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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/24162
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Lots of helpful answers here. I'm adding one more as I think the suggestions which accompanied this quote...

> The show-don't-tell style that is so popular among aspiring writers today, forces you to do almost all exposition through physical action or naturalistic conversation. It does not work well for this kind of thing because a culture's standards of beauty are largely assumed in polite converation.

...are very helpful for writers who want to eschew the 'show-don't-tell' style mentioned, but I also think there's no need to eschew it. That style allows more than enough freedom to do this naturally.

**How to do it, without departing from a normal, modern style of narrative**

Most non-word-people haven't heard of [free indirect speech](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_indirect_speech), but all modern readers intuitively understand it. That means you can give us the point-of-view character's internal monologue as part of the narrative. For example:

> _Jack stared at the door. What was behind it? Could Sarah still be alive? He wiped a dramatic bead of sweat from his brow._

It's perfectly fine in this style to give your character's thoughts about something, as long as those thoughts feel like a natural part of the character's internal monologue at that time. You can use this to show your character is attracted to a person, the same way you could show your character is attracted to anything else.

> _Jack stared at the door. The craftsmanship was stunning. He moistened his lips. Mahogany. Viennese jambs. The studs were iron, smooth and plump. The varnish was thick, fresh, gleaming... he extended a hand to touch it, but stopped himself. To sully something so beautiful would be unthinkable._

The example is daft, of course, but hopefully you get the idea. If you let us live inside your point-of-view character's head, we can see what they're thinking about, what distracts them, what they fixate on.

**Creepiness**

Noticing someone's attractive features doesn't have to make them a creep — it's all about context. They could be...

- Aware of the attractive person but trying not to stare
- Shaking their head at an advert, say, where the attractive features of the picture are cartoonishly exaggerated
- Ruefully recalling how somebody else fell for the charms of the attractive person
- Tutting at how the attractive person was treated by others who _are_ being creepy
- Giving the attractive person direct compliments and attention which the person actually _wants_ (let's not forget that between consenting adults it does occasionally happen!)

**Closing blather**

I sense (perhaps wrongly) that the person who kindly gave you the answer above is not a fan of the 'show-don't tell' principle. That's fine, of course. But I would caution that it's popular for a reason.

It engages the reader with your story better, because it more closely approximates the experience of being _there_ for the story. The experience of reading the words 'Cole was angry' has only a distant connection to the experience of being confronted with an angry person. If instead you make me feel present as Cole punches the table, see him hyperventillate through his teeth, make me twitch when I'm flecked with his spittle — that more closely approximates the experience of being _in_ the story, and that makes it more compelling.

I wouldn't be so quick to abandon 'show-don't-tell' style. Of course, maybe I'm just blinded by my slavish adherence to fashion ;)

Original score: 3