had not experienced a panic attack in recent weeks, but she felt like they were about to make a comeback. "I already called the agency," Katie said. "They're looking for a couple of guys who can fill in on short notice.""Good. Thanks, Katie

Since it was past lunchtime already, there was lots of time to kill. Luckily, the city provided a lot of distractions."We could go to the country music museum," Emily suggested."Sounds like a plan," Byron said.They walked down the sunlit streets, enjoying the vibrant atmosphere of the city, and the fact that it wasn't raining."Any more thoughts on how to convince Quinn that you're not crazy?" Emily asked."I'll improvise." Byron's face had the same focused look as when he was thinking of business deals. "When I see him, I'll know what to say.""Is that how you get the ladies to like you too?" Emily asked, feeling flirty."That's right," he said, one side of his mouth curling up in a lop-sided smile. "It worked for you, didn't it?""I'd say it did."The next day, they made their way over to the Outback Buffet long before noon, trying to make sure not to miss Quinn."I understand Quinn Faines has lunch here sometimes?" Emily asked their server."Oh yes he does," the young

Emily woke up to find the hotel room empty. It was probably a good thing, she figured, if Byron was out for a walk to clear his head and get those silly ideas out of there.She started to get dressed and was brushing her teeth when she heard him come in. She turned to see him carrying a bouquet of freesias. The beautiful flowers competed with the beautiful man carrying them. Byron looked adorably penitent, and she was already tempted to hug and kiss him despite their argument the previous night."I let my imagination run away with me. I'm sorry," he said. "Sometimes I worry that marriage is not what you were looking for when you met me, and it might not make you happy.""Of course it'll make me happy." Emily realized she was spitting toothpaste everywhere. She returned to the sink to rinse out her mouth and then accepted the bouquet of delicious smelling flowers. "I know that when we first met I wanted to have fun and not get into anything too serious, but that changed once I got to

Makeup brushes tickled her face as Emily tried to remember to breathe, waiting for her bridal look to be completed. She couldn't wait to open her eyes and look in the mirror."You look like a real lady!" Pam commented. "Not that you normally don't look like a lady." She burst into laughter, the champagne kicking in and making her even more giddy than usual.Emily found herself laughing too, much to the annoyance of the makeup artist, who had to pause so as not to smear eyeliner all over her face. "You look like a real lady," too, she said to Pam, who was wearing a magnificent green dress with hoop skirts and a white lace trim."Sorry, I'll sit still now," Emily said to the woman who was doing her makeup, a professional artist who worked with fashion models.She had woken up that day feeling different. It was a feeling like her life was going to change for the better. Even though weddings might not mean that much in the modern world when people usually lived together before getting