‘Are you okay?’ he asked softly. ‘Do you need anything?’
Whatever she needed, he’d give her, if it was within his power.
Zoey wriggled into an upright position, dragging the blanket with her so it covered those magnificent breasts he’d so enjoyed rediscovering. The fact that pregnancy had made them even more sensitive was only a bonus.
‘Dinner?’ she asked hopefully. ‘We never got around to it, and I’m kind of hungry.’
Of course. Ash’s worries floated away as he pressed a quick kiss to her lips and jumped out of bed, reaching for his trousers.
‘Stay here. I’ll bring it to you,’ he said, whistling as he headed back to the kitchen.
Everything was going to be fine now. He was sure of it.
* * *
The next few weeks disappeared in a rush of wedding preparations and sex.
Zoey held firm on her registry office plan, and eventually even Ash seemed to agree it was the best idea.
‘Apart from the fact it’s the only way we’re going to get this organised in time if you keep dragging me back to bed every time we have a moment free, I quite like it,’ she said one Saturday morning as they lay together, naked under the sheets.
‘I haven’t heard you objecting to the bed part,’ Ash commented.
‘I’m not. But I am being practical. And romantic.’
Ash propped himself up on one elbow as he looked down at her. ‘How so?’
Zoey grinned up at him, loving the feel of him so close. ‘This wedding is about the future, right? Our lives together, with our child.’ Her hand went automatically to her belly as she said it, and bumped into his as it rested there.
‘Right,’ Ash agreed. ‘So?’
‘So the actual wedding is the least important part. I’m less interested in the day itself, and more focused on everything that comes next.’ His expression softened a little at that and Zoey felt it, tight in her chest. ‘Plus, it means we can spend more time in bed and less time looking at venues.’
‘I’m always in favour of that,’ Ash agreed, swooping down to kiss her again. And then they had better things to do than talk.
Which was just as well, Zoey thought later. Because otherwise she might have ended up confessing her other reasons for wanting to keep things simple.
This wasn’t like her other weddings. There was no hope for true love here—as much as she was still holding out for content and sexually satisfied ever after. She knew she needed to keep that at the front of her mind. Keeping the wedding to a simple registry office affair and lunch with Ash’s parents afterwards was just one of the ways she was doing that.
Her heart ached with the knowledge that the man she loved more than anything in the world would never love her back the same way. He might be her prince, her forever love. But she’d only ever be his stand-in princess, the understudy in a role she was never meant to play for real.
And she could live with that, she’d decided, for the sake of their child. But she couldn’t ever let herself forget her place. Because, if she did, she knew that the smallest reminder would break her, over and over again.
She and Ash loved each other as best friends, and co-parents to be. And as far as he and the rest of the world were to know, that was exactly how things would stay.
No one else needed to know her secret truth.
On the morning of the wedding, Ash kissed her goodbye—a long, lingering promise of a kiss—as she lay in bed. ‘I’ll see you there, yes?’
She smiled lazily up at him. ‘As long as I can bring myself to get out of this bed, yes.’ When he still looked a trifle uncertain, she rolled her eyes. ‘I’m marrying you today, Ash Carmichael, come hell or high water. So go pick up your parents and I’ll see you at the registry office.’
He grinned. ‘Okay. Your car will be here in two hours.’ Another quick kiss and he was gone.
Zoey took her time getting ready—the plain ivory silk, empire-line dress she’d chosen was loose and flowing around her waist, but dipped deep at the neckline to make the most of her enhanced cleavage. It fell almost to the floor, but stopped just short to show off her bright pink heels. She curled her hair so it fell around her shoulders and applied her normal make-up rather than the extra brides were always recommended to wear, to last out the day.