Was he another vendor? One of the convention staff? Or had he snuck in to make the rounds of the vendor room before the doors opened?
Shrugging, she looked at the twenty-dollar bill she still held and smiled. She had made her first sale and the day had not officially begun yet. Was this an anomaly, or a portent of the success she would have over the next four days?
Tucking the money into the cloth zip-top money pouch Tilly helped her put together, Carri noted her first sale in the notebook Lottie helped her set up so she could track which critters sold, for how much, and which sales were cash and which were credit card sales.
“Oooo, Daddy, look at all these stuffies!” A young woman bounced up to the table and immediately began picking up the animals and hugging them to her chest. “I want this one, and this one, and this one. Oh, look Daddy, a dragon. You need that one.”
Carri could only smile at the woman tried to fill her arms with half the critters on the table.
The man with her laid a hand on her shoulder. “Jessica, take a breath, sweetheart. We just walked through the door. Don’t you want to look around a little before deciding what you want to buy?”
Jessica looked from the animals in her arms to her man and gave him a pitiful puppy-dog look. “But Daddy, if we don’t get them now, they might not be here when we come back.”
The man sighed and pulled out his wallet. “We’ll buy one now, and we’ll come back after we walk through the rest of the vendors and if you’re a good girl we’ll discuss buying one or two more.”
With a huff of disappointment, Jessica began to carefully put the animals back on the table. Once they were all in place, she chose a gray-and-white owl and a black dragon with a red belly and wings and shoved them into his face. “Can I get the owlfor me, and the dragon for you? You need a dragon, Daddy. He can keep you company at work and blow fire at the people who bother you.”
The man looked from her to the dragon and back again. With a smile and a sigh, he nodded. “How much for the owl and the dragon?”
Once Carri quoted the price, he handed over a credit card.
It took a moment to get her phone connected with the card swiper, but a few minutes later, the Little girl skipped away happy, and Carri did a quick jig in celebration of her second sale. She quickly wrote it down before hugging the rejected animals with a whispered, “You’ll get a new home. I promise.”
She replaced them on the table and then pulled one of the boxes out from under the table and filled the two empty spots with a purple hippo and a pink elephant.
Checking on her sisters, she saw they were both busy helping customers. She would have to keep her happiness to herself until later.
The morning passed quickly, with Carri selling to nearly everyone who stopped at her table. Most of the sales were to men and women dressed in brightly colored and patterned clothing and holding the hand of a Daddy or Mommy or caregiver.
Just before noon, the room emptied after the announcement that the convention’s opening luncheon would be beginning in a few minutes.
“How’s it going?” a deep voice asked as Carri dug through a box in search of a penguin.
She knew there were several more of them somewhere, she just had to find one of them. Standing up, she swayed as it took a few seconds to find her balance. Looking up, she saw her first customer of the morning leaning over the table. She stepped back, hoping she hadn’t flashed him too much of her ass.
“Um, it’s going well, thank you,” she answered with a smile. “People really seem to like the animals.”
“My name is Rooker St. James,” he said, extending a hand over the table. “Sorry I didn’t introduce myself earlier.”
“Carri Smith,” she responded, taking his hand, and giving it a quick shake. She gasped as an electric shock zapped her palm.
When she tried to pull her arm back, he refused to release it. Instead, he raised their joined hands, and brushed a kiss over her knuckles. Carri froze as her pussy clenched and her nipples beaded. The skin where his lips touched began to tingle. In seconds, her entire hand felt like she had dipped it in fizzy water.
Rooker straightened slowly, but did not release her hand, or her gaze. “I was wondering if you would join me for dinner this evening?”
His smile made Carri want to melt, but she held it together.
Somehow.
“I … um … well, okay,” she stammered. “But I can’t leave the building because it’s my night to guard the booths.”
“Guard the booths? What do you mean?”
“My sisters and I are each going to spend a night guarding the booths, That way we don’t have to pack everything up each night and then set up again in the morning.” Carri explained.
Why was big man looking at her like she had begun to speak Russian?
He looked like he was going to say something but shook his head instead. “Nope. You do what you feel best. How about I arrange a picnic supper so we can get to know one another better while guarding your booths?”
