Turning the knob, she was surprised, and yet not, to discover it had been left open. She pushed on the door and then stepped inside.
“Hello?” she called out.
“Up here,” Chaz replied.
He wasn’t dead.
That was good.
She followed the sound of his voice and climbed the stairs. “It’s me, Penny.” She felt a little uneasy just walking in but the man was injured, for heaven’s sake! “Are you decent?”
An exasperated grunt could be heard from the end of the hall but he didn’t answer.
She followed the sound to the open door and peeked inside. He was sitting on the bed wearing those same sweats.
And nothing else.
Although he seemed to be attempting to put a sock on.
A pair of athletic shoes was lined up neatly on the floor a few feet away.
He dropped his foot, still bare, and looked up. “This is fucking ridiculous!”
His hair was mussed and the bed unmade. “Did I wake you up?” She walked forward and kneeled down in front of him. “Give me those.” Of course, nobody could put socks on one handed. He obediently handed them over and relaxed.
“Going for a run?” she chided him.
“I can’t spend every waking hour in this room. I’ll go crazy…”
Penny grasped one foot in her hands and suddenly became aware of the fact that she was touching him again. Not pressing her body up against him like she had in the car but she had her hand on his smooth, naked foot… and was in his bedroom.
“Your feet are cold.” She rubbed both of her hands along his ankle, his heel, his arch, and his toes. She then stretched the sock and slid it on.
There were little specks of hair on the top of his foot and toes.
An aching, heavy feeling settled around her thighs and groin.
Holy hell, even his feet turned her on.
Taking hold of his other foot, she tried to be more aloof and efficient as she slid the sock up and over his ankle. “Where do you want to go?” He shouldn’t be trying to go anywhere.
“The kitchen.”
“You need socks for that?”
“My feet were cold,” he reminded her.
She rose from the floor and looked around. She supposed she could help him find something to eat.
And then she caught sight of the mirror on the wall.
In the clear reflection, she could see her own window perfectly.
In fact, she could see her desk, her laptop, the towel she’d thrown over the chair yesterday.
When she’d been looking in.
Oh, God.
