Nick waited until he heard the water running in the bathroom before finding his phone. There was a phone number programmed in that he'd been saving for a number of years.
Wincing at the time, and hoping he wasn't disturbing anyone's sleep, he hit "send." The phone rang a few times, then a strong yet scratchy voice answered. "H'lo, and you'd better have a good reason for calling."
"Mr. Mattes?"
"Who else would be answering my phone at three in the morning?"
Nick grinned sheepishly. "Sorry if I woke you up, Mr. Mattes. This is Nick Stokes."
The voice warmed. "Nick! Haven't heard from you in a while. I suppose though, in our lines of work, this is a good thing."
"Yes, it is, Mr. Mattes. You haven't had any more trouble?"
"No, not a hair. But you wouldn't be calling me this late just to check up on me." The older man's scratchy laughter came through the line.
"No, sir."
"There's usually only one reason a man calls a jeweler in the middle of the night in Las Vegas, Nick. Did you finally meet her?"
Nick smiled, remembering his early meetings with Arnie Mattes and the man's repeated offer to help Nick find a ring if he ever found the right girl. "No, sir, I met her six years ago. I just finally got the chance to convince her I was the one for her."
Mattes chuckled again. "And you're not giving her the chance to change her mind, I bet. Give me an hour; I'll open up the shop special for you and your lady."
"Thanks, Mr. Mattes." Nick closed his phone. Water was still running in the bathroom, and his mind filled with images of hot water, wet skin, slick soap, and Sara.
Sara shivered as the shower door opened, letting some of the steam out and cool air in. Brushing water out of her eyes, she turned to see Nick standing behind her. "Finished your call?" she asked, stepping closer, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Mmm." He nipped at her lips, tongue darting out to lap the beaded water off her skin. "Yep."
"Going to tell me who you called?"
Nick's grin spoke volumes. "Nope. But you can try to, ah, persuade me if you want."
Sara just shook her head, a matching grin on her face. "You are incorrigible."
"Yeah, and you just keep incorriging me." He caught her hands before she could smack him for the pun and kissed her.
Just over an hour later, their taxi pulled up in front of a small storefront. A few lights were on inside, and Nick could just make out Mattes' slight silhouette. Nick made a brief call on his cell, then more lights blazed inside the store.
"Nick! Come in, come in. And this is your special lady?" Mattes asked, unlocking the door for them.
"Yes, sir. This is Sara." Nick squeezed her hand. "Sara, this is Arnie Mattes; I helped him out a few years back when someone was trying to frame him for insurance fraud."
"He's a good boy, Nick is," Mattes told Sara.
Sara smiled, liking the older man. "Yes, he is."
"I told him when he found the girl, to bring her here and we'd get the perfect ring for her. Imagine my surprise when I get his call this morning!"
Sara looked at Nick. "So that's the call you had to make?" He grinned and nodded.
"I've pulled a few trays, some things I think you might be interested in. Just let me know if I'm in the right direction." Mattes led them to a counter where he'd spread a small section of black velvet. Sara glanced over the rings in the trays, then up at Nick, biting her lip.
"Nick…would you mind if I, ah, didn't want an engagement ring, just a band?" she asked. "It's just, well, we're only going to be engaged a few hours, at most, and I won't be able to wear it at work anyway…."
Nick rubbed her back soothingly. "Pick whatever you want, Sara. I'll be happy with it even if it's made of rubber bands and scotch tape."
She turned back to Mattes. "Just bands, please?"
The older man smiled. "I may have something just right. Picked up some nice bands at a few estate sales recently." He swiftly replaced the trays he'd first brought out with a smaller tray. "Some pretty, not too plain."
Sara's breath caught in her throat. She'd spotted it. The ring she'd never known she'd always wanted. "That one."
Mattes pulled it from its spot. Made of rose gold, it was pretty, but not too delicate, with a swirling filigree and sculpted flowers, a small diamond in the center of each flower. He handed it to her to try on; she slid it onto her ring finger where it fit perfectly, as if it had been waiting for her.
She ran her fingertips over the band, testing to see how much it sat above her finger. "This is it, Nick." She looked up at him, eyes glowing. He leaned in and kissed her.
"This one it is, then." Mattes smiled and jotted a few notes on a pad of paper.
"Now for you, Nick?"
"Something similar, not too fancy?"
Mattes shuffled through a few trays. "Ah, here." He produced a simple rose gold band, plain except for a small bead grain along the outer edges. Nick nodded, then tried it for fit. "A little small; give me a minute and I'll fix that." Nick handed the ring back, and Mattes made a few more notes on his pad before disappearing into the back of the store.
Nick looked down to where Sara was still admiring her ring. "Am I going to get that off you so I can put it back on you at the ceremony?" he teased.
"Maybe." She grinned at him. Mattes came back out, Nick's ring in a small, black leather box.
"All set, Nick. It should fit like a dream now." He handed the black box to Nick, and produced a small, white leather box for Sara's ring. Reluctantly, she slid it off her finger and set it in the box.
Nick leaned in to whisper in her ear, "Another hour or so, and you won't have to take it off again." She smiled, a faint hint of butterflies fluttering in her stomach.
After a brief discussion between Nick and Mattes about payment that Sara wasn't allowed to hear, they were back in the taxi. Nick squeezed her hand. "You ready?"
She smiled, recognizing the butterflies as excitement, not nerves. "I'm ready. You find a place?"
"I think I know just the place." He leaned in and kissed her.
Author's Note: Yup, once again, the steamier version is at my website. Find the link in the profile (not the LiveJournal link, the Freeservers link). Arnie Mattes is from the CSI novel Double Dealer, by Max Allan Collins. There's at least one more chapter after this, possibly two.