pattern of his bruise. It had faded to a truly impressive yellow-green tint that made his mother shake her head every time she looked at him. Callie motioned to his torso. “How are your ribs? I suppose it’s too much to hope that you’ve followed the doctor’s orders to take things slowly.”
There was comfort in starting this night with a conversation similar to the ones they’d had the last few nights. “It depends on your definition of slowly.” He laughed when she scowled. “Ah, angel, I’m mostly joking. I’ve managed to go a whole five days without fighting or doing anything else that would injure me further.” Mostly because Carrigan and threatened his life if he left the house, and Sloan and Keira basically pounced on him if he got within ten feet of the front door. He’d had to conduct his investigation to find Brendan’s killer via Devlin and Liam. The former he would have liked to avoid including despite the work being low-risk, but his youngest brother had insisted.
They hadn’t found much conclusive, but two of the strippers who worked at Tit for Tat were sure they saw a woman who wasn’t an employee leaving through the back door with blood on her. On one hand, it would no doubt reassure both James’s and Teague’s conscience that it didn’t seem to be a case of self-defense that came about from some runaway. On the other hand, it made it a hell of a lot harder to track the woman down. Two of the three strippers said she was wearing a bright red wig, and he couldn’t exactly search Boston for a woman with “a body to kill for.”
No, he was temporarily stalled out, at least until a few of the feelers he put out came back. He paused in the kitchen. “Beer or wine?”
“Wine, please.”
He poured her a glass and then grabbed a bottle of beer for himself. If he was stuck for the time being in his search for the truth, there wasn’t anyone else he’d rather be stuck with. “Have I mentioned that I missed you?”
“It might have come up.” She smiled and moved to peer into his cupboards. “Sit down before you fall down.”
He’d half expected her to show up ready to seduce him—especially considering how the last time had gone when they were in this apartment. The fact that she so obviously had other priorities stung his pride a little. He stepped up to wrap himself around her from behind. “What’s the hurry, angel?”
“None of that.” She slapped his wandering hands away and turned in his arms to face him. “It’s been a rough week, Teague. Let me take care of you for a little while.” She pressed a light kiss to his throat. “It’ll make us both feel better.”
There was no rush. He’d wanted to prove to her that this meant more to him than hot sex, and dragging her off to his bedroom to prove how much better he was suddenly feeling wasn’t going to do that. They had all night. Teague kissed her forehead and let her turn back around. “What’s for dinner?”
“Pizza.” She glanced at him over her shoulder. “Our cook, Emma, has tried to teach me the finer points of putting together a meal, but I’m a lost cause. I can do the simple things, but that’s about it.”
It didn’t matter if she was making mac and cheese. Callie was here, cooking for him, making sure he took care of himself. “How can I help?”
“Sit down and drink your beer. You might be feeling better, but you still look like you’re about to keel over.” She pulled out two jars of pizza sauce and started laying the various toppings out on the counter.
He sat. “You sure know how to make a man feel ten feet tall.”
“I just—”
“It’s okay. I understand.” She’d been worried about him—was still worried about him. He’d had the last five days to get used to the idea of another person being that close to him—someone who wasn’t family.
She offered him a small smile. “That’s good, because I’m still wrapping my mind around it.” She started the oven preheating and rifled through the lower drawers until she found two cookie sheets he hadn’t known he owned. “How was your day?”
“Better than yesterday because there was no wedding planning involved.”
She laughed. “You were dodging your mother.”
“Unashamedly. I saw her coming up the stairs and looking determined, and I ducked into my brother’s room and hid.” The look