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“You knew I was going to do this, and still you’re all blubbery.”

“Hey…I’m a romantic. What can I say?” Sean wiped his eyes as he saw Davis walk up to us.

Davis rested a hand on Jonesy’s shoulder as we stood facing one another. “I think many of us here have been waiting for you to pull your head out of your ass and make Craig here an honest man. You haven’t fooled any of us, Detective Jones,” he said. “And I think, given what went down today, you deserve to take the rest of the day off and spend a little quality time with him.”

“I think we could agree with that,” Jonesy said, pulling me close to his side.

Suddenly, Sean’s wife, Lorraine, walked into the squad room, attempting to pin her visitor’s badge on her blouse. She noticed all of us standing together and stopped.

“Don’t tell me I missed the damn proposal?” she called out. A few chuckles were heard after her boisterous query. A few called out her name, making her wave a generic greeting at the squad room. Sean dropped his head and slowly shook it in exasperation.

Jonesy opened his arms to her as she walked up, pulling her into a loving hug. He let her go, and she reached out to me. “Hi, Lorraine,” I said, my emotions still high.

“Let me see it, dear boy,” she demanded. I held out my arm with the cast, showing her the new piece of jewelry on my ring finger.

“I knew it would look handsome on that hand of yours,” she replied proudly, taking my hand in hers.

“You knew about the ring?” I asked her, glancing at Jonesy, who held a wry smile.

Lorraine reached up and cupped my face. “Of course, my dear. Your boyfriend needed a woman’s touch to help him choose the right ring.”

“Probably the only woman’s touch he’d ever accept,” Sean snarked, earning a slap on the arm from his wife. We all laughed.

I turned to Jonesy. “How long have you been planning to ask me?”

“I’ve been thinking about it for a while. I think it kinda cemented in my mind when we were up in Lake Tahoe together.” He looked down at the floor. “But I think it hit hardest when you were in the hospital. I…uh, started looking at rings online and asked Lorraine to check this one out for me at a local jewelry store. I knew I wanted to ask you right away, but decided I’d wait until we solved the trafficking case. As luck, or fate, would have it, we solved two cases today with your help.”

I looked down at the ring on my finger, then at my fiancé standing next to me. “It’s perfect. I love you so much, babe.”

“I love you, too, Howler,” he replied, leaning over to kiss me again.

“Howler?” Lorraine asked. Sean laughed, and Jonesy snorted.

“I think Craig and I will take our leave now. I wanna get this man home so I can do unspeakable things to him.” Jonesy said, pulling me away as we headed toward the door.

“Enjoy your night, you two. And don’t forget we still need to have you over for dinner one of these evenings,” Lorraine shouted behind us. Jonesy acknowledged her with a wave over his shoulder.

I leaned my head against him as we walked out into the late-afternoon sun. “I still can’t believe you were so bold as to propose to me in front of everyone, especially after all this time without even telling me you loved me over the phone in front of them,” I said, hooking my arm in his.

“As I said…it was long overdue, and I’m sorry I treated you that way. It just felt right to do it at the station, with everyone as witnesses.”

We strolled to his car, in no hurry. “I’m glad we saw Jasmine and Lindsey earlier,” Craig said.

“Me too, Howler. Me too.”

He unlocked his car and opened the passenger door for me. “You realize who we need to tell about our engagement first, right?” he said as I turned before getting into the car.

“Who?”

He closed my door as I sat down, then walked around to open the driver’s side. “My parents and sisters. I think they’ll get a kick out of where and how I popped the question.”

“Oh, shit, you’re right…and my sister, of course. And Chloe… she’s gonna die. Then there’s Wynn and Eli, and all the guys,” I said, rattling off everyone we knew.

“We have time to announce it to everybody, Howler.”

“But first, do you know what I really want to do this weekend?” I asked as he started the car.

Jonesy raised his brow. “I have no idea. Enlighten me.”