I flip the waffles from the machine and onto a plate. I'm so glad Sally taught me how to make them properly because they smelled and tasted great. Yawning a little, I stretch my arms above my head attempting to relax my tense muscles. I only got three hours of sleep last night.

Warm arms wrap around my waist and I reach behind me and wrap my arms around his neck, leaning my head to the side.

"Good morning," Luke whispers.

"Morning. Did you sleep well?" I whisper back.

Talking loudly in the morning was not our thing, we had a mutual unspoken agreement that mornings should be peaceful. Luke turns me around with a hum and lifts me onto the kitchen counter without any effort.

He pushes my legs apart and steps in between them, pulling me closer with his hand on my waist. "Your side of the bed was still made." He murmurs and kisses me.

"I...worked...all night—" I groan between kisses. His hand runs up my thighs and wonders under my pyjama shorts.

I tangle my fingers in his soft hair and push it back from his forehead, peppering kisses along his jawline. "I love you," I say, kissing his chin. The stubble there pricks at my lips and I close my eyes. Having him this close was a truly wonderful feeling.

He takes my face in his hands and squeezes my cheeks with his palms, causing my lips to pucker. He kisses them repeatedly until I start to laugh.

Luke's smile widens and he lets go of my face, hugging me to his chest and reaching behind me to get a waffle.

"This smells amazing." He brings the waffle to his nose before shoving it in his mouth. He beams at me with a mouthful. I kiss his forehead and jump off the counter to get him some berries and honey from the fridge. 

"What's the plan for today?" Luke asks while I sprinkle the berries on top of the waffles on his plate and pour coffee into a mug.

"We're going to finish up your outfits for the New Years Ball and then there's a huge meeting with my boss. What will you do all day?" I lean against the counter and put my chin in my hands, watching him eat. Luke, in my kitchen, shirtless with morning hair and sleepy eyes was something I could definitely get used to.

"I'm meeting with a friend. I'll pick you up from Bradford's after?" He asks.

I check the clock on the wall and see that if I don't hurry now I'll be late. "Sure. Do you want to take my car? You can drop me off and take it wherever."

"Yeah. Thank you."

"Love you." I kiss him on the shoulder and disappear into the bedroom to get ready.

---

I put down my measuring tapes and scissors when someone pokes their head into the room.

"Are you people done in here? Lilian would like to start the meeting now." Joseph, our boss's assistant asks from the doorway. Everyone drops what they're doing and slowly follows him out of the large circular room. I look out the windows and see that it is still heavily snowing.

I hang up Calum and Michael's jackets inside the costume bags and follow Montana out of the room. I crack my neck to the side and check my phone for any messages as we walk up the corridor. I hope Luke is doing okay driving around a city he doesn't know much. I decide to check up on him after the meeting.

We enter the large conference room and Lilian is at the head of the table, her hands are folded neatly in front of her on the wooden table and her back is ramrod straight as she smiles at everyone pleasantly. I barely managed to avoid her this morning, running through the office and into the materials room as soon as Luke dropped me off.

"Good afternoon everyone. It's great to see a lot of the faces we haven't seen around here in awhile," she says with a smile, looking directly at me.

"I trust that you have been doing your allocated jobs well and carrying the name of this company with great pride and honour." She clears her throat and everyone settles down.

Montana stifles a yawn from next to me as Lilian goes around the room asking people about their tasks for the first twenty minutes of the meeting. A whole lot of sucking up follows suit from the younger interns.

"I see that you have all been doing well. Right, then the main reason I wanted this meeting to take place so soon is because—" Lilian stops talking when the door to the conference room opens and someone walks in. I do a double take as Luke's eyes travel around the room full of heads that are suddenly gaping in his direction.

"Hi. I'm sorry to disturb you. Go on." He motions at Lilian and his eyes find me. He lifts a chair that is in the corner and drags it towards me at the table and the intern who is sat next to me gapes up at Luke. She finally comes back down to earth and shifts her chair to the right, making space for him. "Thanks." Luke smirks at her and she squeaks out a "welcome", her eyes widening some more.

Luke sits down and smiles brightly at me, taking my hand in his under the table. He isn't allowed to be in here! I look up nervously at Lilian and want to whack Luke over the head but I squeeze his hand back.

"Welcome, Mr Hemmings. What a nice surprise." Lilian genuinely seems happy that he is here.

"Please, call me Luke." He grins and I can feel the whole room inaudibly swoon at his charm. I look down at our hands on my lap with a smile.

"Luke. Right, what I was about to say is that I have a special announcement this evening." Luke lifts my hand and kisses my fingers. I bump my knee with his slowly, telling him to be quiet.

"We were offered a—generous amount of money from a company in Paris. The founder wanted to borrow one of my designers so that he could design a new, very different line of clothing with your help. He was overwhelmed when I did show him the work of our many talented designers in this room," she flourishes her hand around.

Luke starts to draw soft circles on my inner thigh with his finger and a shiver runs up my spine.

