might be giving me time to hide the body. You never know.”
Phil gave off a bark of joyous laughter.
Bringing my hand to his lips, he held it out to inspect the ridiculously large diamond. “I made sure it was ethically mined. I got a certificate and everythin’.”
I glanced at it, and suddenly, I loved the sparkling mass. I hadn’t even thought of that although I knew I would have eventually. It made me happy to think that he knew me so well, that he’d known I would’ve expected nothing less.
“It really is beautiful,” I told him.
“I wanted to get a bigger one, but I didn’t think you’d go for it.”
“I would’ve loved anything you gave me,” I replied.
“You can’t fuckin’ take it off. Ever.”
I laughed. “You know I have to for work, babe. I’d end up surgically slicing someone with this. But I promise to keep it on me at all times.”
“I guess I can live with that,” he conceded as he passed the spliff. “I’ll never take mine off though.”
“I’m actually surprised you weren’t prancing around, showing everyone your engagement ring.”
“I told X, Jason, and Flipper,” he admitted. “I had to. Oh, and Lewis. And Connor.”
I coughed. “Gods above, you guys are like a gang of preteen girls!”
“I know. I told Sheri, too.”
“Shit! You told me not to tell anyone! I knew when you told me, you’d never be able to keep your own mouth shut!”
“Ha-ha, yeah. But I did want Alys and Lili to be surprised. I wanted them to see just how much you mean to me and that I’ll always take care of you and treat you like the goddess you are.”
“Madman.” I snorted.
He rolled on top of me, crushing me into the bed. “For you, fuck yeah. Always.”
Somewhere along the way, the gods sped time up, most likely because I was enjoying every second of it. For so long, it had seemed to drag its ass. It used to drive me crazy, passing me by at the raging pace of an angry snail.
Phil had brought me to life, and I felt as though I was finally living. Filled with laughter, secret glances, passing touches, inside jokes, I wondered how I had ever existed without them.
New Year’s had zipped by us. We’d celebrated at Bougainvillea with live bands, our loved ones, and large quantities of booze and weed. The weekend following had proven to be our recovery time. It had been the longest Phil and I had ever gone without shagging while being in the same house.
Work had slapped us all around the first week back after the holidays. I’d had a hell of a time wanting to even show up, but once more, I had slipped into my comfortable routine, and balance had restored itself.
On the extremely bright side, Rita’s IT stalker genius had been apprehended. We were all breathing easier for that. The guy, Kyle Whitestone, had been found to be a complete head case and placed in a mental facility while awaiting trial.
“He even has a douche-bag name,” sneered my fiancé. “Who the fuck names their kid Kyle?”
I didn’t think Kyle was a douche-bag name, and I was pretty sure Phil only now hated it because of the situation. “What would you name our kid?”
“Angus,” he promptly replied. “And his twin brother would be Seamus.”
“Seamus and Angus,” I repeated, stunned. “You do realize that their friends would call them ‘Shameless’ and ‘Anus’, right?”
He just shrugged.
“Kind of deviating from the Frenchy names, eh?”
He grinned. “I like the names of your kind better. They don’t sound like pansies.”
“No, just like raunchy porn titles,” I grumbled under my breath. My kind.
NOLA’s Junk, their contract with Rattlesnake Records up, had started recording their new album, for which they predicted would be released sometime in early June, just in time for the Twisted Festivus tour.
In addition to recording and producing their own album, they were recording and producing Devil’s Advocate and Space Monkeys. Of the two, Space Monkeys were making the most headway, coming up with some real awesome sounds and practicing their asses off at the studio. Those guys were pushing the boundaries of their music, and Our Boys loved working with them on it.
Devil’s Advocate seemed to be enjoying the lifestyle a little too much, but the guys weren’t overly concerned. They were usually sober and ready for work on time.
Siggie, on the other hand, had proven her worth to Our Boys and had been offered a job working alongside Sheri in the studio. She was