Cowboy, Stay with Me

Chapter Fifteen: Cowboy Crazy

Lucy finally couldn't stand it a moment longer and she went up onto tiptoes to kiss him.

Sean was the one to disengage from their kiss first, backing off from her slightly.

She frowned up at him, not liking how he controlled the tempo of their dance; of their entire current, weird relationship. Whatever was happening between them, he was undoubtedly in control. "Sean, what's-?"

"Let me just...take a shower, okay? I'm all grimy from the day and you're all sweet and clean."

She exhaled in an obvious sign of impatience. "Sure. Of course."

Smiling knowingly, he leaned down to kiss her one last time on the lips. "We will be continuing this conversation when I get back."

Lucy was feeling oddly breathless and so she simply nodded her agreement in silence.

###

Without so much as a word of warning, Sean then proceeded to strip. Off came his plain white T-shirt, he was perfectly shameless that way.

She licked her lips, her eyes helplessly dropping down his pecs to the rolling hills of his abs.

"Sean!" She gasped, scandalized, as he unbuckled his belt next and then unfastened his jeans. "Sean!" She protested again in a distinctly higher pitch of voice.

He chuckled, glancing her way, but not halting his progress of getting undressed. "What? It ain't nothing you haven't seen before." He pointed out, shucking his pants before sauntering off into the bathroom to shower. At least he was still wearing his boxers.

Lucy exhaled a breath she hadn't realized that she'd been holding when he had closed the bathroom door behind him.

She hadn't seen his naked body in years. He had always been built on the large side; tall and heavy with muscle. He'd been the star of the high school football team, no matter what position he'd played.

He had clearly been working out over the last few years. He wasn't just bulky anymore and he had lost every ounce of baby fat that he had ever possessed. It was visible in the chiseled angles of his face and in every cut line of his body.

He hadn't just been casually working out, for that matter, he'd been carefully sculpting his physique.

The question was, why?

To impress girls? To be more efficient at his job? Had he joined the body building circuit? Or was he perhaps attempting to cover up some deep insecurity, one that he perhaps didn't even know he had?

Lucy had pursued a degree in child psychology, but it was amazing how much learning about the mind of a child had helped her better understand the mind of an adult.

###

Sean got out of the shower significantly faster than she had. He had the sense of decency to wrap a towel around his waist, at least.

Still, the way his body gleamed with water droplets sliding down the curves of his muscles was just too sinfully erotic to be allowed.

Lucy realized that she was staring again and hastily averted her eyes before he could catch her at it. She busied herself with getting her bed ready. She had already gotten dressed in her simple pajamas, consisting of a pair of shorts with little horseshoes splashed all over them, and a cotton tank top the color of a robin's eggshell.