Would her life always be like this? If they had children, would they have guards the same as Emerson?

The machine hissed and gurgled the end of its routine, and the coffee’s rich nutty goodness filled the kitchen. She pulled the mug free of the machine’s base and blew across the steaming surface. God, how spoiled she’d become in such a tiny amount of time. State of the art everything. Loads of room to move around. Fashionable furniture and details. She’d gone from boho to Better Homes and Gardens in days and hadn’t even flinched.

Which begged the question—if she and Kir were really going all in together, where would they live? For the life of her, she couldn’t imagine Kir puttering around her little 500-square-foot hut, but getting out of her lease wouldn’t be easy.

Seriously? You’re worried about getting out of a lease when your significant other is Kir?

Hmm. Good point.

And he’d mentioned that he had a home of his own, so maybe they’d live there.

You’ve agreed to marry and rely on a man whose home you’ve never seen. Do you realize how insane that sounds?

Nope. She wasn’t listening to that crap anymore. The negativity was yesterday. This was today. Fresh and positive.

She padded to the kitchen table, stood beside it and sipped her coffee. Boxes full of her portfolios, cameras and accessories sat neatly stacked along the far wall of the living room. Her favorite images that had been hung in her house were there as well, turned so they couldn’t be seen.

Funny. That was how she’d always treated her work. A passion kept boxed up and facing away from the real world except for rare occurrences where she allowed herself to indulge. Maybe the first step was to fix that and get her gear and dreams out into the light.

Two-thirds through unpacking boxes, three sharp knocks sounded on the front door. Evette smiled and waved through the windows, then opened the door and poked her head in. “Up for a visit?”

Cassie carefully unrolled yet another lens from its packing paper. “Sure, if you don’t mind being surrounded by a little chaos.”

With an indelicate snort, Evette shut the door and ambled inside. “I have an eight-year-old. Chaos is all I know.” She paused with her hands on her hips and surveyed all the gear and albums stacked on the coffee table, end tables and chairs. “I’d say this looks promising—so long as it’s because you’re planning on using all this stuff and aren’t planning an estate sale.”

Cassie stood and stretched out her back. “No. Not selling anything. Just trying to figure out what I’ve got to work with and what I might need.”

“For?”

Rubbing her hand across her stomach, Cassie tried to still the roiling sensation in her belly.

Just say it. Put words behind it.

“I’m going to give the whole photography thing a go.”

“Really?”

Cassie nodded her head and enjoyed the rush of excitement just voicing the words created. “Looks like it. I mean, I’m officially no longer employed, right? No better time to start than now. Though, I’ve got no clue where I’m gonna start.”