The Off Limits Rule (It Happened in Nashville 1)

I clear my throat and roll my shoulders back. “Because I promised your brother I wouldn’t.”

Lucy’s eyes shoot up to mine, and her mouth falls open. She stares at me for approximately three seconds until my words fully register, and her body goes rigid. “I knew it! Ugh. You chauvinistic men, talking behind my back and deciding my life without me.” She uses her hands to push off of my chest and gain some space, but I don’t let her. Instead, I lean forward and grab her hips, pulling her back to me. She lands up against me with an oof, and I smile down at her, making her frown deepen. “No, don’t smolder at me like that. I’m pissed at you and Drew right now.”

“Me? Why are you upset at me?”

Her deep-blue eyes bounce back and forth between mine, angry fire flashing from her irises, threatening to spark out and singe me. I’ve seen Lucy embarrassed, comfortable, nervous, and flirtatious, but this is new, and I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that it’s sexy as hell

. “You made the promise to my brother before talking to me first. This is the twenty-first century, Cooper. You should have told me you were interested first, and then we could have talked to Drew together. You can’t just make decisions for a woman anymore—not unless you’re dressed up in a hot, 1800s gentleman’s outfit with a cravat and waistcoat…then I might make an exception.”

I tighten my grip on her waist, feeling heat rise up from my toes and surge through my veins. “Was that a flirt?”

She narrows her eyes. “No, because I’m angry at you, remember? I don’t even want to kiss you anymore.” I’m holding her too tight for her to move away, so she crosses her arms over her chest instead. “Moment is over. Sorry, but you missed the boat, buddy. No Lucy for you.”

“Really?” I pull her in tighter. There’s no distance between us now. All of me is touching all of her, and everyone in the office can probably see what’s happening, but I don’t care. Far from it. In fact, my thumb slips under the hem of her shirt, and I glide it back and forth across her warm skin. “Well, that’s tough, but I understand.”

Her lashes flutter a little, and she looks down to where my thumb has journeyed into uncharted territory. “Well,” she says, her voice a little breathy, “let’s say, hypothetically, you didn’t miss your boat…what are your travel plans for the future?”

I give her a little eh shrug and withdraw my hand, releasing her and standing up to retreat back to my side of the desk. Predictably—and just as I hoped—she grabs the lapels of my jacket and pulls me back in place. Yeah. I like this new side of her.

“Cooper. Please. I can’t handle your sexy games. I want to be cool and suave like you, but my kneecaps are melting underneath me, and I don’t know how to act around you. Do I pin you against the wall and force you to kiss me”—Yes, always that option—“or do I grab my box of donuts and leave? I haven’t watched enough heated teen Netflix movies to know what to do in this situation!” She’s shaking me a bit via my jacket, and just like every time I’m around Lucy, I can barely contain my laughter. But with that feeling of happiness comes a healthy dose of reality too.

I cover Lucy’s hands with mine and stare down in her eyes, looking like one of those sappy fools I usually want to punch in the face due to how queasy they make me feel, but I can’t help it. This woman, her sweetness, her odd quirks…they’ve turned me into some kind of vanilla pudding you’re embarrassed to pull out at lunch. “Lucy, I want so much more with you…but I can’t give you anything besides friendship right now.”

“Because of Drew?”

I nod. “Because of Drew. I know it seems like I’m picking him over you, but that’s not the case. He’s nervous about the prospect of us because…well, he has a little reason to be. He hasn’t ever seen me commit to anyone, and he knows you and Levi need a good man in your life who won’t let you down.”

“But—”

I put my finger on her lips. “It sounds stupid, but Drew’s friendship is really important to me, Luce. Although he can drive me insane, he feels like my brother sometimes. I need his approval where you’re concerned—which I do believe he’ll give to me with time. But if I pursued a relationship with you right after he asked me not to, he would not react well. Imagine how much strain that would put on me and you right from the beginning.”

She lets out a sad little whimper and drops her forehead on my chest. “Yeah, you’re right. That would suck. I can’t even take it when Drew is upset at me for eating all of his Lucky Charms. Why do we have to love him so much?”

I wrap both of my arms tightly around Lucy, allowing myself this one last moment of intimacy with her before I force us back into the friend zone. “I know. He somehow has bigger puppy eyes than you do.”

“It’s because he used to practice them in the mirror as a kid. Got him better Christmas presents.”

“Figures.”

Lucy turns her face so her cheek is pressed up against my collarbone, and I can feel her breath on my neck. I know she’s not trying to seduce me, but consider me fully seduced. With every hot exhalation against my skin, I feel my resolve slipping.

“So, what are you proposing we do?” Did she nuzzle in closer? Her lips definitely grazed my skin as she spoke.

I shut my eyes tight, forcing myself to think straight and tune out the pleas of my body. “I think we both have to agree that a relationship between us is off limits for now. Strictly friends—at least until Drew gets home and we can both talk to him together about how we’re feeling.”

“What if he’s never okay with it?”

“Then we’ll become Romeo and Juliet.”

“They both die in the end.”

“Yeah, what’s your point?”

Lucy laughs and puts her arms around me to squeeze me like a lemon. She and I stand here for another minute, her locked in my arms and our hips pressed together in a less-than-friendly way, both savoring what we know has to be the last form of contact between us for a while. At first, I think she’s crying with all the sniffling sounds coming from her. Then, I realize what she’s actually doing.

I pull away enough to look down at her. “Lucy, are you smelling me?”

Her eyes are shut, and she smiles, not the least bit ashamed. “Yeah. It’s weird, I know. But you smell like a cologne ad, and I think it makes my brain cells morph into new hormones. Can I just loosen your shirt and run my hands up your back real quick?”