Page 49 of One Step After Another

Giving one last look out the window—at nothing because there was nothing to see but the brick of a neighboring building—Penny sighed and turned away from the window. She refused to look at Luca when she climbed down from the dresser to slip on the heels she had kicked off to the floor.

“Checking,” she muttered.

“For what?”

“Someone. Anyone.”

A sign that someone from The League had finally decided to show up and make her hellish existence better. Maybe one of her handlers walking down an alleyway to save her from stumbling over her words while she blushed like a schoolgirl and threw herself at a man that was nothing more than a problem to what should be most important in her life.

She told Luca none of that.

It wouldn’t do any good.

“Your people?” Luca asked. “I doubt you’re gonna see anything looking out that window. Except for maybe—”

“Waste of time, anyway,” Penny interjected. “They’ll find me when they want to.”

And that was the simple fact of the matter. Not that she would explain why or how to Luca—the guy didn’t need more fodder to his fire when it came to tracking her down. A chip in her upper left arm, about the size of a grain of rice, assured that when the coast was clear and her handlers were comfortable, they would come.

Without issue.

“The shower is open if you want it,” Luca said.

She should. Two days without a bath or shower was just about her limit, honestly.

Penny lifted her head, ready to agree, and thank him for the information but the words caught in her throat at the sight of Luca standing in the doorway to their tiny room with nothing more than a towel hanging around his waist. He was tall—lean, but not lanky. Golden skin dusted with dark hair glimmered under the dim light in the room, and the droplets of water that still clung to his black hair said he’d barely even used that towel before coming back to their room.

No ink marred his skin.

A couple scars on his chest only added to the chiseled planes that made up a muscular torso. The bands of his arms, threaded with veins she wanted to trace with her fingertips, flexed when he tossed the pile of clothes to the foot of the bed. It had been easier to focus on ignoring her attraction when he had been doing nothing more than coming and going from their room, bringing back food, a pillow, and even a book when she asked for it. All clothed.

Now, she was going to have this image of him burned into the back of her eyeballs. No doubt, that wouldn’t help her at all.

Why?

Why was he so beautiful?

It was unfair, really.

“You okay?” Luca asked when she remained silent.

No.

Not at all.

“Fine,” Penny managed to utter. “I’m just gonna—”

“You know, if you wanted to show me your ass, you could have just done that. You didn’t need to climb up there and wait for me to come back.”

Penny blinked, her mouth falling open audibly. “What?”

That was not that she did.

Luca laughed, grabbing his shirt from the bed and tossing her a wink as he flipped open the fabric. “I’m kidding, Penny. Lighten up.”

She was in control at all times. It was one of the few things her training at The League had afforded her that she was most grateful for. And yet, when it came to this man, it seemed like her control didn’t exist at all.

“I gotta go,” Penny said, walking past a confused looking Luca to head for the doorway. “I need a shower.”