Cowboy, Stay with Me

Chapter Twenty: A Date with the Cowboy

Suddenly the city limit sign was flashing by outside Lucy's passenger side window.

She sat up straighter, lowering the volume on the Keith Urban song that was playing. "Uhm, and just where ya taking me, cowboy?"

She had assumed he was just going to take her straight to one of the three options in town; the bar, the diner, or the chain store steakhouse near the freeway.

"I'm taking you to Lehman's Lodge." He slid her a smile.

They were headed off into the deep darkness of the prairie.

He reached over for her hand, surprising her when he took it to kiss the back of her knuckles. "I'm taking you on a date, Lucy, not kidnapping you. Promise."

She met his eyes and made a face at him. "Sorry, I guess I'm just a little jumpy."

Sean released her hand to shift up into fifth as they gained speed. "It's okay, you don't have to apologize to me."

The tender quality of his voice bothered her for some reason. How dare he? Didn't he know what he did to her insides when he used that tone of voice?

Worse, it made it all the harder to stay strong against him, when he was sweet to her. Whatever her body and heart might want, she had to use her head and resist him. It was the only way to protect herself.

Lucy loved her family dearly, they were the most important thing in the world to her. Since her mother had died, however, her family had been fractured apart, there was no other way to put it. Her desire to create a family of her own was in part to recreate the stability that had been taken away from her at a young age.

Sean, on the other hand, his career was his baby; his passion and his singular, driving motivation. It was his way of making himself feel whole, she could only imagine; his way of coping with his own fractured family.

She sighed softly to herself, but he noticed her change in mood anyway.

"Hey, you okay? We can go somewhere else if Lehman's too much..."

"What? No, it's not that." She looked back at him. "That place has the best steaks in the state, everyone knows that, it's just..."

He slid her a knowing smile. "Just...overanalyzing everything that's going on between us?" He laughed aloud when he saw her somewhat murderous expression. "Relax, darlin', we can discuss it over dinner, okay? Maybe find a nice compromise to come to?" He took her hand again, smoothing his thumb over the back of her hand. "Your skin is so soft." He murmured and she blinked her eyes rapidly at him.

Who was he?

Gone were the rough edges of youth.

Sean had evidently matured into a man capable of reaching levels of tenderness previously unknown.

As positive a change as this was, she couldn't help but feel a little jolt followed by a wash of sadness as she realized that this meant she no longer knew him the way she had used to.

Once upon a time...they had been best friends.

###

Lehman's Lodge was as advertised; a lodge style building, set out in the middle of nowhere. Not that it mattered; people came from miles around, even from Arkansas and Missouri, to feast upon the famous steaks, as well as the slow smoked brisket and BBQ chicken.

The parking lot was packed, as usual, with all kinds of cars from little foreign sports cars to jacked-up pickup trucks sporting the confederate flag.