Caught in the Flames

Chapter One Hundred Six

As always, none of this is mine. I'm just the perv who want to make our beloved Twilight characters swear, drink, and go at it like horny rabbits. This story will be a combination of love, suspense, some violence and steamy, sweaty sex.

On with it!

Chapter 106

EPOV

"I can't believe you," Emmett said as we wandered around Tiffany's. "Well, I can. I can see how much you love Bella, but engagement rings? You've been together for six months. You didn't even say that you loved your ex-fiancée for over a year. And it was almost two years before you looked at rings."

"When you know, you know," I said, looking at the maze of diamond engagement rings. "Though, I don't feel any vibe from anything here."

"You said that about half of the jewelry stores on Jeweler's Row," Emmett deadpanned.

"That's because those diamonds were shit," I snorted, remembering the occluded rings they tried to sell me. "You can't go wrong with Tiffany's!"

"Can I help you, sir?" asked an older gentleman.

"I'm just looking for an engagement ring for my girlfriend," I answered.

"Oh! Wonderful! I'm Alfred. What's your name?" Alfred asked.

"I'm Edward and this guy is Emmett," I answered, pointing to my best friend. "He's moral support."

"And what's your girlfriend's name?" Alfred questioned, smiling coyly.

"Her name is Bella," I smiled, imagining my girl. She was deliciously naked and adorably rumpled when I left for my errands today with Emmett. We had spent most of the night making love, celebrating an amazing review of her new business venture in Crain's Chicago Business. I didn't like leaving her alone, but I couldn't exactly buy an engagement ring for her with Bella attached to my hip. She'd have a heart attack. I knew she was amenable to the idea, but amenable and saying yes are two entirely different things.

"I can tell you love her very much," Alfred beamed. "Do you have a picture?" I nodded, pulling out my phone. I showed him a picture of the two of us from the Black and White Ball. She looked like an angel, but so very sexy with her dress. "Very elegant. Where was this taken?"

"I'm a firefighter and this was taken shortly after I received an award at the Chicago Fire Department Black and White Ball," I replied.

"My boy won the Casey Severide Award for Heroism and Valor," Emmett beamed, throwing his arm around me. I blushed, nodding sheepishly. "It's the highest honor a fireman can receive!"

"Congratulations," Alfred smiled, handing me back my phone. "Now, why don't you tell me about your girlfriend? What's she like?"

"Bella is very smart, down-to-earth, funny, selfless, willing to help out anyone and very loving. She does have a tendency to be reserved, guarded and overthinks about things, but that's due to a horrific situation from her past," I murmured.

"Are you looking for a diamond ring or a gem stone?" Alfred asked, leading us to a display case.

"I don't know. She's not into a lot of flashy jewelry. This was the first time I'd seen her in something other than a simple dress and her usual jewelry of a necklace I gave her for her birthday," I said. "I want to get her the best, but I don't want it to be over the top."

"What's your price point?" Alfred asked, looking down at the display case.

"Not a concern, really," I shrugged. My trust fund was going to be footing the bill for her engagement ring. "I want her to get the ring she has always dreamt of."

"Yellow gold or platinum?"

"Platinum," I nodded. Alfred pulled out a few rings and there were a couple that caught my eye but they didn't scream Bella! The diamonds were decent sized, but something about them was just not special enough. After an hour with Alfred, I thanked him for his time and we left Tiffany's.

"Dude, you must really love her," Emmett laughed as we got into my Mustang. "It took you like ten minutes to buy Irina's ring."

"She was easy. Big, bold, expensive," I snorted humorlessly. "Ironically enough, Irina's ring cost a fraction of what Alfred was showing me. The diamond wasn't all that great quality in her setting. It was just over four carats. That's what she wanted."

"Gold-digging whore," Emmett deadpanned.

"You can say that again," I grumbled. "I haven't heard from her since that one night outside of my condo. I wonder if she fell off the face of the planet?"

"Nah. Last I heard, she's begrudgingly helping Rosalie," Emmett sighed, his eyes filling with pain. "When I turned down my ex-girlfriend, Rosalie begged Irina for her support. She's with Rosalie, but it's not looking good."

"Do you know Rosalie's prognosis?" I questioned.

"Everything down here was removed along with several large tumors," Emmett explained, gesturing to his belly. "It's aggressive and they're attacking it aggressively. She won't be able to have children, but at least she's tumor-free."

"That sucks," I frowned, feeling for Rosalie. "I know Rosalie wasn't the nicest person, but no one deserves cancer." Emmett just shook his head somberly. "I'm sorry."

"Me, too. I sent her flowers and well-wishes, but that's the extent of what I'm able to give," Emmett shrugged.

"Even with Jet?" I smirked.

"Dude, she's just a rebound. We're having fun and she's a wildcat in bed," Emmett laughed, his former mood forgotten. "It's more like a friends with benefits thing. Neither one of us is looking for a relationship. We both were hurt in the past and we have an itch to scratch. We do it together."

"Sounds familiar," I deadpanned.

"The difference with me and Jet is that don't pretend to have this non-relationship like you and Tanya. Yes, I brought Jet to the Black and White Ball and she celebrated Thanksgiving at the house, but she did that as my friend. Her folks are both dead and her closest living relative is in Santa Fe," Emmett explained, arching a brow. "We're friends. That's all."

"Okay, okay," I chuckled.

"So, where to next?" Emmett asked.

"I think I'm looking in the wrong places for Bella's ring," I murmured. "I don't need to buy it."

"Huh?"

"Let's go to my parent's house. My mom might be able to help," I smiled crookedly.

A/N: So, Edward's looking at rings. A few of the rings he scoped out are on my blogs...the final decision will be posted with the chapter when he proposes. Links for the blogs are on my profile. You can also find me on Facebook: Tufano79's Twilight Fanfiction Appreciation or on twitter: tufano79. Leave me some!!