He rolled his eyes, but I pressed the issue. “So. What’s going on? What’s put you in such a foul mood?”
He set his jaw, shaking his head, like maybe he wasn’t going to tell me. Before I could coax it out of him, he blew air out of his nose, then approached me, putting his head on my shoulder.
“That new patient of mine?” he said into my collarbone.
“Yeah?”
“Complete and utter asshole.”
“Did he do something to you?” I asked, setting my grilling tongs down, ready to ride out and take care of whoever this asshole was.
“No, he didn’t do anything. Except open his big mouth.”
I pulled him into my arms, and he draped himself on me as he kissed my neck.
“What’d he say?” I asked, keeping my voice even.
“I blame myself. Even though I didn’t wear any makeup, I still had on these,” he said, flashing his beautiful nails.
I now knew more about manicures than I ever thought I would. While Sky enjoyed long, bejeweled nails, they were highly impractical for his business, so he kept them short, simple, and, I believed, still pretty.
But there was no denying that red nails stood out on a handsome man wearing scrubs.
“What did he say?” I repeated, pulling him in closer. “Tell me.”
“Just your typical homophobic bullshit. Saying he wasn’t gonna let someone like me look after him.”
“What’s his name?”
“Can’t do that. HIPAA. Besides, his low back issues are going to stay just that.Hislow back issues.”
I grimaced. I hated back pain even more than knee pain. “His loss, then.”
“Yeah.”
We stood there for a moment, swaying to the sound of the steak sizzling on the grill.
“Sweetheart, I don’t mean this as any kind of judgment, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen you truly bothered by somebody’s shitty comment.”
“I could usually give a fuck about someone else’s homophobic bullshit—none of my business, not my miserable life to live.”
“But . . .”
“But he was in such a bad way, and I genuinely wanted to help him. Not being able to ease his pain felt like I’d failed him somehow.”
He snorted, and I responded, “Obviously, you know that’s not true.”
“Obviously,” he said, kissing my jaw. “It’s just . . . it took the entire drive back home telling myself that me wearing nail polish doesn’t give him the right to treat me like shit.”
“That’s damn right,” I said, stifling the joy of hearing him call my house his home. “This is your business. You can run it however the hell you want to. Most of your clients are completely fine with you exactly as you are. It’s not something they haveto overlook, it’s something they love about you. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I know, I know. It’s just . . . I was really starting to feel like I had a handle on the cowboys out here.”
“Youdo,” I promised. “We’ve talked about this. Most folks are accepting, and the ones who aren’t huge fans of it will at least let you do your job. It’s a small number of very loud, very self-righteous dickheads, and I don’t mind saying they deserve whatever pain they’ve got coming their way.”
“I’m gladyoucan say that. I still believe indo no harm, though, even when someone is an asshole. So, I feel like a failure as a healthcare provider when I can’t get through to them.”
“I hear you, baby. But you’re not. You’ve helped so many people out here. Besides, I’ve seen your numbers and you’re already starting to make real money.”
