Chapter 14
“Some speech, that.” Ash’s agent, Marianne, clapped her on the back. “I wondered how you were going to top Victoria, but you did it. There wasn’t a dry eye in the place. Even I cried, and I’m dead inside.”
Ash grinned. She could always count on Marianne to tell it like it was.
“Not too much?”
“It’s your wedding day. There is no too much. You could’ve ridden in on a horse and people would’ve called it tasteful.” She paused. “Talking of which, that chocolate cake was absolutely sinful. I knew I could count on you to raise the cake game.”
Ash laughed and slugged back another mouthful of champagne, then checked her watch — a Cartier, a wedding gift from her wife.
Her wife.
The word still didn’t feel real, hitting her sideways every time.
Only, then she remembered why she’d checked the watch in the first place.
The first dance was happening any minute now. Her stomach churned unhelpfully.
Cam materialised at her elbow, girlfriend Hayley on her arm. Cam had lost her jacket and tie, and her shirt sleeves were rolled up.
“First dance soon?”
“Don’t.”
“Just so you know,” Cam said, ignoring her completely, “we’re on standby. The second it goes south, we flood the floor. Full team rescue op.”
She held up a fist. Ash bumped it.
“Cheers. When I stand on Victoria’s foot for the sixth time, please stage an immediate intervention.”
“Sasha and Nat are warmed up, as are their girlfriends. We just met Michael’s new one, too — Rose — and she is buzzing to dance with the Lionesses.” Cam jerked her chin towards the corner, where Michael and Rose were already deep in something that looked dangerously like banter with Nat and Sasha.
Ash dreaded to think what they were chatting about.
“We’re ready to sub you off the second you blink wrong.”
Cam saluted.
Ash had never loved her more.
Right on cue, the DJ cleared his throat. “Ladies, gentlemen, and everyone else who doesn’t live their lives along narrow gendered lines. Please form a circle and welcome the happy couple to the floor for their first dance!”
Victoria appeared at Ash’s side like she’d been summoned. She slipped her hand into Ash’s and leaned in close. “Extraordinary composure under pressure,” she murmured, eyebrow arched. “You’ve got this, Captain.”
“I wish I had your confidence.” Ash shoved her champagne flute at Cam.
But it was now or never. Same as the ceremony. She was never going to feel ready: she just had to fake it until muscle memory kicked in.
She led Victoria into the middle of the floor with a flourish, lifted her hand, and bowed like something out of a Regency drama.
Victoria’s eyes went wide, as the room erupted in claps and cheers.
“Let’s GO, Woods!” Cam bellowed.
Ash slid an arm around Victoria’s waist and locked into frame. Deep breath. Eyes on her wife.
“Get the first step right,” Victoria said softly, “and you’re golden.”
Their final rehearsal had not gone well. But Victoria was all about positive affirmation, bless her. “You can do this, Ash.”
The music swelled.
She was going to hit the right beat if it killed her.
She closed her eyes. Stepped.
On the correct fucking beat. Party poppers squawked in her brain.
At last!
The next step landed, too. And the next. They twirled, and Victoria grinned, then relaxed into her arms. Ash guided her around the floor with an authority that had not been present in any rehearsal. Where the hell had this come from?
She had no idea.
However, she’d felt it before: in football, in the rare, golden moments when your body just took over and you were along for the ride. She’d felt it scoring the winner in the World Cup final. She felt it now, sweeping her wife across the dancefloor like she’d been born to it.
Ash wasn’t dancing.
She was flying.
They waltzed past Cam, whose face was set to stunned.
“What on earth is happening?” Victoria laughed.
“I’ve no fucking idea,” Ash said, shaking her head. “Apparently there was a dancer in me this whole time.”
“Saving the best for last. Always with the surprises, Ashleigh Woods.” Victoria’s eyes shone. “I look forward to a lifetime of them.”
The wedding was an unabashed success. Even the King had dipped the Queen on the dancefloor, which got a mighty big cheer, even if it did flummox both their children.
“Your mother is letting her hair down,” Ash told her wife.
“I think she might be drunk,” Victoria replied. “Who knew all it took was one of her children getting married?”
Michael’s new love interest, Rose, shook hands with Ash and Victoria like they were old friends. She was small and softly built, with a riot of dark curls pinned haphazardly back from her face, freckles scattered across her nose, and warm brown eyes that crinkled when she smiled, which was often.
Ash liked her immediately, mainly because she was the complete opposite of anyone that Michael had dated before, and that could only be a good thing.
“Thank you so much for having me tonight. It’s an honour to share such a special day with you,” she said. “Have you enjoyed it? Everyone always says it’s the best day of their lives, but I suspect it’s also very stressful.”
But Victoria shook her head. “I don’t want to speak for Ash, but it’s hands-down the best day of my life.
The rain stopped, my favourite people are here, and I got to marry someone I truly wanted to.
” She kissed the tips of her fingers, then raised them to the ceiling.
“It’s been epic in every way.” Victoria’s smile was epic, too.
“The only way to top it off? To have another dance with my wife.” She held up a hand.
“But this time, we can just sway. No pressure.”
Ash grinned. “Thank fuck for that. I don’t want to push my luck.”
They joined the throngs on the dancefloor. Adele had finished her set half an hour ago, and the buzz of it still hung in the room like perfume.
Ash slipped an arm around Victoria, and Victoria flung her arms around Ash’s neck in return. Her face creased as she smiled, broad and unguarded.
God, she was beautiful.
Not the magazine-cover kind of beautiful, though she was that too, with her cheekbones and her posture, and the way she made every room she walked into look slightly underdressed. No, this was something else.
This was Victoria with her hair coming loose at the temples, lipstick long since kissed away, eyes a little glassy from champagne and joy. This was Victoria looking at Ash like there was nowhere else in the world she’d rather be.
Ash had spent half her life watching people fall in love with the idea of Victoria: the princess, the headline, the perfectly composed woman. None of them had ever seen this. This soft, slightly tipsy, undone version. The one who was, somehow, hers.
Ash didn’t know what she’d done to deserve it, but she wasn’t about to question it.
“What about you, with Rose’s question. Has it been the best day of your life?”
Ash smiled at Victoria, as rich, sweet love flowed through her.
“Epic, as you said. I’ve had a lot of great days in my life: European finals, World Cup finals, and you were at them both. My best days are always with you, and I think that’s going to be the case forever more.”
Victoria raised a single eyebrow. “Smooth. Answering the question, but fudging it, also. You got skills. You should be a politician when you finish playing.”
Ash grinned. “Nah. I’m going to lounge around while butlers bring me food and drink.”
“I’d like to see it,” Victoria replied.
They danced near to Ash’s parents, and Ash’s mum tapped Ash on the shoulder. “I just got a selfie with Adele! Still floating.”
Ash laughed. “Sure she is, too, Mum.” She turned her attention back to Victoria, then leaned down and brought their lips together.
“It really is the best day of my life, though. The one where I get to call you my wife. I really do like it.”
“Me, too.”
Ash gazed at her wife dreamily. “I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.”
Victoria kissed her again.
Ash felt it everywhere.
“Can we get out of here soon?”
Ash nodded. “Your wish is my command.”