The Off Limits Rule (It Happened in Nashville 1)

I blink up at him. “Oh no. Were you…? Are we supposed to skinny-dip?” My face flames just thinking about it. There’s no way the lights projecting up from the bottom of the pool will be at all flattering on my pasty body. “I don’t think I’m up for that.”

His low chuckle rolls down my spine. “No, we’re jumping in just like this.” Then his grin tilts. “But if you have your heart set on skinny-dipping, don’t let me get in the way.”

“You’re so selfless.”

His smile is full and bright now. And then—AND THEN—he reaches to the back of his shirt and peels it off over his head. He tosses it aside, and every single one of his fantastic muscles winks at me. They have the same voice as Joey Tribbiani: How you doin’? I take a mental picture so later, when I can’t sleep, I’ll push all those sheep aside and count each of his muscles instead.

“I thought you said we weren’t taking off our clothes?” Oh my gosh, he looks so good standing there shirtless in gym shorts with the nighttime sky at his back. I want to shove him in that pool just out of anger for being this sexy. My ovaries are screaming, HIM! WE PICK HIM!!! But their opinion no longer matters ever since they got me knocked up by a man who didn’t want a relationship with me, so I tell them to shut it.

“You’re talking too much. Come on, ready?” Cooper wraps his big manly hand around mine, and my heart slams against my chest. “One!”

“Shhh, don’t yell—they’ll hear you!”

“Two!”

“Oh my gosh, we’re going to jail!”

“Three!”

“Don’t make a big splash or—” I don’t get to finish.

Cooper jumps off the ledge, taking me with him in one big glorious splash.

Cooper and I both emerge from the water, sputtering laughs and pushing water out of our faces. It feels a lot like that day at the lake, but different. Because it’s dark, and we’re alone, and I’m buzzing off of a different high than adrenaline. Cooper planned this. He wanted me to experience something thrilling tonight.

The water is warm, and surprisingly, the lights on the bottom of the pool ARE flattering. At least they are for him. His skin looks softer, more taut and inviting as we swim from the deep end to the shallow, laughing like goons the entire way. Cooper keeps looking over his large shoulder with such a big smile and twinkle in his eyes it feels like a dream. I expect to wake up any minute, realizing I dreamed about the pool only because I’ve peed myself. Don’t judge—pregnancy was not kind to my bladder.

“How do you feel?” he asks after we’ve made it to the shallow end and are both standing. He pushes his hand through his hair, and water droplets glisten all over his body. He is a sight to behold, and all I can think is how incredible it would feel to have his arms wrap around me and hold me in a straitjacket of love.

“Amazing.” I lie back in the water to swim a backstroke to the side of the pool. My t-shirt and shorts drag like weights as I make my way over and rest my elbows against the edge. The stars are bright and twinkly, only adding to the feeling that this is all a figment of my imagination. This is something I wouldn’t normally, in a million years, do. I don’t go out late at night—certainly not with a man, and definitely not to break into someone’s pool and enjoy a little dip.

Cooper’s smile is tilted, and he starts walking across the pool to my side. Seeing him move toward me with his tan muscular chest, that damp tousled hair, and the inky sky as a backdrop…it makes me think I need to separate our ends of the pool with some sort of net. To protect him from me, obviously—not the reverse. Because Cooper thinks I’m cute, and I think he is a Greek god of fertility.

“What are you doing?” I ask, sounding nervous and unsure as he gets closer. Is this pool heated? I think it’s getting hotter somehow.

I step back, pressing myself fully against the scratchy concrete side so I don’t accidentally jump the man stopping a mere three inches away. He smiles down at me and then raises both hands to cup my face. IT’S REALLY HAPPENING?! That’s my uterus screaming this time, and I really hope he can’t hear it. It sounds like a desperate old hag.

His hands are warm as he smiles and runs his thumbs over both of my cheekbones. “You have mascara streaks.”

I shut my eyes tight so he doesn’t see the embarrassment shining through them. Is it actually completely impossible for me to be cool around this guy? How long have I been standing here looking like a bride left on her wedding day?

Cooper chuckles but doesn’t remove his hands. “You blush so easily.”

“UGH. Stop. That makes it worse!” I open my eyes to find him smiling.

“But I like it when you blush.”

My stomach twists into knots. He’s still holding my face, and his large body is right there in front of me, and I want nothing more than to plant both of my hands on his chest and see…just SEE what his skin feels like beneath my fingers. But Drew’s warning springs back to my mind like that annoying whack-a-mole game where it keeps popping its head up and you can never hit it with the hammer. If I give in to my temptation and kiss Cooper, it would mean something to me—a big something. I’m already having to treat my heart like a cartoon and grab it by the back of its shirt, holding it in place while it tries to run away from me. If what Drew says about Cooper is right, for him, it would just be another kiss, a regular Tuesday night activity.

He’s a flirt—maybe even a player. His ocean eyes tell me to dive in and enjoy the water. They promise he’d give me the best kiss of my entire life. Actually, no. They say a kiss won’t be enough. They say they’ll need all night to do the work they want to complete.

Which is exactly why I can’t. NOPE.

Not. Gonna. Happen.

MUST STAY STRONG.

I swallow and look over his shoulder, not noticing the way the water pools in the little area between his collarbone and shoulder muscle. “We need to go. This has been fun, but I really don’t want to get caught.”