The Off Limits Rule: A Romantic Comedy (It Happened in Nashville Book 1)

Did I just have a stroke? Sure feels like it, because not two minutes ago, Cooper was telling me we could only be friends. And now…well, this does NOT feel like friends.

It does, however, feel like warm lips, a strong body, and all kinds of hot and bothered mixed into one as he hungrily caresses my mouth. I decide not to care (HA! Just kidding. It’s actually that I can’t form a thought coherent enough to resemble caring) and wrap my arms around Cooper’s neck. He drags in a deep breath through his nose, and I relish the way his hands are biting into my back like he can’t get me close enough.

Usually, kisses have a buildup, a soft-to-intense pliable rhythm that feels a lot like swimming in the ocean, floating over the waves one by one. Not this one. Cooper’s kiss is devouring as if he’s been dying for me. We tilt and slant, allowing our connection to somehow grow deeper. I’m not in the ocean; I’m on a roller coaster, and it’s just crested the first drop. When I taste mint on his lips, my world goes fuzzy around the edges and fire tornadoes spin in my stomach. His hands blaze a trail from my lower back up to my jaw so he can cradle my face, and I drop my hands to wrap around his waist. He smells like cologne today—nothing intense, just professional and clean and attractive. I tunnel in on this kiss—our lips, our breath, his scent—and I lock my arms tightly around him. I’m not sure what is happening between us right now, but I’m willing to do it all day.

Cooper begins to slow the kiss, his lips softer and more yielding than before, and I refrain from whimpering like a sad puppy. BUT THEN his hands slide from my lower back to drop into the back pockets of my jean shorts, and now I’m the coolest girl in school. My head is spinning because I feel like we just zoomed from zero to one hundred in a blink. Even in all the time I dated Grim Tim, we never kissed like that. My heart never wanted to beat out of my chest like it does right now.

It’s then that a throat clears, and I remember we’re not alone. I think Cooper remembered the whole time, though. I rip my mouth away from him, and he smiles slowly before pulling his hands out of my pockets and turning to Ashley and Brent standing at the door, mouths gaping and eyes blinking. I’m sure I look a lot like them, but Cooper is the hot guy from The Breakfast Club and doesn’t give a crap about things like public indecency.

Ashley finds her voice first. “I’m so sorry, Mr. James. I didn’t realize you two…weren’t finished yet.” She and I both cringe at her unfortunate word choice.

Cooper lightly clears his throat on a chuckle. “No, I apologize. Lucy was just getting ready to leave, and the goodbye kind of got away from us.” He looks over at me and winks. I wish I could focus on this moment to figure out what’s happening, but instead, all I can do is stare at Cooper’s mouth and think That mouth was just on my mouth. How can I make it happen again?

“Lucy?” Brent’s voice has me peeling my eyes from Cooper’s lips. “What—I didn’t realize you…” He can’t find the words to explain what he just saw. You and me both, buddy.

“Hi, Brent.” I raise my hand stiffly then lower it back down in the most awkward wave anyone has ever seen. Looked more like I should have been holding a traffic sign or introducing myself to extraterrestrials.

Cooper steps closer and puts his big, fantastic, possessive hand on my hip, holding me close to his side. It wraps around my entire hip bone as he grips me. “How do you know my girlfriend, Dr. Peterson?”

Hearing the word girlfriend makes me nearly choke on my own tongue. He asked his question so convincingly, like he had no idea in the world that Brent, once upon a time, ripped out my heart and stomped on it. He also added that special inflection men do on girlfriend (we’ll get to freaking out over that word in a minute) that conveys a territorial caveman warning. Next, he’ll get out a giant club and start waving it around.

Brent lets out a small, incredulous laugh. “She’s…well, Lucy is…that is, Levi is my son. I’m assuming you know who Levi is?”

Cooper should be in a movie. The shocked expression on his face is so believable I want to laugh. I love being on this side of the curtain. “No way. You’re that Brent? What are the odds?”

“Slim, I’d say,” Brent says, a hardness to his voice I don’t recognize. Is he…jealous? No. Never. Not Brent. “Lucy, I didn’t realize you were dating anyone.”

I shrug and smile, afraid to say much because my acting skills don’t come anywhere close to Cooper’s, and we all know it. “Just sort of happened. We met through Drew.” It’s best to stick as closely to the facts as possible when lying.

This moment is so thick with awkward tension I’m afraid we’re going to need someone with a rope to pull us out. Poor Ashley; she feels it too and is unsure what to do. I raise my hand and tap a knuckle against Cooper’s chest while hitching my head a little toward the door. Somehow, he speaks my silent language and understands me. “Oh, Ashley, you can go. Thank you.”

She’s relieved to exit this Jerry Springer episode and scurries out the door. Brent does not look happy that Cooper and I do not have to use words to communicate. Would it be too gloaty if I did a little nana-nana-boo-boo dance and stuck my tongue out at him? I’m not even into Brent anymore, wouldn’t date the man if he begged me to. It’s just that it feels good to feel wanted by someone in front of him—the man who found me undesirable except for when he was using me.

“Come in and have a seat,” Cooper says, gesturing toward his office chairs. “I’ll walk Lucy out to her car, and then we can get down to business.” We’re moving toward the door now, and Cooper looks like my bodyguard, escorting me away so the fans don’t get too handsy. I need some sunglasses and a big floppy hat.

Brent steps in our path. “I can walk her out. It’ll give me a chance to get caught up on this relationship between you guys.” Oh no. No, no, no. I’ll spill my guts with the truth that Cooper and I aren’t really a couple yet, and this whole empowering charade will backfire, making me look even more pathetic.

