Breakfast was good, if a little rushed. We each got something different and traded off feeding bits to each other in a way that I was certain probably made the other patrons sick with irritation. But I was engaged to my best friend and the love of my life and I wanted to enjoy it.

Lew finally sat back after eating way more than I’d ever imagined anyone could eat and ran a foot up the inside of my calf. “How are you doing?”

“Baffled. Where do you put it all?”

“I have a fast metabolism. And we didn’t actually eat dinner last night.”

“Well, not much of it,” I admitted. We had gone back out to eat the food he’d made, but about ten minutes into our meal we’d ended up horizontal on the couch, and then after that we’d gone to bed.

“You want anything else?” he asked.

“No. Finish your coffee, I’ll get the bill.” I paid while he drank the last of his coffee, then escorted him out the door. “It’s a bit of a drive, but I know where I want to go for your ring.”

He raised his eyebrows at me. “All right.”

It took about half an hour to get there in the car. I took the back streets to avoid the traffic, with Lew practically vibrating in the seat beside me. I couldn’t have imagined something that would make me happier than this moment, and I was certain he’d find something he’d like in this shop.

Parking, as was usual in L.A. wasn’t all that easy to find but I did eventually snag a spot not too long a walk away from the shop. I slipped my sunglasses and ball cap on—not that I really needed them, but a wave of paranoia swept over me as I shut the car off, mental images of this being the exact moment that I developed a fan base dedicated enough to follow me into the little store and ruin my moment with Lew.

The door swung open with a discreet hiss of pneumatics, landing us in the middle of what was probably millions of dollars worth of jewelry. I couldn’t afford the really good stuff for him yet, though if he found something here he really liked, I’d move heaven and earth to get it for him.

“Mike?” Right on time, Lew was starting to worry for my pocketbook.

“No, don’t even go there,” I told him. “We’re only doing this once, got it? I’m not going to skimp on it.”

“This shit’s expensive,” he whispered, his eyes wide.

“You’re worth it.” I had the money set aside—it was supposed to be my emergency fund. But this was a better use for it. “Let’s go look at rings.”

A young man popped out of the door to the back of the shop. “Oh, hello, I thought I heard someone come in! Can I help you find anything, or are you just looking?” He smiled brightly at us, but I could tell when the salesman in him picked up on which of us was the omega. “Something for a party?”

Lew threw me a helpless look, and I put my hand in the small of his back and pushed until he started moving. “Kind of. What do you have in the way of engagement rings?”

The salesman pressed his palms together and beamed. “Congratulations! All our engagement sets are over here.” He moved toward a display case on the right-hand side of the store. “You’re looking for a man’s ring?”

“Yes,” I said and pushed Lew right up to the case. He was getting that stubborn look on his face, so I leaned in and whispered, “Nothing over three thousand, okay?” If I gave him a budget, I figured he’d relax about spending the money, though he’d likely set his personal limit at about half of what I told him he could spend, because he was Lew. And my job would be to nudge him into a higher price bracket so he got a ring worthy of him. It was weirdly reminiscent of shopping for prom, except a whole lot better.

His eyes widened, but my little ruse had worked. He turned back to the rings with less anxiety about how much we were spending, and began talking to the salesperson about styles and price. I leaned a hip on the glass and watched happily as he argued the merits of platinum versus palladium versus gold and silver.

“Don’t get silver,” I told him. “It’s too soft, it’ll get all bent up.”

He glanced up at me and nodded thoughtfully while the salesman skillfully moved the tray of silver rings back into the case.

At the end of it all, we’d narrowed it down to three different choices. Lew was leaning toward the cheapest of the three, like I knew he would no matter how hard I argued.

“I don’t need anything really expensive,” he snapped in exasperation. “I’ve got you, that’s expensive enough!”

I laughed and kissed him. “Fine. Whatever you don’t spend out of the budget, I’m going to go spend it on hookers and blow.”

“Mike!” But he was laughing. “You idiot. Why do you want me to spend all your money?”

I shrugged, more casual than I actually was. “Because I love you. And I owe you. And I want you to have something that shows the world just how much I value you.”

He’d opened his mouth to argue some more, but closed it when I said that and I realized I’d hit a nerve. “All right,” he said mildly after a moment. “But I don’t want the big clunky one.”

“That’s fine. Pick what makes you happy.”

He put a hand on my arm for just a second and then turned to the salesman. “I’ll take this one.” He picked up one that was in the upper half of my stated budget, but definitely not even in the top three price-wise between all the ones we’d looked at. “In platinum,” he added darkly, shooting me a look that dared me to contradict him now.

I just tilted my head at the salesman. “You heard the man. Does that one fit or do we need to wait for one to be made?”

The salesman glanced at the computer code taped to the back of the ring and looked thoughtful. “Give me a moment and I’ll check.” He disappeared toward the other end of the shop, where the cash register crouched like a dog waiting to be fed.

“You’re sure about this?” Lew asked in a low voice. “I don’t care about the ring.”

“No?” I reached for his hands. “Not even a little bit?”

He opened his mouth, I was sure to deny that he cared at all, but Lew wasn’t much of a liar at heart. “I…shouldn’t we be saving money for other things?”

“Like what? You only get engaged once, right?”

He nodded.

I slid in closer to him. “Does the ring make you happy?”

“I do like it.” His gaze flickered away, over my shoulder toward the back of the shop. “I’ve never spent that much money on something before. Except my car.”

His lips were so tempting. I kissed him and he kissed me back, pulling his hands away from mine only to flatten them against my chest.

The salesman cleared his throat noisily behind us. “You’re in luck. We don’t generally sell the display pieces, but since it does fit your fiancé and we have a recent return I can put out in its stead, you can take this one home with you today.”

I reached for my wallet and pulled out a credit card. “Let’s do this.”

Then, as soon as I had the receipt in my hand and we’d suffered through the salesman’s spiel about warranties and returns, I went down on one knee in front of Lew and reached for his left hand. “Lewellyn King, would you marry me? Even though I’m an idiot?”

He nodded and laughed, but his eyes were bright with unshed tears. “I will. Even though you are an idiot. At least you know it.” He covered his mouth with his free hand as I slid the ring into place on his finger, then pulled me up and kissed me like we were home in the apartment, not standing in the middle of store in front of a total stranger.

“Let’s go home,” he whispered at the end of the kiss. “There’s still time.”

“I love you,” I whispered back, then we raced out of the shop, headed for home so I could make love to Lew with my ring on his finger.