"Stop it." I murmur, my face flushing. He chuckles under his breath and continues drawing patterns with his fingers on my skin. Montana smirks from next to me and wraps her arms around her chest.

"He wanted to buy one of you off of me. And I hope you understand that you are all tremendously important to me, so I made a deal. One of you will be opening your very own label, founded by Mr Alaire and supported by me."

My eyes go wide and I lean forward in my chair. Our own label? Was that even a thing? Montana and I share a shocked look and murmurs spread around the room. Even Luke stops teasing me.

"I have picked one of you after discussing it with the board. It was not a spontaneous decision, we have been mulling over this for months, going over everyone's profiles over the years. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, no one has ever gotten a chance at having a successful label for themselves this early in their careers."

Everyone in the room starts to fidget in their seats, excitement setting in.

"We put it to a vote as well. We have picked one of the most talented and hardworking people in this company. But you see, it is not only about talent or how much you have worked, it is how much of you that you put into your designs. As you all know, here at Bradford's we encourage unique ideas and we explore every area from makeup to fashion, we are who we are and that is what we pour into our work."

Lilian pauses for a dramatic moment and Luke squeezes my thigh supportively. "I strongly believe this person has what it takes to run their very own designer label. I strongly believe in their potential and their will for immense amounts of sacrifice. I see myself in this person when I was their age. So, without further a due...Sierra Bree McKinnon." Her brown eyes land on me and the room bursts with applause and cheers a quiet moment later.

I feel my mouth open wide and my heart starts to race a mile a minute. I blink at Lilian, wondering if she is joking but Lilian Bradford never jokes. Ever. "We have chosen Sierra and I hope everyone in this room agrees with our choice."

I look back and forth between Montana and Luke and then back at Lilian, wondering what the hell just happened. I slowly stand from my chair on shaky feet and Luke grips my hand to support me. I look around the room, happiness and shock mixing together in my belly and making me a little dizzy.

"Thank you." I croak out, looking at Lilian and she nods with a smile.

The room goes silent, waiting for me to say something "I—this wasn't the last thing I expected. This was nowhere near my expectations, to begin with." I wipe at my eyes and the room erupts with laughter.

"Thank you very much," I say a little louder to everyone in the room and mainly to Lilian.

"I haven't processed this yet but this—wow thank you. All of you in here deserve it as much as I do and I will need your help just like I always have. I can't do it all alone. So thank you. Thank you." Another round of applause goes around the room and Montana pulls me into a hug.

"Congrats baby girl." She wipes at her eyes too. None of us were expecting this kind of an announcement.

People I have loved working with for the last couple of years that I've been here embrace me lovingly and wishes me all the best, others shoot envious glances my way and leave without a word.

The room clears out slowly after a couple of minutes and Lilian walks up to me, taking my hands in hers. "My dear, I have a lot of faith in you, I hope I have made the right decision."

The tears spring back into my eyes. "Thank you. I will never let you down again. Promise." Lilian squeezes my hands in hers.

"You have never let me down, McKinnon. Come meet me tomorrow morning alright? We have much to discuss. Celebrate tonight." She looks over my shoulder at Luke and winks at me, letting go of my hands, she struts out of the conference room with a wave.

I turn to Luke who is leaning against the wooden table. "What just happened?" I ask him.

"Your middle name is Bree?" He asks me with a chuckle.

"Yes." I shake my head at him.

He tugs at my hand and I step towards him. "I didn't know that. It's cute."

"I guess you learn something new every day huh?"

"Yes, like the fact that my girlfriend is getting her own designer label." His blue eyes sparkle under the bright lights of the conference room. He raises his eyebrows at my speechlessness, tucking strands of hair behind my ears "Are you alright?"

"I'm getting my own...oh my god." I shake my head and close my eyes.

I'm getting my own label? My own designs. How is that possible?

I bury my face in Luke's chest and fist my hands inside his jacket. "I'm very proud of you darling." He says quietly.

"I—someone else should get it. I don't think I can do this." I groan.

Luke lifts my head from his chest and tilts it to look at him. "You deserve this. You can do this. We all believe in you." He kisses me tenderly.

After a few minutes of us staring out at the falling snow Luke kisses my cheek. "Come on then. Let's go home." He straightens from his leaning position and wraps an arm around my waist.

My own designer label! Please brain, don't have an anxiety attack.

The hallway is quiet and I tell Luke to wait at the reception while I go into my tiny booth at the office to get my bag. Addy is sitting in the chair and I stop in the doorway as she looks up.

"Congratulations. I wanted to wish you earlier but there were too many people around."

"Thank you," I smile at her and walk into the room and reach under my desk to get my handbag.

"I'm very proud of you." She says silently while I shrug on my jacket.

"I couldn't have done it without you," I say and hug her. Her arms go around me after a few seconds and she leans her head into my shoulder.

"You deserve this okay? Don't ever think you don't." She pulls away and gives me a knowing look. Even though we haven't talked in awhile and we aren't on the best terms, she knows me better than anyone and she knows how my self-doubt works.

"Good night Sierra." She waves and walks out of my office.

"Good night Addy."