Dead Beat Dates & Deities - Goddess of Tornado Alley Series Book One

Chapter Nine

Frank spent a long, sleepless night tossing and turning in her normally comfortable bed. By the time she'd showered and was standing in front of her bathroom mirror the next morning, she had convinced herself that she should ditch Ella's lunch time plan in lieu of visiting a shrink. Twice she'd almost gone to her computer to look one up. She tamed her unruly curls with a dollop of mousse before pulling them back from her face with a large tortoise shell clip. Her attempt at hiding the bruising around her eyes with a combination of foundation and powder went better than she'd hoped, but the bruises were so dark now that she decided there was no amount of makeup she could apply to fully disguise them.

She smoothed some color onto her lips and came to the reluctant conclusion that maybe she was looking at Ella's idea from the wrong perspective. Really, what harm could this little experiment cause? The worst thing that could happen is that it didn't work, right? She clicked the bathroom light off and descended the stairs only to stop halfway down when another thought popped into her head. Or would the worst thing be that it did work?

Because of the snow, Frank decided to wear her Jimmy Choo buckled motorcycle boots beneath a mid-length black pencil skirt and white button-down shirt. She made sure the front door was locked, peeking out of the panes of glass into her front yard. Ella was right. Someone really did need to get out there with a shovel.

The stop at the coffee shop cost her a few extra minutes, and by the time she got to work she had to rush to make it to her office on time. The life of a commercial loan officer was not always exciting, and it was not always busy, especially in a struggling economy. Regardless, Frank was good at her job and, for the most part, she liked it. She also liked staying on her boss's good side so was careful about punctuality.

"There's something different about you today," Nick Carlson stated as Frank met up with him in the hall between their offices. He'd been her boss since her first day at the bank and they got along well. He was someone she probably would have dated if not for the rumors going around that he was somewhat of a player. That, and the fact that she was his employee. "I can't put my finger on it," he paused looking her up and down with a hand on his chin in a thoughtful pose. "Oh, yeah. It looks like you ran face first into a door. Either that or you decided to get pretty heavy handed with the eye shadow."

"No eye shadow or doors. It was actually a fountain that got me."

"Yeah, I know."

"You do?"

"YouTube. You've got 1,800 views so far."

"Wow. That is really disturbing news."

Nick nodded. "How you got into the fountain in the first place is still a mystery." He glanced at his watch. "I have the time now if you want to fill me in on the details."

"A wrinkle in the carpet and maybe one too many margaritas," Frank told him.

"Peach?"

She sighed. "No, lime. So," she said, in an attempt to change the subject. "Got anything new for me?"

Nick moved his hand to the knot in his tie. "I haven't spoken to Mary yet. I'm just getting spun up myself. You on any medication?"

"Got a tetanus shot. Still hurts like hell."

"What about the stitches?"

"Antibiotics. Nothing that will hinder my decision making on the job."

Nick cocked an eyebrow. "I'd say your decision making was hindered about thirty seconds before you fell face first into that fountain."

"Boy," Frank responded. "You're sure witty at eight o'clock on a Monday morning."

"Something about the way you look today just brought it out in me I guess."