Page 74 of The Off-Limits Rule: Extended Edition

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 huggedand kissed his nephew (and hopefully showered him with lots of amazing gifts) and then I willmurdermy brother.

“You have terrifying 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 sayTold 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’snot 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 heis.

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 one eyebrow lifted in confusion.

“Yeah, you know? These.” I slightly curve my lips and lift my eyebrows, 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 attack. “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 sex 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 herealways.”

“That’s quite a promise.”

“Mm-hmm,” 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.

Chapter 33

Cooper

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