Chapter (Two Hundred) Seventy Four: Shoes

His gaze felt like a hot brand on her skin. This up close she couldn't help noticing the way the sleeves of his shirt fit snugly around his thickly muscled arms, his tattoos visible. Dark ink she knew started from his shoulder covered the expanse of his arm in a full sleeve of tattoos, stopping at the base of his fingers. He had the image of a burning rose tattooed on the back of his palm and Navaya wanted to know how it would look to have that arm wrapped around her neck.

She hastily blinked the thought away before it sank its roots deeper within her and when she did, she noticed Johnny had drifted closer, close enough for her to take in a lungful. Cedarwood and sage. She wanted to bottle it up and keep it with her forever.

Slowly, as if trying not to spook her, Johnny reached his hand into the wardrobe and pulled out a pair of sneakers with raised bottoms, handing them to her.