After looking around at some of the other nearby displays, she wondered if she would sell anything. Her booth just looked so blah in comparison.
Tilly had somehow sweet-talked the organizers into not only renting them a third booth, but to also putting the three sisters in adjoining spaces. With the convention running from late Thursday morning until late Sunday afternoon, they decided that each sister would spend one night sleeping at the convention center, to guard their tables. That way they would not have to pack everything up each evening.
“Carri? What’s wrong?” Lottie approached from where she had just finished loading her glass display cases with the lollipops, chocolates, and other candies she had made over the past two weeks.
A moment later, Tilly approached from her booth on Carri’s other side. “What’s going on?”
“Does it look okay?” Carri waved a hand at her table, her heart starting to pound with anxiety. She shifted from foot to foot as she waited for her sisters to respond. “Maybe this is a mistake.”
“Hush,” Tilly ordered gently as she put an arm around her back. “This is not a mistake. I bet you’ll sell out before the end of the weekend.”
“I bet you sell out by the end of Friday,” Lottie countered as she also slid an arm around Carri’s back. “But your table needs some height to it. And maybe not quite so many on display. That way the ones that are out are easier to see. You can replace them with different ones when they sell. That way the offerings will keep changing and people will return several times to see what’s new. Tilly, can you grab a couple of the empty shoe boxes that I had candy in.”
Carri stepped back as her outgoing, sales-minded sisters took over. It was a relief to have them step in. Though she had promised herself she would try to be more outgoing this weekend, it would be a challenge.
She was deathly shy around strangers. Which was why she enjoyed staying home reading and playing with yarn. Her little animals did not demand she be outgoing and sparkly. They just asked for her to love them.
In five minutes, her sisters transformed her table from blah tooh wow. They used several of the shoeboxes and a second tablecloth to create raised display areas. Tilly took the animals she had neatly lined up and grouped different animals together on top of the boxes as well as in what looked like conversation groups on the main front table space. She left enough room at the back of the table for Carri’s money pouch, credit card swiper, and the pile of brightly colored gift bags that would carry the critters for their new owners. The extra animals were returnedto the boxes tucked under the table that held the rest of her inventory.
“Okay, what do you think?” Lottie stepped back after one final adjustment of a purple dragon’s wing.
“It’s quite an attractive display,” a male voice answered before Carri could give her approval.
Carri turned and found herself nose to chest with a giant who stood just behind her. At five foot four, she was no delicate flower, though she still was not always able to reach the back of the top shelf at the grocery store. Dropping her head back, she looked up, up, up at what had to be the most handsome man she had ever seen. He was at least a foot taller than her, with strong, dark, well-put-together features.
He met her gaze and smiled, which only increased his attractiveness. Carri had to lick her lips to keep from drooling on his shoes as her nipples beaded and her pussy gushed.
“Hello,” Carri whispered, her stomach flipping with nerves.
“Are you the yarn artist who created all these wonderful beasties?”
Carri’s body flooded with arousal, the likes of which she’d never felt before. Ever.
“Uh-huh.”
“Words, please, little one,” he said with a wink as his grin grew.
Near panic, Carri looked around, but found herself alone. Tilly and Lottie had disappeared.
Swallowing hard, she nodded. “Yes, Sir. I made all the animals. I even designed a few of them.”
Carri dropped her gaze to his chest and waited for him to make fun of her critter friends. This was why she had never done the various fairs, arts markets, and other sales venues her sisters had visited over the last year. Tilly had even started a website selling her tutus, dresses, and other clothing for Littles. Lottiehad found a couple of candy stores in the area who bought her lollipops for their shops. Only Carri had not turned her craft into a side business.
A finger touched her chin and tilted her head back again until she stared up into a pair of dark-brown eyes. They reminded her of the semi-sweet dark chocolate she’d helped Lottie dip strawberries in late the night before.
“There you are. I always like to look into a person’s eyes when I talk to them. So much friendlier, don’t you think?” The man’s grin belied the thread of steel that laced through his deep, deep voice, making Carri’s pussy clench again.
Carri swallowed hard. “Umm, I guess,” she answered as she forced herself not to drop her gaze.
She had never been comfortable looking into a stranger’s eyes. She always looked away, her gaze darting to their ears or mouth or just over their shoulders. But she managed to keep her eyes locked on his.
“You’re quite an accomplished artist,” he said as he moved closer, finally releasing her gaze.
“Thank you,” Carri whispered as she moved around the table.
For some reason, being close to this big man made her even more nervous than normal. Something about him made her feel different. She just wished she understood why.
She watched as he picked up a dragon and looked it over. He carefully replaced it on the table before picking up a penguin and then a unicorn.
