Forbidden Boy

97

Hailey Abbott

When she wasn’t imagining new and creative ways for the universe to karma-smack Remi and his family, Julia

She was becoming a pro at looking casually disinterested or distracted while secretly absorbing every last syllable being uttered around her. In short, she was well on her way to being the best spy in Southern California.

Okay, maybe not. But definitely the best spy in the Palisades.

98

Chapter Nine

!

Julia

She kept her head down, waiting to make her move.

Only a fellow spy would have recognized that Julia

After three weeks of progressively more intense surveillance—of what she and Chloe were now jokingly calling “the subject”—Julia

Hailey Abbott

precious little that was of any help to her cause. She had, however, developed a whole arsenal of easily deployed spy tricks. The stud-finder was her latest i

She heard footsteps coming and snapped back into her position—her face shielded, the stud-finder level with the floor and beeping softly. The click-click-thump of shoes was getting closer, and Julia

“Dad, I know it’s important . . . of course I do. Yeah, Dad, I know. I understand I have a responsibility. Yes, for the fourteenth time, I promise I will not forget.” Remi’s tone was a blend of stress and a

Forbidden Boy

to be keeping tabs on these sorts of things for me. I promise you, I can handle it myself.” Julia

“Look, Dad, I have something I need to get to in my office. I know there are other things you want to discuss, but can we just do it later? Yeah, I’ll be around.” Julia

She tiptoed around the back of the site trailer, being 101

Hailey Abbott

careful not to step in any of the patches of dry, brown summer grass around the perimeter, just in case they made a crunching sound and gave away her where-abouts. She knelt down in the space under the trailer’s back window, steadying herself with one hand on the grass and one on the plastic siding of the trailer. It was like waiting with the stud-finder all over again, only now her spy prop just looked silly. She waited and waited to overhear even a hint of conversation coming from Remi’s desk, but he wasn’t talking and her calves were screaming from her awkward crouch.

Patience frayed, Julia

Then she heard a squealing sound from inside the trailer.

Squealing tires are secret-agent pay dirt, she thought.

Shifting to get a better view, Jules was just able to make out the trailer’s bathroom door opening. Her mind worked hurriedly to figure out what sneaky, no-good things Remi was up to in the trailer bathroom, but before she was able to formulate any sort of convincing 102

Forbidden Boy

hypothesis, the door slid all the way open and Remi appeared in her line of vision. Wearing nothing but a towel.

Jules felt her eyes grow wide as her gaze followed Remi’s body across the trailer. Hanging around the construction site had been kind to him; his muscles were smooth and well defined. Even the farmer tan from his rolled-up work shirt sleeves showcased how strong and tight his arms were. Julia

“rippling muscles” was just a figure of speech, but as Remi made his way across the room she had to admit that his muscles were, in fact, rippling. A few stray drops of water from the shower lingered on his chest, clinging stubbornly, until one by one they slid way down to six-pack abs, tracing a trail down his stomach, then finally disappearing into the towel.

As Julia

“Remington, I presume this isn’t what passes for business casual on a site these days.” Julia

Hailey Abbott

more humiliating than one of his bosses from Dawson and Dawson popping by to check on the project site and, instead, finding him half-naked. She felt a pang of sympathy for him.

“Dad?” Remi gulped. “What are you doing here?” Julia

“I think a better question, young man, might be what are you doing? Last time I checked, pants were still required at work,” Barton Moore countered. Ouch, thought Jules. He clearly just took a shower. His hair’s still wet!