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

“Do you want to come over and watch something sappy with me tonight?” Jessie asks as I’m cleaning up my station and getting ready to head out of work for the day.

“I would, but I’m headed over to—”

“Cooper’s house! I know, I know; it’s what you do every day now.”

I puff out a breath. “I’m not that bad.”

“Oh yes you are, but I don’t blame you. I’d be the same way if I had a fine man loving on me like Cooper is with you.” Jessie’s gaze drops, a familiar forlorn look creeping in. She must sense I’m about to console her, though, because she abruptly holds up her hand. “Nope. I’m good. Don’t need a pep talk today. Maybe tomorrow, but today I’m okay.”

Nice try. I pull her in for a hug anyway.

It’s been three weeks since I started “officially” dating Cooper, and yeah, now that I think about it, I guess we’ve been pretty inseparable. I should probably worry about how obsessed I am with him, or how attached Levi has become, but I’m not. He fits. It just feels right between us in a way I didn’t know was possible.

“So you’re going over to Cooper’s to—”

“PUT TOGETHER FURNITURE,” I hurry and interject before she says something blunt that will make me blush. Jessie and Cooper are the worst—especially when they team up. It seems like their life’s mission is to turn my cheeks into raspberries.

“Mmhmm. That’s an innuendo if I’ve ever heard one.”

I laugh as I stuff my freshly sanitized scissors back in their case. “This time, it’s really not. We ordered a bunch of furniture for his house last week, and he got a big shipment of it today. We’re going to order pizza and put it all together.”

“And thennnnn get to the good stuff, right?” Her eyes are sparkling, and her eyebrows are wagging. “Right? I’m right, aren’t I? What bra are you wearing?” She’s reaching for my shirt like she’s going to take a peek.

I swat her hand away and jump back. “Stop that! You’re so nosey.”

“I’m living vicariously.”

“Well, knock it off, you creepy preggo.”

She shrugs her shoulders and rolls her eyes.

I sling my purse over my shoulder and pull out my phone, refreshing my messages again like THAT will change anything. Are phone glitches still a thing?

“Still no word from Drew?”

I pull my lips to the side and shake my head. “Nope.”

Unfortunately, he has not come around to the idea of me and Cooper yet. In fact, he’s been straight-up avoiding me. We live in the same house, but I barely ever see him. He’s been working like a maniac, picking up extra shifts so he doesn’t have to face me. I’d almost swear he moved out because, despite me staying up late and waking up early, I never see him. The only evidence I’ve found of him living with me is when I almost dunked myself in the toilet two nights ago because he never puts the seat back down.

“What a big baby,” she says, shaking her head with disgust marking her mouth. If there’s one thing that’s certain in this world, it’s that Jessie hates my brother. It’s awkward, and I try to avoid the conversation as much as possible because her pregnancy hormones scare me sometimes.

“I know, he is acting like one.”

“I think my child will come out more mature than your brother.”

“Most likely.”

“I should buy him a big diaper for Christmas.”

“Yep! Sounds good!”

“You’re doing that thing where you’re backing away from me while I talk.”

“Nooooo. Not me.” My back bumps into the glass door, and Jessie crosses her arms and flattens her smile. I flash her all of my pearly whites and blow her a kiss. “Love you! I promise I’ll let you rant about my brother who you’ve never officially met tomorrow!”

“Have fun tonight.” She rubs her belly dramatically. “And remember to always be safe!”

I’m still laughing about Jessie’s comment as I make my way to my car and get in. I drive all the way to Cooper’s house with a cheesy smile, feeling the need to sing Christmas tunes even though it’s nowhere near Christmas. Christmas tunes make me happy, so I do it anyway.

When I arrive, my phone rings. “Hey, Mom! I just made it to Cooper’s house and should be at your place in about two—”

“Honey.” Something about the way my mom’s voice sounds as she cuts me off has an immediate panic shooting through my veins. “I need you to meet us at the hospital.”

I don’t even know what’s wrong yet and tears are welling in my eyes. “What happened? Is it Levi?”

At that moment, I see Cooper step outside, still wearing his nice work clothes: a button-down dress shirt, slacks, and dress shoes. The bright smile stretching across his face does not fit the words that are coming out of my mother’s mouth.

