Page 18 of Moore to Love

“Yes, hurt,” she insisted with a nod. “She’s a single mom who was betrayed by her ex in the worst way possible. Wearing cute outfits probably gives her a boost to her self-confidence.”

Clenching my fists at my sides as I thought about how much I’d like to punch her ex-husband, I muttered, “She’d be gorgeous no matter what she wears to work.”

“Yeah, I kinda already got the impression you’d say something like that.” Before I had the chance to backtrack, she added, “But have you considered the possibility that she doesn’t have money to spend on scrubs and maybe doesn’t own enough pairs of jeans to change them up each day? The skirts might be her best option for more than one reason.”

“Shit.” I raked my fingers through my hair, mentally kicking myself for not thinking about that potential issue before I opened my big mouth. The last thing I wanted was for Ellie to feel uncomfortable.

“Don’t beat yourself up too much.” Meghan patted me on the shoulder. “You’re a guy, so you’re going to mess up from time to time.”

Rolling my eyes, I shook my head. “I’m going to tell Roger you said that the next time he stops in.”

She shrugged. “As if I don’t already point it out to him whenever he messes up.”

“Good point.”

I was glad that our conversation had taken a different turn because Ellie popped her head in the doorway to announce, “Your first patient of the day is here.”

Shooing Meghan out of my office, I beamed a smile at Ellie. “Great, please send them in.”

The morning went quickly, with back-to-back appointments that kept me too busy to say anything to Ellie that wasn’t related to my patients. My last examination went over by thirty minutes, so I only had enough time to scarf down my lunch before pulling up the records for my one o’clock. Rufus was a ten-year-old basset hound whose owner had inherited him after his father passed away.

I had always thought John was a good guy, and I respected how he’d taken his dad’s beloved pet into his home when needed. But he quickly jumped to the top of my shit list when Ellie let him into the clinic a few minutes early.

“Well, hello there,” he murmured. “I didn’t realize Finn had hired someone new, let alone someone as beautiful as you.”

“Oh…um…thank you, officer. I just started last Monday.”

I strode out of my office and realized the bastard was in uniform while flirting with my newest employee. He usually scheduled Rufus’s appointments for when he wasn’t on duty, but this visit had been last minute, so he must have run home to pick the dog up in the middle of his patrol shift.

“Never thought I’d say this, but I suppose I should be glad that Rufus is off his food.” John patted the top of his dog’s head. “Or else I wouldn’t have come in again until his next checkup, and that’s not for another six months. Which is entirely too long to go without meeting you.”

“Quit hassling Ellie and bring Rufus back so I can take a look at him,” I directed, pulling John’s attention away from her and earning me a curious look from him and a confused one from her.

John followed me to the exam room, but not before saying, “I’ll see you after Finn figures out what’s wrong with this poor guy.”

“I’ll be here.” Ellie’s cheeks were a pretty pink color, making me wonder if she’d enjoyed John’s attention, while I hoped it was because she was reacting to me instead.

“So that’s how it is?” John asked, leaning his hip against the exam table after lifting Rufus onto the flat surface.

I grabbed my stethoscope from the counter. “How what is?”

He shook his head with a low laugh. “You can act as though you don’t know what I’m talking about as much as you’d like, but we both know you just peed around your pretty receptionist to warn me away from her.”

I ignored his taunt as I started Rufus’s exam. It didn’t take long for me to discover a likely cause of the problem. “He has some dental decay that could be causing discomfort when he chews. I can run some additional tests to rule out other potential causes, or you can try soaking his kibble, switching to wet food, or mixing in some pumpkin to see if that gets him back to eating again.”

John scratched under Rufus’s chin. “Damn, now that you mention it, he’s not been up for playing tug lately either. I bet it’s because his teeth have been bothering him.”

“Then switching his food is your best bet.” I pulled up a note from a visit five years ago and scanned the information. “Your dad gave him canned pumpkin when he had a bout of viral gastroenteritis, and he took to it without any issues.”

He helped the basset hound off the table. “That’s easy enough to do. I’ll stop by the grocery store later to pick some up.”

“Good boy.” I crouched down and gave the dog a soft treat that wouldn’t hurt his mouth. He snatched it off my palm and barked after he swallowed. “You might want to get some of these too.”

“I can do that,” John agreed, leading Rufus toward the door. “Does your receptionist know where I can buy them?”

I slammed my palm against the hard surface before he went to open it. “Don’t use Ellie to push my buttons. She deserves better than that.”

His eyes narrowed as he scanned my expression. “What if I’m not doing it just to get a rise out of you? Would you be cool with me asking your pretty receptionist out on a date because she seems sweet, and I’d like to get to know her better?

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