The Off Limits Rule (It Happened in Nashville, #1)

by Sarah Adams

Speaking of turns, I’m about to pull into Drew’s driveway to secretly pick up his sister and take her on a fake date that will be entirely too real to me and lie to him about the whole thing. I’m a great friend.

I’ll help her show off a little in front of her baby daddy, and then it’s back to friends only.

By weird he means I’m breathing heavy and slowly losing my mind at the sight of Lucy in a little black dress.

“Yeah, I’m good. Listen, I gotta go, man. Don’t worry, I’ll watch out for Lucy.” Won’t take my freaking eyes off her for one second.

Now that I know what those curves feel like under my hands, they are twice as attractive.

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.

“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.”

His knuckles are white from where he’s gripping the steering wheel.

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 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’m not the same woman I was before I had Levi; I’m stronger, warmer, fluffier, and wiser.

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.

Kissing Cooper feels so good it makes me irrational.

“Sorry, man. It’s tough to be around Lucy and not kiss her.” Does he really mean that? It’s not just part of the fake-date act, right?

Of course he means it

lean into him, wrapping both of my arms around his bicep, walking like this the rest of the way to the table. He kisses the top of my head with a smile on his mouth, and I can’t help but wish this moment could be permanent. Maybe it can be.

Cooper’s hand falls from my neck to rest on my thigh. It’s not meant to be seductive; it’s comforting.

His glare across the table, however, is terrifying. “Well, it’s a good thing it’s none of your business then, isn’t it?”

He did not just say that. Someone hold my earrings! This man suddenly trying to act like he is devoutly devoted to Levi rather than an occasional part of his life is really getting on my nerves.

Cooper is tall with a powerful build, and I’ve never thought of it as dangerous before. But with that sharpness aimed at Brent, I see he is not a man you’d want to mess with.

Seems odd to me for a man who’s never been in a relationship with her to pretend he knows her so well.”

Like it or not, I’m here for Lucy as long as she’ll let me be in her life, so you need to knock it off with the rude comments. As for Levi, you sure as hell better believe I’m going to take care of him.”

Cooper’s head tilts slightly to the side after his breathtaking monologue, and he turns remorseful eyes to me. “Uh…sorry about the language, Luce. I’m working on it so it doesn’t slip around Levi so much. I’ll get better.”

closely followed by a few tears I really wish weren’t leaking out of my eyes, because no one has ever...

pulling away only far enough to hover my mouth over his and whisper, “You’re the one who taught him freaking, aren’t you?”

Would it be weird if I sat in his lap in the middle of this restaurant? Yeah…I might still do it anyway.

It was complete torture, but I’m willing to go along with it because it’s important to Cooper to prove himself to Drew.

“And I’m getting stretch marks on my boobs.” “We call those tiger stripes, darling. Get the terminology right.”

My skin pops out like a can of biscuits when you first crack it open and the dough tries to jump out. I’m trying to love my dough just as much as I love biscuits.

Cooper is an excellent kisser. He also called Brent out for keeping me as his ‘back-burner option’. Brent did not deny it. And after sitting silent for nearly fifteen minutes, Tanya abruptly broke up with Brent when it finally sank in how much of a butthead her boyfriend is.”

I’m happy my trainwreck of a life is giving her joy. I’m so giving.

“Cooper definitely thinks so…is that a hickey?! Weren’t you not allowed to touch outside of the restaurant?” Now I’m smiling like the Grinch. “Yeah. The restaurant got dinner and a show.”

Now, I’m here, I’m growing, breathing, and I might not be the exact image of what motherhood should be, but I am full of messy happiness, and that’s enough for me.

Good for you

She stays for pancakes, and Levi starts calling her Aunt Jessie before breakfast is even on the table.

Huh? I look down to find two chubby little arms wrapped tightly around my legs, followed by the sexiest hands I’ve ever seen slowly sliding around my abs and up to my chest. WHAT IS HAPPENING TO THE WOMEN IN THIS GROCERY STORE?!

She’s doing that thing where she plays with my fingers dangling over her shoulder, and I have the strongest urge to tell her this is the hottest thing I’ve ever experienced in a grocery store.

Lucy’s playful smile dims into something meaningful as she looks up at me, trying to see if I buried a hidden meaning inside my statement, Hallmark style. I did.

“Good. For a minute there I was worried you would be upset I interrupted.” She tries to pass her statement off as a funny ha-ha moment by chuckling, but it has an undertone of insecurity to it that I can hear from a mile away. “Luce, I’m here for you—and eggs, but mainly you.”

Here’s what I never saw before, though: Those poor idiots don’t give a crap about their game because they don’t need it. If their women are looking at them like Lucy is looking at me, they’re not having any trouble in that department.

her arm brushing against mine and her smile dimpling as she tells me about the intimacy advice the old lady who got a perm today gave her, I want to pin her up against the canned soups and try out some of the suggestions Lucy’s relaying to me via spelling so Levi doesn’t learn new things.

I’m dying inside. How can that tiny touch spark so much inside me?

I’m seconds away from telling her we need to get out of here. Go home. Put Levi to bed. The groceries can rot in the car for all I care. I’ll replace them all in the morning, whatever. I just need Lucy.

grab Lucy’s hips and swing her around so her back presses up against the wall. My hand cups her jaw as my other sweeps around her lower back. I don’t know if I dip my head down or if she rises up onto her tiptoes, but what I do know is, in the next moment, my mouth is slanted over Lucy’s, and we are kissing like two teenagers trying to perfect the process.

watching Lucy and Levi walk out together and feeling something snap into place in my head: I will do anything to be in their life. And another thought directly follows that one: I’m so glad Janie refused me. …and also: Lucy’s butt looks so good in those jeans. I

She wraps her arm around my bicep, and now we’re one happy family. It’s odd how you can know someone for such a short period of time and yet feel like you’ve always been there with them. That’s how being with Lucy and Levi makes me feel.

(I care. It was delicious, and I will definitely sneak out to the kitchen in the middle of the night to eat the leftovers from the fridge.)

“Yeah, of course he did. All my best friends call me Coop.” He leans over the bed and brushes some of Levi’s hair out of his face before tucking in the covers all around him like a burrito. How did he know Levi likes that? “Then why do I call you Cooper?” I ask with a hand on my hip. He tilts his head to look at me with a sideways grin. “'Cause I’ve never thought of you as just my friend.” Mmmm, good answer.

“I loved watching you put him to bed.” He picks up my hand and presses it to his chest. “Do you feel that? My heart is going mushy. You’re turning me into a sap, and I don’t know what to do about it. It’s weird.”

Kids have this way of making you want to rip your hair out one minute then snuggle them up and never let them go the next.”

“I better go before Drew gets out.” His warm lips press into my cheek for only a fraction of a second before he pulls away. “Leave your window open tonight.” “What? Why?” I ask Cooper’s fantastic retreating back. He looks too good in navy t-shirts. He shrugs those big shoulders. “Going to be a nice night.”