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Forbidden Boy
“Have you given any thought to applying to schools yet?” Jules could tell that her sister, always the organizer and the achiever, was gearing up for a big Jules-goes-to-college push.
“Sure,” Julia
Nothing really serious. I’ve been sort of . . . occupied with other things this summer.”
“No, totally. I understand that.” Chloe nodded. “But you should really check out some art schools. You’re incredible—you’ll be beating off recruiters with a stick.”
“Oh yeah. That’s the best way to get a full ride to college, ya know,” Julia
Beat them into submission and so on.”
“You never miss a beat, do you Chloe?” Julia
“Oh God, we really are related.” Chloe snorted.
“Please tell me we don’t pun alike. I think we Kahn girls may be genetically not fu
“I’m afraid it’s true,” Jules agreed—but she couldn’t help but laugh.
183
Chapter Twenty
!
A“w yeah!” Randy called as Julia
“Oh, stop!” Julia
“Well that’s a shame, darlin’,” Randy replied. As Julia
Crammed into the tiny auxiliary bathroom in the basement of the eco-house, safely hidden from the tor-rential rains outside, Remi reached for a tile across Julia
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Forbidden Boy
Every time he got anywhere near her, Julia
Everything flashed blue and electric and she had to double check to make sure that she was still breathing.
She pulled herself together long enough to raise a sly eyebrow and tease, “Excuse me, Mr. Moore. A responsible project manager keeps his hands to himself.” She laughed at her own mock-saucy voice.
Remi shot back a sexy, “Oh yeah?”
“Definitely.” She pulled the zipper of her gray hooded sweatshirt up to her ta
Somewhere around noon, Julia
Cement-splattered, Remi spun around, nearly as surprised to see Julia
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Hailey Abbott
“Or what?” Julia
“You know,” she managed to gasp between bouts of laughter, “it would be a lot easier to take you seriously if you didn’t have cement on your nose.” Remi groped around his face, trying to locate and remove the offend-ing cement. “C’mere.” Julia
She licked one finger like a child’s grandmother in a shopping mall and started to scrub the cement off of his nose. Before Julia
“I think I missed a spot,” Julia
“I think I can live with that,” Remi murmured back, winding his hand under Julia
Julia
Reflexively, she felt her entire body relax and sink into Remi’s. She pressed her palms flat against his strong 186
Forbidden Boy
back and pulled herself even closer to him. He did the same.
The outline of his cheek and nose pressed under her ear made Julia
“Stop!” Julia
“Probably just the guys upstairs making fun of us for a change.” Remi shrugged before kissing her again.
Before long, Julia
Julia
Julia
“Chloe?! What are you doing here?” She was pretty sure her heart was beating louder than Randy’s hammer upstairs. This was actually what it felt like the second before the whole world ended. Oh. My. God.
“Well, I’m not making out with my archenemy in a bathtub.” Chloe was oddly matter-of-fact as she said it.
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Hailey Abbott
All of the color had drained from her face and her hazel eyes looked like dull coins. “The living room flooded.
Badly. Dad’s in New York and I need your help. I can’t do it by myself.”
Julia
Chloe looked from Julia
Then she stormed out, her hot pink galoshes squealing through the basement. Julia
For most of the ride home the sisters sat in tense, awkward silence. Finally, Julia
“Chloe, I’m so, so sor—” but Chloe dismissed her apol-ogy with a wave of her hand, restoring silence to the car.
Julia
Then it was like someone flipped Chloe’s on switch.
All of the color came rushing back into her face, along with a lot of extra red. She went ballistic.
“I can’t believe you!” she bellowed at Julia
Forbidden Boy
flailed, and if she hadn’t been piloting a small car down a flooded highway, she probably would have started pacing. “It’s not enough that he knocks me over at the first party of the summer,” she continued. “It’s not enough that he and his yuppie, tacky-ass parents move in and build the largest, ugliest house in the history of the universe. It’s not enough that they’re trying to kick my family out of the home we’ve owned since before I was born to make more room for their McMansion, but now he goes and screws around with my baby sister?! Is he evil? Is that his deal? Is he actually a malicious person who gets his kicks out of harming others?”