He started to rise. Ivy’s bare toes brushed his wrist.
“No.” He knelt—not creepily, but gently—by the ottoman. “But I’ve seen that before. My mom had the same injury. You’re favoring so hard you’re going to throw your hip out.”
He was younger than she expected, with careful hands and a soft voice. He didn’t make small talk. He just nodded at the boot, asked where the main junction box was, and got to work. Ivy retreated to her leather chaise, propping her feet—one bare, one booted—on the ottoman.
“Yes.” No denial. No shame. “I love feet. Yours especially. The way you point them when you’re thinking. The way you curl your toes when you’re bored. I noticed you did that three times while I was crimping coax.” Love Her Feet - Ivy Lebelle - The Cable Guy -05...
“Most people are blind,” Marco replied. “May I?”
Ivy let out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding.
An hour later, he was done. Signal strong. WiFi configured. But he lingered. He started to rise
Marco smiled—the first real smile of the afternoon. He wrapped both hands around her foot like it was something precious, and for the first time in weeks, Ivy Lebelle felt her body relax completely.
He didn’t grab. He didn’t lick or moan like some bad script. He simply cupped her heel in one palm, traced the line of her metatarsals with a fingertip, and pressed his thumb into the sore spot near her instep. A perfect, professional pressure. Not sexual. Tender. Like he’d studied her feet from across the room for an hour and memorized every tension line.
“Cable guy,” said the man on the monitor. Marco, according to his lanyard. “But I’ve seen that before
Ivy should have been creeped out. Instead, she felt seen. After weeks of feeling like a broken doll, someone had noticed the smallest, most honest part of her body language.
She let him in.
“I’d be better if you let me do it without the boot,” he said. “But that’s not why I’m here. I finished the job. I should go.”
Ivy raised an eyebrow. “You an orthopedist now?”
A high-end apartment, mid-renovation. Late afternoon light slants through bare windows.