The phone disconnected and he sighed, putting it on the counter and hoping Abby hadn’t been paying that much attention. Stupid about other things. Yeah, Mom. Real subtle, that hint.
“So. Just how completely loopy do you get with the pain meds?” Abby asked, brushing his hair back.
He grimaced and shot her a look. “I took something last night. Did you notice any . . . ah . . .”
“Oh. Yes.” She grinned. “There were a few moments. And I’ve seen you on pain meds before. It’s just been a while. I was wondering if it had gotten any better.”
“Shit, no. If anything, it’s just gotten worse.”
* * *
“You want to tell me why?”
Zach folded his arms over his chest and stared at a point somewhere over Abby’s shoulder. “Look, are you going to give me a ride in or not? If you’re not, I’ll call Keelie or one of the others. Hell, I can call a cab if it’s that much trouble.”
“Trouble . . .” Her eyes narrowed on his face as she drawled the word out and he suspected that probably hadn’t been the ideal way to try and move this conversation forward, but fuck. All he needed to do was go to the shop for a little while.
Clenching his jaw, he counted to five silently. “I spent all day laying around yesterday. I took it easy. Now I’m getting back to work.”
“You can’t even move without hurting.”
“I’m aware of that fact, thanks.” He went to shove a hand through his hair and had a dismal reminder of that fact, one that left him biting back a curse as his ribs shrieked at him.
“Gee, Zach . . . did that feel good?”
He glared at her. “Can we go or am I calling somebody else?”
“Are you trying be an ass?” she demanded, propping her hands on her hips. She tapped her nails against her skin and part of him was thinking about the way she’d raked those pretty nails across his belly as they’d woke up. That was a thought that just made him more irritated because when he’d tried to pull her on top of him, she’d given him a nice little kiss on the cheek and then rolled out of bed.
She had him twisted up, damn it. She’d always had him like this, but it was worse now and he couldn’t even tell her how much worse it was. The bad thing was that if she really pushed it, he’d probably go ahead and do whatever in the hell she asked him, just because he didn’t want to see her unhappy and fuck, but he couldn’t do that. Couldn’t live that way and he knew it.
“I need to go in,” he said, keeping his voice flat because if he started to yell, they’d end up fighting and he didn’t want to fight with her. “I need to get an idea of what damage was done and figure out what to do about insurance and all. Keelie never thinks about it. I want my guys to see I’m okay and if by chance it’s some thug from the neighborhood, they are damn well going to know that this bullshit doesn’t mean I don’t go to work.”
“You’re right,” Abby said mockingly. “And resting through the damn weekend, giving your body a couple days to recover really proves what a macho piece of work you are.”
Shifting his eyes to hers, he just stared.
Their gazes locked and after a minute, she looked away and groaned. Zach closed his eyes and rubbed his hand over the back of his neck.
Did he have to go in?
Hell, probably not. But he needed to.
It was what he needed to do and couldn’t she—
He didn’t let himself finish that thought because the answer was going to hurt too much. Things were changing, he thought. He hoped. And maybe someday she’d understand what Steel Ink meant to him. Why he had to go. But not yet, he thought sourly as he turned away and pulled out his phone. It wasn’t quite ten. Keelie was probably heading in and she had to get there to open but he could probably get Javier to pick him up. “I’ll call Javi,” he said brusquely. “He only lives about twenty minutes or so from here. I—”
Abby’s hand closed around his and she plucked the phone away with the other. “No.”
“Abby, I—” Whatever he planned on saying was cut off as she reached up and pressed her fingers lightly to his mouth.