Page 48 of The Off-Limits Rule: Extended Edition

“Cooper?”

“I’m at your door. Will you come let me in before this old lady staring from her porch calls the cops on me? Oh God, her phone is to her ear. I think it’s happening.”

I let out a deep breath and toss the blankets off my lap. “You scared me! What are you doing here? It’s so late.”

“Let me in and you’ll see.” Why do I feel like he’s going to be dressed like Magic Mike on the other side of this door?One can only hope.

I open the door to Cooper, still dressed in his nice clothes from dinner, but he’s unbuttoned one extra button and untucked his shirt. One hand is pressing his phone to his ear, the other holding up a bottle of wine. “Post-bad-date sustenance.”

Yeah, more like late-night bad decision waiting to happen.

Chapter 20

Cooper

Lucy’s gaze bounces from the bottle of wine in my hand to my eyes, and she swallows. I start to feel ridiculous still holding up the wine, and also a little concerned she might turn me away. It sounds egotistical, but I haven’t been used to women keeping me at arm’s length or turning me away this past year. The fact that she doesn’t throw the door wide open and start undressing before I’ve made it across the threshold is refreshing—sortof.

Finally, she steps aside and gestures for me to come in, but her eyes are skeptical. She’s going to keep me on a short leash until she knows what I’m about.

When I walk into the living room, I notice the house is completely dark except for the glow of the TV. I look at my watch; it’s only ten thirty. But, yeah, I guess that’s actually pretty late to be ringing the doorbell of a home with a sleeping child inside. Shoot, now I feel terrible.

“I didn’t wake up Levi, did I?” I ask, turning back around tofollow Lucy into the kitchen after she takes the wine from my hands.

She chuckles quietly. “No. He’s with my mom tonight. And even if he wasn’t, he sleeps like a rock. I imagine I’ll have to dump cold water on him when he’s a teenager.”

Oh, so Levi’s not here. And neither is Drew. So that means…we’re alone in here?

Now I’m contemplating the wisdom of this late-night adventure as I track Lucy moving around her kitchen. Her bun is an enormous mess of auburn waves, her shirt is so big it’s nearly falling off her shoulder, and she’s wearing thick-rimmed glasses. And don’t forget the famous dinosaur sleep pants. She’s so freaking adorable I almost can’t handleit.

“I can feel you judging my outfit,” she says as she pours red wine into two stemless wineglasses.

“Not judging.” I move to stand closer to her. “Admiring.”

She quirks her mouth into a skeptical grin and leans a hip against the counter. I watch her lips make contact with the glass as she takes a slow sip. “You’re so full of lines.”

I hold up a hand in the universal sign of scout’s honor. “I’ve never given you a single line. Only honesty.”

She’s looking for a way to call my bluff. Vast, deep blue eyes search mine, then shift to my mouth, looking for any signs of a teasing smile. Back up to my eyes. She takes another sip and tips her chin toward her shoulder. “Okay, then maybe I’ll wear this little number to my next date if you think it’s attractive.”

Her words are a cheap shot to my gut. “Next? Are you going out with Ethan again?” From where I sat, it looked like both of them would have rather been at the dentist. Maybe I was wrong?

“God, no. I think I have more chemistry with this glass of winethan Ethan. But I had two more of Drew’s friends text me tonight asking if I’d like to go out sometime, so I can only imagine how many of them he gave my number to. I’m worried he’s trying to rival eHarmony.”

I clench my teeth. So, it’s not that Drew is against Lucy dating one of his friends; it’s strictlymehe doesn’t want his sister going out with. Cool. That feels great and not at all messedup.

“You okay?” Lucy asks when she notices the storm cloud that has settled over my head.

“Yeeeeep,” I say, drawing out the word a little too long before taking a deep drink of wine and letting it warm my chest. How am I going to watch Lucy go on more dates? Whatever. I’ll have to worry about that later because, right now, I’m here alone with Lucy.Me.Not Ethan. Not any of the other guys.Me.

And apparently when I get jealous I turn into a caveman.Me get Lucy.

She watches me with an amused, calculating look, letting me know I must be openly displaying more of my jealousy than I realize. Sometimes, I can’t handle her eyes on me like this. It makes me want to fidget, and I’ve never been a fidgeter before. I reach up and flick one of her unruly locks of hair, tossing her my best attempt at a relaxed grin just so she doesn’t look too hard and find all my flaws and insecurities. “What are we watching tonight, Marshall?”

Her eyebrows rise, making her glasses shift a little on her face. “You want to watch with me? It’s a Turkish romance. I doubt you’d be into it.”

“Try me.”

And that’s how I wound up on Lucy’s couch, drinking wine and watching a sappy show until the early hours of the morning. At some point during the night (I think after her second or thirdglass), Lucy’s legs ended up draped across my lap. They are still there now, and I have one hand on her foot and the other covering her shin. The side of her face is sort of smooshed against the couch cushion, and we both angrily groan when, once again, the show cuts off with the main couple’s lips hovering a hair’s breadth away from each other.

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