Page 22 of The Off-Limits Rule: Extended Edition

She holds my gaze, taking in a long deep breath through her nose. She looks toward the darkened house, and when her eyes turn back to me I see worry. “Lucy, I think you need this.Tomorrow morning you’ll wake up, and go get your son, and have breakfast, and be a mom with all the bells and whistles—”

“I don’t wear bells and whistles on Thursdays.”

“—but tonight…you are just Lucy, a woman who deserves to let loose and have fun. What do you say?” I’m only about thirty percent sure she’ll do it. She doesn’t really have a good reason to trust me. Like she said, for all she knows, I’m a terrible guy and am actually leading her into trouble.

But when a slow smile starts to spread over her mouth, warm blood rushes through my veins, pumping and reviving my old familiar heart until it’s three sizes bigger.No more stealing Christmas for me.“Let’s do this.” But she quickly amends her declaration: “As long asthisis only jumping in the pool and not actually destroying or stealing any property.”

I smile. “None of those things.” I step toward her to put a hand on her lower back and urge her through the gate. “Just swimming.”

Chapter 9

Lucy

“Wait—I didn’t bring my swimsuit,” I say, blinking down at the gorgeous pool. It’s all lit up with warm lights and the reflection of the moon. It’s calling to me like I’m a little hobbit.Luuucccyyyy…

But that doesn’t change the fact that I don’t have my swimsuit. Cooper is standing close to me, his arm nearly brushing mine, and suddenly I remember every teen movie I’ve ever seen. Maybe he wasn’t expecting a swimsuit—just abirthdaysuit.

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 shutit.

“You’re overthinking this. 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 bottomof the poolareflattering. 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’mcute,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 concreteside 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.”

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