Free Blind Dates Can Be Murder by Mindy Starns Clark Page B

with me, and you’re only a few doors down if I need you. Okay?”
    She had lost him somewhere in the middle of her list, about when he realized that she had a faint freckle right on the edge of her bottom lip, just where he would like to kiss it.
    “Okay,” he said finally. “Just promise you’ll be careful.”
    “I promise,” she replied.
    Then she stood up on tiptoe, kissed him on the cheek, and headed out for her date.
    She was out of the door before he remembered that he still hadn’t told her his big news.

    Brock was waiting at the restaurant when Jo arrived, and when he spotted her, he gave her a huge smile that seemed genuine. She approached him, and before she had a chance to go through an awkward moment of greeting, he reached out and took both of her hands and kissed her on the cheek.
    “You look lovely today,” he drawled in his Southern accent. “I’m sorry I can’t say the same.”
    He gestured toward his head, and Jo could see that the swelling had grown worse, and that it had spread around his head to his face. The skin near his right eye was swollen, and there was some bruising on his eyelid.
    “What did they say at the hospital? Do you have a concussion?”
    “Mild,” he told her. “They wouldn’t let me go home alone, so I had to call a colleague. He came over and babysat me all night. Fortunately, I never got nauseous and all that. Just had a really, really bad headache.”
    “Are you sure you’re up to lunch? We can always reschedule, you know.”
    “Are you kidding, Jo? The thought of seeing you again was the only thing that got me through a very difficult night.”

    Lettie turned in the completed job application at the front desk. The woman directed her to sit in a certain area, a small grouping of empty chairs, and after only ten minutes she was led down the hall and introduced to a man in human resources. Lettie hated job interviews, but Mickey had put together such a sparkling—albeit padded—resume for her that she had a feeling she just might get through this one okay.
    The man asked all of the usual questions, and Lettie felt that she gave some good answers. Sure enough, when the interview was over, he all but offered her the job.
    “Of course, I’ll need to check your references, but if everything comes out okay, Lettie, I’d say you’re hired.” Mickey had taken care of the references as well, so Lettie knew she was a shoo-in. She allowed herself a small smile until he added, “Could you start, say, April second?”
    Lettie swallowed, her eyes wide.
    “Why wait till April?” she asked. “I can start Monday.”
    He shook his head, sliding her papers into a large manila folder.
    “You’ll be replacing Viveca, one of our employees who’s going out on maternity leave. Her last day is the third, so if you start on the first that gives you a three-day overlap for training purposes.”
    Lettie’s mind raced. The interview had gone well, the reference check would go well, but even though she would get the job, there would be a delay of seven days. A whole week! By then Chuck would almost be ready to get out of prison and Lettie would be long gone.
    “Thank you so much for coming,” the man said, standing. She had no choice but to do the same and to take his outstretched hand and shake it. Lettie walked to the door, trying to think of a solution as she went. She needed to get a job there
now
.
    “If an opening comes up any sooner, please let me know,” she told him. “I’m really eager to get started.”
    “Oh, absolutely.”
    Lettie reached the doorway and then turned, Mickey’s words ringing in her head. She needed to get a connection going there, no matter what it would take.
    “Can I ask you a question?” she said.
    “Of course.”
    “I’ve been thinking of trying a dating service myself,” she lied. “Would there be any conflict of interest if I signed up as a client?”

    Brock Dentyne was a dentist. Considering his name, Jo thought that was the