Forbidden Boy

She was about to rev up the saw when she heard his voice over her right shoulder.

“Um, Julia

Julia

“Sure thing, but it needs to be quick. I don’t want to get behind on these boards.”

“That’s actually the thing,” Remi responded. His voice was gentle but Julia

“Why? What are you talking about?” Julia

“It’s not so much your craftsmanship that’s the issue.

It’s more about the dress code.” He sounded concerned, almost parental. Jules, however, had a sneaking suspicion that he was embarrassed.

Julia

92

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Remi’s face went bright red at the suggestion of Julia

You could get pulled in. It’s a liability. It’s, um, on all the safety code posters, and I know it seems like a really nit-picky thing, but these tools are really dangerous so . . .” His words tumbled out in one rambling run-on sentence.

“Are you kidding me? I only had it down for a second—I was just pulling on my goggles.” Julia

“Look, all I know is I turned around and you were standing over the platform marking your board and your hair was hanging on the circular saw. If you want the whole DIY haircut look, you can use the scissors in the office during lunch.” His attempt at a joke flew right over Julia

“Come over here! Jules could use a hand.” As Jeremy sauntered over, it only took a second for Jules to understand why the entire girls’ volleyball team 93

Hailey Abbott

was always gathered around his locker. Unfortunately, it only took two more seconds for Jeremy to prove that he was also a tremendous jerk. “C’mon, baby,” he said pur-posefully to Jules. “Let a real man show you how it’s done.”

Julia

“Sorry, Jeremy. Remi wasn’t able to find a real man, so you’re going to have to help me instead,” she shot back.

“But if a real man comes by, feel free to take notes.” Undeterred, Jeremy tossed his arm around Julia

“Damn it,” Julia

From that point on, it seemed like everything that 94

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could go wrong did. Julia

She spent every cooped-up moment in there dreaming of the murals she’d paint on its crumbling rent-a-walls if only she had access to the crew’s paints. Even on the days that she was in the trailer choosing colors, design-ing lighting, or pla

Even worse, Remi was everywhere Julia

She felt like he was looking over her shoulder, just waiting for her to mess up. Of course, she found herself making stupid mistakes when he was around. She could almost forgive him for keeping such a close watch on her, but she wasn’t sure she could forgive herself for letting him psych her out so much. If she started to drill a board into place without sanding the rough patches down first, she’d turn around and, sure enough, Remi would be standing right there. Accidentally attach a solar panel upside down? Remi suddenly appeared two feet away, and Julia

The more Julia

“Hey, Julia

Hailey Abbott

straighter, okay?” she muttered to herself, mocking his helpful suggestions.

Not even five minutes later, his imagined voice popped back into her head with “Hey, Julia

“Definitely. I’m on it,” she responded to herself, even managing a jaunty salute. She was totally losing it.

Half an hour later, when she saw Beau’s broad figure lumbering across the site, she tensed up immediately:

“Hey, Julia

“Anything you say, chief.” Julia

“Hey, no need to get snippy with me,” Beau said, raising his hands in faux surrender. “I just don’t want to see you get showered with splinters is all.”

“You don’t want to see me get all splinter-y—or you were sent over here to tell me I’m doing something wrong?” Julia

“Whoa . . .” Beau said, laughing, arms still up in mock defensiveness. “I’m here with only the purest of intentions.

No nefarious plotting whatsoever. And every time I’ve talked to you in the past week—if you don’t mind my saying, Jules—you’ve asked me if Remi sent me over. A few too many u

“Hey now, Mr. Big Imagination,” Julia

Forbidden Boy

half-laughing. “I think you’re spending too many of your lunch breaks reading romance novels—don’t think I haven’t seen you huddled back by the trailer—it’s starting to go to your head!”

“Maybe,” Beau replied slyly. “Or maybe not all the sparks flying on this site are from your drill bit . . .”

“Oh, shut up!” Julia

“Guys are such drama queens.”

By the end of the third week, Julia