A few weeks had gone by and Beth couldn't be happier. Her shop was thriving more than anyone thought it ever could, thanks to the loyal local population and Beth's online promoting. Her craft and coffee night crew was focusing on making preemie hats and blankets for the children's hospital in Tampa. When the ten of them got together for 2 hours, they could make at least two hats a piece. One of her assistants, Ashley, was currently researching other organizations that wanted handmade donations. Everyone told her that a high end yarn shop would flounder and that she should consider expanding to include other crafting supplies, but Beth proved them all wrong with the help of Ashley, Sara, Tumblr, Twitter, Pintrest and Facebook. Their charity work was also featured in the area newspapers and on the local news channels when there were slow news days, the cheesy headlines made her cringe, but they brought people into the shop, so who was she to complain?
Then there was her personal life, she was nervous leaving New York and moving to Florida where she had no family and no friends, but it was also part of the allure. Leave all the bad memories behind and start new. And how can you be sad when you are surrounded by sunshine and gorgeous yarns? And, who can forget her gorgeous boyfriend? The man who magically appeared in her life and almost literally swept her off her feet. By nature of his work, they had no choice but to take things slowly and that was more than OK with Beth, they spoke or texted almost every day and whenever he was home, they had either lunch or dinner together.
It was early afternoon on Wednesday and she was working with one of her favorite customers, Mrs. Benson was a sweet old lady who loved to flip through the pattern books and try different patterns. Her son Todd dropped her off every Wednesday around noon and Beth sat with her and either admired her current work in progress, WIP as the crafters liked to say, or helped her pick out her next pattern. Today Beth and Mrs. Benson were flipping through a book of sweater patterns over cups of herbal tea trying to pick the best pattern for her granddaughter.
Antonio parked across the street from Heart Strings and downed the last of his Starbucks coffee, leaving the empty cup in the cup holder next to him. He got out and straightened his shirt before jogging across the street. Each week that went by, he missed Beth more and more when he was on the road. At first they chatted every other day or so and he would take her out to dinner on Thursday after he unpacked and did laundry and caught up on mail and messages. Now, he made a point to hear her voice every day and drove straight to her shop from the airport.
He paused just inside the door to shop and watched Beth sitting with a customer. He recognized the old lady, he saw her most every week, he loved watching the excitement on their faces as they discussed the things they were working on.
"Oh!" Beth exclaimed, "Mrs. Benson, I have the perfect yarn for this pattern!"
Mrs. Benson pulled the book closer to her to examine the pattern, "Well, I do have the right needles for it. Do you have the yarn in purple?"
"Of course I do! Let me grab it for you."
"Take your time, dear, you may want to greet your gentleman suitor first," she said smiling.
Beth looked towards the door in surprise, she didn't even hear anyone come in. Before she could even respond to Mrs. Benson, Antonio crossed the store and pulled her into his arms for a rib crushing hug.
"I missed you Prinzessin," he said softly in her ear.
"I missed you too," she gasped, "can't breathe, squishing my lungs…"
"Oh!" he quickly let her go and smiled sheepishly, "Sorry."
She giggled and stood on her tip toes to give him a kiss on the cheek, "Give me a few minutes, Mrs. Benson and I are in the middle of something."
"Good afternoon, Mrs. Benson," Antonio said leaning over to look at the pattern book, "Can I get you some more tea?"
"Oh, no thank you sir, your sweetheart is going to bring me some yarn, I have a rule about liquids near yarns."
"Makes perfect sense to me," he agreed.
"Here it is," Beth said as she reappeared with her arms full of different shades of purple yarns. "This one is wool, and this lighter one is merino cotton. Both are very soft and both are hand dyed. I also have a silk yarn, but the skeins are very small, better suited for scarves."
She spread the yarn out on the table in front of them and Mrs. Benson carefully examined the yarns while referencing the pattern. "I like the cotton one. I think I'll need 5 skeins, so give me 6 just in case."
"Sure thing, I'll wrap them up for you."
"And save me some of that silk yarn, I think I have the perfect pattern at home," she called after her.
"Oh, excellent, bring the pattern next week, I'd love to see it."
"She's such a dear," Mrs. Benson said to Antonio. "She really does want to see the pattern. She's not just humoring an old lady."
"She's a beautiful person, my Prinzessin."
"You treat her right, young man," she said narrowing her eyes at him, "I may be old, but knitting needles are excellent weapons."
