Page 33 of It's a Brewtiful Day
“Perfect?” He said without skipping a beat,curling his fingers through mine. “Amazing? Wonderful?” Together, our linked hands slowly fell to our sides.
My brain went into overdrive. “You’re good with a thesaurus, I see.”
“Just you wait until I get started.” Releasing my hand, he sent a little wink my way. Not sure what his intentions with it were, but my knees weakened, my heart fluttered, and this wild sensation of soaring butterflies flew in my gut.
But it was just the situation. He had nothing else to do. What else was there, aside from being friendly? That’s all this was, right? Just two people trying to get through being forced together.
Believing that thought, and also questioning it, I walked to the alcove and lifted the knee-height table, setting it in front of our chairs. “There, complete.”
He added the tray to the little table. “Almost. Just a sec, I may have something that works.” Digging through his bag, he set a ball of yarn on the table.
“What is that?”
“Yarn, silly.”
“Yarn silly?” I laughed because that had been how he’d responded to my book tree. “Are you working on a craft?”
“Sort of.”
I shifted to the edge of my seat, curious about this project. “And?”
“And what?”
“What are you making?”
His shoulders pulled back and he locked his gaze on me. “A scarf for my brother-in-law.”
“Seriously?” My jaw dropped. It was so neat and cool that it was mind-blowing. “Are you knitting it?”
He shook his head. “No, I crochet. It’s pretty easy, and I find it quite relaxing.”
“Wow. I’m impressed. I’ve never known a guy who crochets.” I sat back in my seat. Just when I thought I had him figured out, he threw something new at me. But in a good way. I liked it.
“Maybe someday I could crochet you a scarf?”
“I’d like that, honestly, as I don’t have a nice scarf. Mine are all standard things that are barely warm and certainly not hand-crafted.”
“What’s your favourite colour? It’s probably red, right?” He eyed my jacket.
I glanced down. “Actually, I tend to favour the more earthy hues: browns, deep greens, that kind of thing.” Like the shade of his hair and the tone of his eyes.
“I have lots of those.” He dug through his bag. “I’ll get started on one for you after I finish up this other scarf.”
My heart swelled. No one had ever made me anything crafty, aside from the occasional gift card. This was miles beyond that. “Thanks, I’d like that.”
“I just remembered something.” He reachedback into his bag, produced a flameless candle, and flicked it on. “There, that’s what I was looking for. Now it’s perfect.”
My hand covered the awe stretching across my face. “Yes, now it’s perfect.”
In a room with any kind of light, the flameless candle wouldn’t give off anything more than an ambient glow. But in the pitch black of the store in a town with no power, it was enough to cast shadows on our treats and put a fun, romantic spin on what was shaping up to be a truly unique night.
“Where did you find that?” I pointed to our special little adornment.
“I’d forgotten I had it in there. It was from another project I’m working on.”
“Oh, you really are a jack of all trades, aren’t you?” I sat in my chair and pressed into the soft fabric, kicking off my flats and tucking my legs underneath me. “Tell me more.” I broke a slice of banana bread in half and brought half to my lips.
“It’s for the upcoming Dark Sky event.”