Page 103 of Lawton

He frowned. "An engagement ring?"

It wasn't just any engagement ring. It was a flawless five-carat diamond set in platinum. Only yesterday, my jeweler had it flown in special from New York.

When I'd gone in on Monday to pick out Chloe's birthday gift, I'd been unable – or more likely, unwilling – to stop myself from looking at rings, too. One thing had led to another, and now I had two jewelry boxes to give her – one tonight, and one, well, I didn't know when.

Bishop was still holding the paperwork. "You're serious?"

I pushed away from my desk. I'd known this conversation would come eventually. I just hadn't wanted it to be now. But fine. Whatever. "Yeah," I said. "And I don't want any grief about it, okay?"

He tossed the paperwork back onto the desk. "So who's the lucky girl?"

"Youknowwho."

He flicked his gaze to the drawer containing the ring. "Is she expecting that?"

"It's called a surprise, dumb-ass."

"Right." He crossed his arms. "So when are you gonna give it to her?"

That was the million-dollar question, wasn't it? I knew it was crazy. But I loved her. I wanted to be with her always. With Chloe, it was hard as hell to take things slow, but I was working on that. Still, there was nothing wrong with being prepared, right?

Bishop's voice interrupted my thoughts. "You've known this girl for how long? A few weeks?"

I gave him a look. "Let me get this straight," I said. "You're judgingme? You sure you wanna go there?"

Bishop liked to forget that he, too, had been in love, once. And from what I recalled, he'd fallen just as fast.

"So that's your defense?" he said. "I was stupid, so you're gonna be stupid, too?"

I wasn't stupid. This was the smartest thing I'd ever done. "I'm not 'defending' anything," I told him. "I shouldn't have to. So fuck off, alright?"

He was quiet a long moment. "Just be careful. Okay?"

Screw that. I didn't want to be careful. I wanted Chloe. It was time to change subject. "About tonight," I said, "I mean it. I'm busy."

"Until when?" he asked.

"All night."If I was lucky.

"Fine," he said. "I'll do it alone."

It was a dumb idea, and we both knew it. There was a guy in Southfield who had a thing for under-aged girls. We had a plan to take him down.

It was tricky, but we had a system. We'd done it before, several times, in fact. But it was a three-person operation – me, Bishop, and Tanya, a baby-faced prostitute who could keep a secret.

"No," I said. "Tomorrow, just like I said."

"And likeIsaid, there's complications."

"So work them out," I said. "Get creative or something, will ya?"

His voice was flat. "Get creative.That'syour plan?"

"Just do it," I said. "It's Chloe birthday. There's no way I'm cancelling."

"Except her birthday's not 'til tomorrow."

I paused. "How do you know?"