"Here you go, Mrs. Benson!" Beth said before Antonio could respond. He nodded at the old woman to show that he understood that she was serious, because boy, was she serious.
"Oh look, perfect timing, my handsome and single son is back to take me home, Todd, settle the bill with Beth please."
"What's the damage this time," the young man jokingly asked.
After they left the store Antonio turned to Beth, "Just so you know, Mrs. Benson threatened me with a pair of knitting needles."
"What? Never, she's such a sweet woman," Beth said, "Are you sure you…"
"Oh trust me, Prinzessin, my English is good enough to understand that. She said that I better treat you right, or else…"
Beth giggled, "That's so sweet! She's one of my favorite customers. She's 80 years old and knits faster than anyone I've ever met."
"I am also getting the feeling she would like to pair you up with her son…"
"Todd? Really? Why?" Beth asked as she restocked all the yarns she pulled out for Mrs. Benson.
"Maybe because she referred to him as her handsome and single son?" He said raising an eyebrow at her.
"Sounds like someone is jealous," Ashley said coming in from the back room.
"I, who? Me? Jealous… I was just, you know…" Antonio said looking around.
"Sweetie, I'm back from lunch, take your man out and show him that he has nothing to worry about," Ashley said to Beth. "Oh, what did Mrs. Benson pick out?"
"She bought SIX skeins of that new hand dyed merino. I didn't even put it on display yet. She also asked me to hold the purple silk for next week," Beth said grinning.
"At the rate she's going, those kids of hers won't get much of an inheritance, just half used skeins of yarn… Anyway, you two get out of here, I've got the rest of the afternoon covered."
"Thanks, Ash, call me if you need anything," Beth gave her friend a hug and turned to Antonio, "I just need to grab a sweater before we go, come on up with me."
He followed her out through the back of the shop, out into the back alley and up the stairs to her apartment, Beth always said that she had the best commute in the world, just one flight of stairs and mere seconds outside in the humid Florida air. He hung back and watched her jog up the stairs, enjoying the way her hips moved and the way her jeans hugged her ass, and then her ponytail swinging back and forth. He grinned and took the stairs three at a time making it to the top at the same time as she did.
"Actually, there is something I wanted to ask you about," she said pushing the door open.
He closed and locked the door behind him and wrapped his arms around her waist pulling her body against his. "You can ask me anything," he said gently brushing his lips against hers, "But I do owe you a proper hello kiss."
Her mind went blank as soon as he pressed his lips against hers, she trailed her hands from his waist up his chest tracing the contours of his muscular body until she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her chest against his, moaning deeply. He cupped her ass in one hand and tenderly held the back of her head with the other as he slipped his tongue between her lips and passionately explored her mouth, her scent filling his nose making him lightheaded. He groaned and wrapped her legs around his waist, gripping her ass tightly and carried her across the room to the sofa, his lips never leaving hers. He sat down so she was straddling him and ran his strong hands up and down her back leaving goose bumps on her flesh under the thin fabric of her blouse. She shivered and pressed her body closer to his, cupping his face and darting her tongue against his and eagerly grinding her hips against his. He pulled her bottom lip between his teeth and kissed down the side of her neck, making her heart race even more. He gently bit the spot between her neck and shoulders and then kissed it and looked up at her flushed face and smiled, "What was your question, my Prinzessin?"
"I, ummm, I forget," she said breathlessly.
He chuckled and rubbed his hands up and down her back until they settled on her hips, "I'm sure it will come back to you."
"Not if you keep doing that!" she said, sliding off his lap and sitting next to him so she could think clearly.
He winked at her and gave her that adorable crooked little smile that always melted her insides, she swatted at his arm, "Stop! You aren't making it any easier for me to think!"
"That's the point," he said as he trailed his hand up her thigh.
She slapped his hand away and laughed as he pretended to look wounded and offended. "Oh! Um, you remember my assistant Sara," she paused and he nodded, "Her daughter is getting married next month and I was hoping you'd be able to come to the wedding with me?" she asked hopefully.
"I would love to go with you, I do have a European tour coming up soon though, send me the date and I will check my calendar and put in for the day off if I am in the states."
She grinned and kissed his cheek, "Thank you so much!"
"Don't get too excited, Prinzessin, its not a definite yes," he said cautiously, he didn't want to let her down, but there was no way he could go with her if it fell during the overseas tour.
"Oh, I know that, but its not a flat out no, either." She said, "We were supposed to be going out for lunch, aren't you hungry?"
"I'm always hungry," he said grinning as he pulled her back onto his lap.
