The Stand-In Read Online Free PDF Page B

to happen.
    In a strange way, her new job satisfied her need to act. It honed her skills and allowed her to do something other than flipping burgers for a living. Sure, she wasn’t treading the boards in the theater district, but it was the closest she’d come in a long time. She didn’t have to endure the humiliation of auditions anymore because Margie chose the bookings for her and kept her as busy as she wanted to be. Sure, it might be kind of sad that so many women approached Margie for a stand-in bridesmaid, but it was none of Winn’s concern. She remained professionally distant, did her job, and counted her cash at the end of the night.
    Why, this was as close to loving a job as she’d ever come.
    And if she had to pretend she believed in the institution of marriage to be successful, she’d do it. Dammit, she would make toasts to her happy couples, wishing them well, knowing more than half of them would become divorce statistics in the first few years of wedded bliss.
    Better them than her.
    She aimed her gaze at Patrick. “Surely you don’t need to accompany me to all my appointments? Can’t we just meet at the wedding?”
    He hummed in disagreement. “I’m sorry, Winn. You’re an actress. You know how important it is to prepare. Consider me part of your preparation.”
    She bit back a sigh. “Fine. But you don’t get to insult any more dresses. What if my bride walked in and heard you?”
    He made a show of zipping his lips. “Understood. And you look divine in that gargantuan dress. So have I seen any of your acting work?”
    “Not unless you hang out with senior citizens.”
    He narrowed his eyes. “No acting credits you’d like me to reference?”
    “No, thanks. I prefer not to dwell on the past anyway.”
    “Okay. So how did you find this job? I bet there’s a good story.”
    She shrugged and the entire dress shrugged with her. Carmela looked at her and made a tsk-tsk noise. “Sorry,” she whispered to the seamstress. She glanced at Patrick. “Not really. I answered an ad in the paper.”
    “You really aren’t much for sharing, are you, Winn? I can see I’m going to have to seduce the info out of you.”
    “Yeah. Good luck with that.” Winn puffed out her cheeks and let the air out in a slow stream. She definitely needed to talk to Margie about this guy.
    He made a few notes in a book he carried with him and then tapped his pen on his knee. “So how involved do you become with the grooms at these weddings?”
    “ Involved? ”
    “You know. Do the men have any input on which bridesmaids their brides hire? Specific requests on height, weight, hair color, that sort of thing?”
    “I don’t think so. I’ve really only ever dealt with the brides. Margie makes the initial selection based on the bride’s input and I take it from there.”
    “Hmm.” He jotted down a few more notes. “And have you ever been asked to perform in any way at these weddings?”
    “Perform? Like…singing?” He asked weird questions.
    “You tell me, Winn. You’re the stand-in.”
    “Um, no. Although some of my weddings are theme weddings, so you have to go along with the theme.”
    He pinned her with his piercing gaze. “Themes, huh? Interesting. Do you have any themed weddings coming up?”
    “Yeah, shortly, in fact.”
    “Well, sign me up. I want to see it very much.” He scribbled in his notebook again.
    For the first time, Winn got the distinct feeling he was reading more into her answers than she meant. She’d have to keep an eye on this one.
    Carmela seemed happy with her alterations and had stopped sticking her with pins, so she padded with care back to the dressing room. Shutting the door, she then reached around her back, searching for the zipper. However, because the seamstress had made adjustments, the slider now sat between her shoulder blades at a different angle and she couldn’t make it budge. She opened the dressing room door and poked her head out to call Carmela, but the woman