I look up in time to see Cooper’s easy smile. “Maybe she could call you later and get you up to speed? I’d like to walk her out, if you don’t mind.” The strength and finality in his voice tickles my spine.

Brent takes in a breath through his nose and lets it out while nodding slowly, thoughtfully. “Sure. I guess.” He’s not quite ready to let me go yet, though, and turns his attention square on me. “So, where’s Levi if you’re here?”

Okay, hello, I do not care for the accusing tone he’s using. He does realize I’ve spent nearly every single day with our son since I birthed him four years ago, right? That I’ve sacrificed absolutely everything to love my child well? He doesn’t get to talk to me like that.

I speak through lightly clenched teeth. “He’s with my mom, and after this, she and I are taking him to fly a kite at the park. Have you ever flown a kite with him before, Brent?” Yeah, no one was expecting that jab to come out there at the end, least of all me. I’ve never said anything like it to him before, and honestly, it’s not totally warranted. Brent is a good dad when he has Levi. He’s attentive, caring, fun, and never fails to be there if Levi asks him to. It’s strictly me Brent strings along, ignores, uses, leaves, rinse-and-repeats. I’m just taking my years of frustrated rejection out on him in the form of questions about kites.

“Yes,” he says, slowly drawing out the word like he’s both confused and amused by my intended sting. “Several times, actually. Don’t you remember I took him to that kite festival a few months back too?”

“Oh…right.” I’m a popped water balloon, confidence spilling out all over the place. “Good. Yeah, he loved that festival. Okayyyyy, well, I better be going. I’ll call you later, Brent.” I tuck my tail between my legs and speed toward the door so fast I’m sure my feet look like roadrunner-sized dust circles.

“Wait, Lucy, what are you guys doing tomorrow night? Maybe we could all go out to dinner—you two and me and Tanya—so I can get to know Cooper better? Since it seems he’s going to be in your life and Levi’s.” Brent gives me a meaningful look this time, saying You have no choice.

I don’t have a choice, because I have insisted on going out to dinner with him and every single one of his girlfriends before I would allow Levi to stay with him for the weekend. I was never comfortable with the idea of my son spending time with some random woman, so it helped to at least get a sense of them over dinner first. Now he’s throwing my rule back in my face. But…I guess it makes sense. I can’t really fault him for it.

Except for the tiny detail that Cooper and I are not actually together and, just five minutes ago, were making a pact to remain strictly friends until Drew is on board.

“Umm, well, I think Cooper has—”

“I’m free,” Cooper cuts in unhelpfully then turns to look down at me. “Maybe we could ask your mom if she’s free to come over and stay with Levi?”

Careful, Cooper. Your paternal instincts are showing, and it’s super attractive.

“Sure. Okay.” I look to Brent and smile. “I’ll text you with details.”

“Nah, I’ll text you with details,” says Brent, and I want to stomp on his toes because I know he assumes I would make reservations at Chuck E. Cheese.

We finally give awkward goodbyes, and Cooper tells Brent he’ll be right back, his hand landing on the small of my back, guiding me all the way to the elevator. He has to guide me because I’m not conscious anymore. My brain is lost in a fog of what just happened, everything zooming past me as we walk like we’re moving at warp speed.

We get in the elevator, and the moment the door closes, Cooper lets go of me. That snaps me out of my trance, and I turn my eyes to him. “What in the world was all of that?”

He backs up and leans against the elevator rail. “You said you wanted a confidence boost.”

I feel the feminists of the world whispering in my ear, so I recite their words. “I don’t need a man to give me confidence.”

“Yes, you do.” Cooper grins when my mouth opens in disbelief that he just said that. “You shouldn’t need a man to give you confidence because you are an incredible woman all on your own, but for some reason, you do. We’re working on building your self-esteem back up, but in the meantime, I offered myself up as tribute to help you flaunt a little in front of your ex.”

I can’t help but chuckle. “So selfless of you.”

His mouth hitches up. “I’ve always been a giver.” Suddenly, this elevator is a sauna, and my clothes are going to catch fire.

It feels strange having him all the way over there when we were just pressed together like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Cooper reads my thoughts. “I have to stay over here.”

“Why?”

“So I don’t pick up where we left off in my office.”

Every nerve ending in my body tingles. “Right. That would be terrible. Very bad. I hate kissing.”

He smiles as the elevator door opens, but frankly, I’m annoyed at its timing because I was just about to try to work my feminine wiles one last time. He gestures for me to go out ahead of him, and then when I do, he swoops in behind me, leaning down like a spy whispering a top-secret message in my ear as we walk. “It’s going to be the hardest thing I’ve done in my life to resist you, but I will, because I want to get this right. When Drew gets home, I want to be able to look him in the eyes.”

I swallow and barely manage to keep moving. “But what about tomorrow night? You agreed to go on a double date as my boyfriend.”

He nods with a slight grimace. “Yeah. Probably shouldn’t have said yes. It was a knee-jerk reaction to the possessive vibes he was giving off.” He runs a hand through his hair, looking out over the street and then back to me. “Okay, tomorrow night, we get a break from our off-limits rule—but only when Brent is present. All other times, no touching. Deal?”

I let my smile curve my lips, feeling more empowered from the leftover heat of our make-out. “Deal. I think we better seal it with a kiss.”

He shakes his head slowly at me. “Trouble.”

He’s right. For the first time in too many years, I finally feel like a little bit of trouble—in the best way possible.