You didn't say how short, but I'm just <5'4" and love my 44cm Redline Conquest.

I've yet to test ride a bike before buying. Shops just don't really carry my size. Actually, the shop we bought my Redline from did keep it in stock (and had a hard time selling it -- we bought it when it was already on clearance), but it was bought sort of as a surprise and fits like a dream. Our LBS guy and my DH could tell just looking at the geometry chart that it would work, and it does.