Forbidden Boy

Julia

Forbidden Boy

some of the guys from the site in fifteen minutes for night soccer.”

Julia

Remi chuckled. “I could say the same for you, lady.

Hey, do you need a ride to meet your friends? I’m parked over at a shopping center down the road.”

“That would be great. Only . . .” Julia

“Only what?” Remi asked, his eyes crinkling.

“Only, could you maybe drop me off a few blocks away and I’ll walk the rest of the way myself?” Julia

“No problem. I used to make my parents do that when they would drop me off at school when I was a kid.” Remi laughed his warm laugh, and Julia

Hours later, Julia

Frisbee on the beach, checking out a band at the Fishtail—and her late entrance hadn’t put the smallest crimp in the fun. Despite her awesome mood, she 157

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couldn’t help but stop and stare as she passed Remi’s house. She knew he wasn’t home—his soccer game hadn’t started until after she met up with her friends, and those guys could play all night—but it didn’t look like anyone else was home either. Julia

and they weren’t even living there? It was a worse thought than she could stand. Shrugging the tension out of her shoulders and allowing the good mood her night out had put her into return, Julia

She slipped quietly through the back door, making as little noise as possible. She wasn’t being sneaky this time; she just didn’t want to wake anyone. As she crept to the landing on her way up to her room, she noticed that a ribbon of light was escaping from under Chloe’s 158

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door. She climbed the stairs and paused for a moment outside of her sister’s room. If Chloe were asleep after all, she would pop her head in and turn out the light for her. As Julia

As far as Julia

Hailey Abbott

the other one was around—or risk getting busted by Bill or ribbed by the guys from the crew at an inopportune moment.

! ! !

The following morning she was out in the courtyard sitting up on top of a ladder, working on her ivy mural. She felt like some sort of queen holding court—every few minutes, someone would pop their head into the courtyard, stand at the bottom of the ladder, and compliment her on how well everything was coming together, how professional it looked, or how much the owners were going to love it. Perched on top of her ladder in her paint-stained cutoffs, a black-paint-splattered T-shirt, and her new pink retro Pumas, with her oversize sunglasses obscuring half her face, Julia

only a few feet away from one of the most amazing guys she’d ever met.

As if on cue, Remi popped his head out into the 160

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courtyard. His sneak attacks had lost their effect now that he and Julia

“Hey!” he called up the ladder. “How’s the painting going?”

“Why don’t you come up here and tell me?” Julia

“Brilliant,” Remi assured her, his dark eyes darting from wall to wall, surveying Julia

“Wherever can I find the gentleman who discovered such sparkling local talent? Clearly he’s a genius with discriminating taste.” He looked up at Jules and gri

She had never met anyone who gri

Julia

“Poor guy,” Remi said quietly, looking down the ladder.

“I know,” Julia

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worth, I heard that the girlfriend was totally hot, if that makes you feel any better.”

“You know, oddly enough, it does. Actually, I heard that, too.” Remi ran his fingers over Julia

“Not much. Mainly, he was charming.” Remi laughed. Then he reached up, rested his hand on the back of Julia

Remi quickly hopped up another rung on the ladder and leaned over Jules’s shoulder, pretending to admire the detail work on a section of the painting.

Julia