Addie Combo Read Online Free Page A

not because I
don’t want to make it to the interview (I do and I must). But I’m not in the habit of getting into
cars with strange men who promise to buy me fancy clothes.
I take my first good, long look at Randolph MacLeish. He’s tall and broad-shouldered, in his
late thirties I would guess by his slightly graying hair. He’s got a distinguished quality in a
charcoal Haggar herringbone suit.
I say, “I really shouldn’t. It’s kind of you to offer, but -”
“No, I insist, really. My car’s right over here.” He points out a stunning silver Mercedes
Benz SL-Class roadster.
I look at him again. He seems nice enough , I surmise. A little clumsy maybe, but I don’t
think he’s going to hurt me. And I really need that job; if I’m going to get it, I do need some new
clothes.
I giveit a little thought, but only enough so that it doesn’t look like I’m jumping on his offer,
which is what I am doing.
“Um, okay, sure,” I say. He steps back and holds his hand out to the Benz. He unlocks and
opens the car door and waits. It’s a frightening moment, one I may not be able to walk away
from.
Oh, get over yourself, I hear my little voice ridicule from within, you’re not exactly Kate
Middleton. Now just smile and nod and get in the car or kiss that job at SalesPace goodbye!
Ten minutes later, we’re in an Anne Taylor . I feel very girlish and almost giggly as I try on
a red crepe peplum jacket and a pencil skirt, a glen plaid jacket and a tropical wool pinstripe
skirt. I look at myself in the mirror, a bit surprised but happily so.
I’m really rather passable, I have to admit. Maybe even a bit more than that. Are my legs
this long, or is it the mirror? Hey, from the side my boobs really stand up, I didn’t realize.
I go in and out of the changing room a bunch of times, Randolph sitting nearby. He nods
when he sees something he likes. And though it’s not like I’m going to be wearing these clothes
for him (he’s just paying me back for soiling my own clothes after all), I do value his opinion.
His own clothes hang so nicely on his tall, muscular frame; his broad shoulders, his steely chest,
his flat stomach and narrow waist.
I shake my head and get back to the business at hand.
Business!
I check my watch; a nasty tremor passing through my body, shaking me down to my core.
“It’s ten after three, I missed my appointment!”
Randolph checks his own watch, which looks to be silver or even platinum. He smiles and
shrugs. “There’ll be other opportunities. Try the pencil skirt again.”
“Other -?” I almost want to snap at him a little, but of course I don’t. No point in winding
up jobless and with no shirt on my back. Neither are very great, but together they are an
especially unattractive proposition; definitely not the kind of combo I’m looking for. I clear my
throat and smile. “I’m sure you’re right.” I look down at the skirts and jackets, each with silk
blouses and shoes and matching accessories. “Whaddaya think? For the next interview, I
mean.”
Randolph looks me over and smiles, a bit amused and, if I do say so, a bit hungrily as well.
He turns to the sales girl and says, “We’ll take the last three outfits, two each in different shades.
Can you deliver them?”
“Six -?” I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I add, “No, I can’t possibly -”
“Addie, please, it’s not charity -”
“Well, I didn’t take it for charity -”
“It’s not that either, whatever you’re thinking.” He looks at me with a roguish smile, his
head bobbing just a touch. “After all, I can’t have my new junior associate going around without
the right kind of clothes.”
I have to shake my head to wrap my brain around it. But lacking time and a place to digest
his offer, I can only say, “What? I -?”
“I just lost mine and I haven’t been able to find anyone good enough to replace her,”
Randolph says, looking almost sheepish. “I hope you don’t think I’ve been