The Off Limits Rule (It Happened in Nashville 1)

Her blue gaze meets mine through the windshield right as the wind catches her long auburn curls. She’s wearing black flats tonight instead of heels, but her curves still sway with every step. Now that I know what those curves feel like under my hands, they are twice as attractive.

She opens the door, and I put my finger to my lips to keep Lucy quiet just before Drew says, “Cool, man. Thanks for looking out for them.”

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I flip him the mental bird because he’s completely ruining my night of justified betrayal by dumping a load of sentimental crap on me. I’m no longer thinking about Drew, though, because Lucy steps up into my truck and the hem of her dress hitches up a few inches when she settles onto the bench.

“Yep, super-good friend over here. Talk to you later, Drew.” I hang up and let out a long, exaggerated groan as my head drops back against the headrest. I roll it side to side and find a concerned-looking Lucy as she tilts her face to the same angle as mine.

“Hi,” she says simply.

“Hi.” I grin and take her in completely (just once) from head to toe. My eyes take a nice slow perusal inch by inch, and I’m not proud of it, but I whimper like a sad dog that’s begging for a treat it can’t have. “You look gorgeous.”

When my gaze reaches her face again, Lucy’s lips are slightly parted, and her eyes are…you guessed it, wide. She snaps her mouth shut, swallows, and then proclaims, “I’m wearing hideous underwear.”

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is one of the reasons I’m falling for Lucy.

“Not going to help, but I applaud your efforts. Let’s do this, Marshall.”

Do you know what’s awkward? Me and Cooper.

We both sit stiff as boards and don’t say more than two words at a time for our entire twenty-minute drive.

“Good day?”

“Yep.”

“Levi good?”

“Yep. You?”

“Mmhmm.”

His knuckles are white from where he’s gripping the steering wheel. I think maybe he’s upset at me, or having second thoughts about this fake date, until we speed into the parking and Cooper all but jumps out while the tires are still rolling. He flings my door open, reaches in, unbuckles me, and then tugs me out. I squeal, trying to keep up with him as he puts his hand on my lower back and propels me toward the restaurant. “Cooper! What are you doing?”

He doesn’t answer, only barrels us through the front doors. The moment they close behind us, he grabs my hand and yanks me into a somewhat secluded corner of the waiting area. He puts his hands on my jaws, backing me against the wall. “There,” he says with a mischievous grin. “We’re officially on our fake date. The off-limits rule is suspended, and for the next two hours, you’re all mine.”

I suck in a breath as Cooper dips his head and lays a hot kiss on the base of my neck, making sparks fly across my skin. “Cooper! We’re in a restaurant.”

He stacks another kiss above the last, making himself a little trail up my neck. “You smell incredible. How do you always smell like this? Sweet and soft and like berries…or…I can’t figure it out.”

“People are staring!” I say in a whisper-hiss, but I feel my desire to care losing the fight as Cooper’s hand slowly glides from my shoulder down to my fingers where mine and his intertwine.

“Good. It’ll really sell this relationship to Trent.”

I chuckle as his skin brushes across my jaw. “You mean Brent?”

“Sure.” Cooper rounds my jaw with kisses, and I melt into his strong body. “You look beautiful, Lucy,” he says, pulling away enough to look me in the eyes.

My heart flips in my chest, and I didn’t realize how much I needed to feel this way until Cooper came along. Didn’t realize how much I had dimmed my light, forgotten to do things for myself, fallen into a contented slumber where all I worried about was if Levi was smiling and safe. Don’t get me wrong, those two things are—and will always be—the most important to me. But somewhere along the way, I forgot that I could still be a woman and Levi’s mom. They say if a plane starts to go down, adults need to pull on their masks first so they can then take care of the children. I had forgotten to pull my mask on. And until Cooper came along, I didn’t realize my oxygen was running out.

Now, I’m breathing again and realizing I can be both Lucy the woman and Levi’s mom.

I feel like I’m waking up from a long sleep. Or no…like I’m growing into something new. Because I’m not the same woman I was before I had Levi; I’m stronger, warmer, fluffier, and wiser. And I think it’s okay that I’m changing—good, even. Because the old Lucy would have been too afraid of rejection to initiate a kiss in front of a restaurant of people. The new Lucy, however, rises up on her tiptoes, grabs the front of Cooper’s shirt, and plants her lips firmly on his without abandon.

I feel Cooper smile against my mouth as his hands slide around my back and pull me in tight. I wrap my arms around his neck and sink into our kiss, even daring to lightly taste his bottom lip. A quiet groan sounds from the back of his throat, and I’m no longer worried about the world around us. Neither is he. We’re like that sappy newlywed couple you can’t bear to be around and want to unfriend on social media. I love it.

Kissing Cooper feels so good it makes me irrational. Like I want to run out and have someone make us matching airbrush t-shirts with our couple name on them. Luper or Coocy. Choices, choices. I’ll make an Instagram poll and have my twenty followers decide for me.

“Is this all you guys do?” Brent says from somewhere behind Cooper, sounding disgusted with a capital D.