“I’m sure everything is going to be okay, but Levi is having really bad lower abdomen pain, and he just started throwing up. We’re on our way to the ER now to have him assessed.”

Cooper opens my car door, and I can’t even look at him. My mind is frantically running to dark and scary places. “Have you called his pediatrician yet?”

The shake in my voice has Cooper crouching down beside me and putting his hand on my leg. “Yes, about an hour ago. I thought it was just a stomachache, so I didn’t want to worry you, but Dr. Daren said to take him in if it progressed, so that’s what we’re doing.” My mom’s voice sounds calm, and I know if Levi had to be with anyone during something like this, my parents are the perfect people. Still, I’m terrified.

“Okay, I’ll be right there.”

The moment I hang up, Cooper asks, “What’s wrong? What happened?”

“My parents are taking Levi to the hospital. He’s having severe stomach pain. I need to go. I need to get to the hospital.” Tears are streaming down my cheeks as I numbly put my hand on the steering wheel, suddenly feeling a thousand miles away from my baby and like I won’t get there in time.

Cooper softly peels my hands from the wheel and guides my chin to look at him. “Let me drive, Lucy. Everything’s going to be okay.”

I swallow and let him help me out of the driver’s seat, then I rush around to the passenger side and get in. My hands are shaking as he starts the car, and I can’t get the buckle to snap into the buckle thing. I try to slam it in five times. Six. Seven!

“GAH! It won’t go! The freaking buckle thing won’t buckle!” I’m frantically trying to jam it in, and if I look insane, Cooper doesn’t say anything. He leans over, takes the buckle from my hand, and slowly clicks it in place before taking my hand and interlacing our fingers. His eyes lock with mine, and my chin wobbles, tears streaming down my cheeks like waterfalls.

“It’s okay. I’m going to get you to the hospital, and everything is going to be okay.” It’s a brave promise on his part, but I cling to it like I’m dangling off a cliff and those words are my only lifeline. Cooper kisses my knuckles before putting the car in drive and breaking every speed limit on the way to the hospital, and I’m more thankful now than ever that I have him. Otherwise, I would have definitely rammed into the back of the snail in front of us driving two miles an hour on the interstate.

Miraculously, Cooper doesn’t even threaten to break up with me when I roll down the window as we pass said snail and stick my head out, yelling, “The gas pedal is on the right!” I do regret flipping that lady the bird, but it was her fault for getting between a mama bear and her cub.

Whew, what a night.

Several hours after arriving at the hospital, I’m sitting beside my child, who’s hooked up to an IV and sleeping, still under the effects of anesthesia after having his appendix removed. Yep, my four-year-old had appendicitis tonight. I almost can’t believe it. For some reason, I thought that was like an old man’s disease. Turns out, it most commonly affects kids, and I HATE that my kid is one of them. But it’s over now, and he’s sleeping peacefully as I stroke his hair.

My mom has had a series of meltdowns, the poor thing. She feels so guilty for not calling me as soon as the pain started. She didn’t want to disturb me if it ended up just being gas, but then everything escalated quickly, and she realized what was going on. I’ve hugged her at least a hundred times tonight and reassured her that I won’t be taking her grandma license away, because honestly, I would have done the same thing in her shoes. Kids have five thousand aches and pains a day. It’s hard to know when things are serious or not, so I don’t fault her for waiting to call me. I’m just thankful we were here in Nashville and around my family when this happened.

Beyond the obvious reasons—like the man walking into the hospital room right now with a gigantic coffee for me—I’m glad I came home. Not everyone has the ability to live near their family in a healthy way, and I feel beyond thankful that I do. This is where I belong. Making it on my own is overrated when I have a family like mine.

Speaking of…

“Have you heard from Drew yet?” I ask, looking up and taking the Styrofoam cup from Cooper.

He shakes his head. “Not yet, but your mom is still trying him.”

I can’t believe Drew isn’t here for this. It makes me so angry I want to stomp the ground, Hulk style. He can throw a tantrum about Cooper and me all he wants, but to make Levi pay for it is inexcusable. If he ever shows up, I will wait until he has hugged and kissed his nephew (and hopefully showered him with lots of amazing gifts) and then I will MURDER my brother.

