If The Shoe Fits by Laurie LeClair Read Free Book Online

his cook,
how’s them apples?” Her voice went up a little higher in her
excitement.
    “You’re taking it? You’re actually going to
leave the barracuda for good?”
    She got another poke with an elbow. “Damn
straight, if you’ll be there. It’ll be just like we’ve always
dreamed about. You and me. You sketching your dresses and me making
them.”
    “Ah, I hate to burst your bubble, but you’d
still have to work for … him.” Her voice caught on Alex’s name.
    “That’s the thing. He’s paying me double to
do half the work I’ve been doing. Ain’t that a hoot?” She put down
her cup and clapped her hands in glee. “No more dusting, vacuuming,
making beds, cleaning toilets, nothing. He’s already got a maid to
do all that.”
    Charlie pulled back slightly. She put down
her own cup. A ray of hope for Dolly spread in her middle. “You’re
sure about this?”
    “Had me a good little talk with Mr. R.”
    “When?”
    “This morning. He came around to the house
and made me a deal I couldn’t refuse. He even had a contract made
out and all. Real fancy like.”
    Charlie’s mind raced with the sequence of
events. Alex must have gone to see Dolly right after he left her
office this morning, and then he went to the yacht for their lunch
date. “Did…did he say anything about me then?”
    Dolly waved her off with a hand. “Oh, no, he
never told me his plans for you. But he did say you could come
visit anytime you wanted to, stay as long as you like.” She
shrugged her shoulders. “You know, giving you free rein of his
house.”
    “So he knew.”
    “Honey, he knew last night. The way he was
looking
    at you and kissing your hand.”
    “He kissed yours, too,” Charlie pointed
out.
    She sighed wistfully. “But not like
yours.”
    Leaning over, Dolly bumped her shoulder
    against Charlie’s, and then moved slightly
away.
    “What do you say, kiddo? You and me living
with the Alexander Royale? Ain’t too shabby for the likes of
us.”
    Regaining her sense of humor, she said, “It
does have some interesting possibilities, doesn’t it? I don’t think
he would know what hit him with the pair of us.” She giggled as the
thoughts tumbled through her mind.
    “Do you think we could get him to be our
mannequin for our new designs? You know, a little silk here, a
little lace there…” She burst out laughing and Charlie joined
her.
    Suddenly there was a sharp rap on the door,
startling Charlie and her friend.
    A moment later, taking a deep, shaky breath,
Charlie opened the door. “Stepmother! What are you doing here?”
    The thin-lipped woman shot her a look of
disdain. “Really, Charlotte, your manners.” She brushed past
Charlie and came to an abrupt halt. Quickly, she gazed around the
loft apartment. Her brow furrowed more and more as she took in the
tiny, sparsely furnished area. “Really, Charlotte!”
    Charlie’s middle clenched tightly. The verbal
reprimand careened her back to her childhood. To throw her off, she
said, “I’m glad you approve.”
    The air thickened between them. Her
stepmother moved into the room, looking from left to right,
scanning every element with her shrewd gaze. Turning back to
Charlie, she said, “That’s not what I meant and you know it. Why do
you always have to be so difficult? Your snide comebacks and now
this, you getting sick after a marriage proposal from one of the
wealthiest men in Dallas.”
    She reared back, feeling the color drain from
her face. “How—”She stopped herself short and twisted to search for
Dolly.
    Her friend winced, forced a smile, and then
said, “Sorry. She called when you were in the bathroom brushing
your teeth and changing into jeans. You puking your guts out
kinda…slipped out.”
    Groaning loudly, she wished she could turn
back the hands of time and erase this meeting completely. She
steeled herself for bad news; surely, her stepmother would reverse
her decision to revamp the store now. Gritting her teeth, she
asked, “All