“You have crazy eyes right now,” Cooper says, retaking the seat he’s been occupying beside me all night. He wraps his hand around mine, and I feel my blood pressure lower to less of a cardiac arrest zone.

I look at my little boy sleeping peacefully in the hospital bed, and my heart squeezes. “I’m so angry at Drew. He should be here.”

Cooper squeezes my hand then drops it so he can scoop my feet up into his lap and rub them. “Don’t worry about Drew right now. Levi’s safe and taken care of, and that’s all that matters. I’ll kick Drew’s butt later.”

I turn my eyes to Cooper and his handsome disheveled hair, his big calloused hands tenderly massaging the arches of my feet. The immature part of me wants to stick my tongue out at Drew and say TOLD YOU WE’RE GOOD TOGETHER, but the other part of me doesn’t give a crap what Drew thinks, because I’m so happy I could burst.

Cooper’s long lashes fan out as he stares at my feet, his movements pausing and his broad chest expanding with a deep breath like he’s taking his first relaxed inhalation of the night. Which he probably is…because Cooper has been my rock tonight. He got me to the hospital, made sure everyone had everything they needed, ran home to pack me an extra set of clothes when we found out Levi would be going into surgery, and held me in the waiting room while fear of the worst gripped me and I cried. He called Jessie and told her everything while asking her to cancel all my appointments for the week. He’s been busy, and I’m just realizing that not once tonight did I feel that familiar ache of wishing someone was with me to help carry the load.

There he is, my very own pack mule. Okay, admittedly, that’s not the most flattering comparison, so I decide to keep it to myself. Instead, I trace a line with my eyes down the slope of his nose, over the silhouette of his pillow-soft lips, and across the scruff of his strong jaw. He doesn’t have to be here, but he is.

Cooper’s head swivels to me, catching me red-handed as I stare at him like a piece of meat I’m weighing at the market. Busted. He gives me his signature smirk, the one that makes women everywhere swoon, needing resuscitation when they see it. The one with the boy-next-door dimple in the corner and bad-boy eyes that make you want to run home and break up with your oh-so-average boyfriend.

“What are you thinking about right now?”

“If I have a Sharpie in my purse so I can write my name across your forehead.”

He grunts a laugh and continues rubbing my feet. “You’re insane.”

I scoff. “Puh-lease. Don’t think I’ve been too consumed by my worry to not notice the way Nurse Jessica keeps giving you bedroom eyes.”

“Bedroom eyes?” he asks with a confused lifted brow.

“Yeah, you know? These.” I slightly curve my lips and lift my brows, tilting my head softly. I hold the pose for way too long, waiting for him to recognize the look, until I realize his mouth is twitching and he’s trying to hold back a smile. UGH. I’m so gullible. Of course he knows what bedroom eyes are.

I release my incredible expression and punch his arm. “You do know what bedroom eyes are!”

He jerks his arm up to his chest to defend himself against my attacks. “Yes, but I wanted to see your attempt at them. You looked like a bad imitation of the Cheshire Cat.”

I gasp dramatically. “Take that back. I looked like a sexy kitten!”

He buries his head in the crook of his arm while I knock him out with my otherworldly strong punches. He’s laughing as he says, “More like someone who just ate something nasty and is trying to keep on a polite smile until they can spit it out.”

I rip my feet away and shoot up out of my chair so I can stand in front of him and purple-nurple him. He doesn’t let me. He wraps his arms around my thighs and rear end to pull me up close to him. “I love your bedroom eyes.”

I squint an eye and run my hand through his blond waves. Gosh, he has really fantastic hair. Such a shame to have natural highlights like this wasted on a man.

“You’re just trying to butter me up to avoid my incredibly intense punishment.”

“You have the strength of a baby. Levi could arm-wrestle you and win.”

“Such a charmer,” I say, pushing my hands firmly through his hair so his face has to tilt up at me. I bend and drop my head to lay a soft, polite kiss on his lips. “Thank you for being here today.”

His arms coil tighter around me, contracting like a boa. “Always. I’ll be here always.”

“That’s quite a promise.”

“Mmhmm.” He hums in a self-assured way that leaves no room for argument and makes my belly fill with heat.

Somewhere in the middle of him kissing me, the door to the hospital room opens and in steps Drew holding an obscene number of balloons.