Julianne wiped sand off her arms and turned back toward her easel, determined to keep her cool and not check Remi out as he jogged away. She picked up her paintbrush and got exactly two strokes onto the canvas before she just couldn’t resist. Trying to be as subtle as possible, she turned slowly and looked for him on the horizon.
She spotted his lanky figure several hundred yards in the distance. Her eyes locked on to him just in time to see him place his surfboard gently on the ground, dust himself off, and walk right through the giant glass door of the Moores’ giant glass house.
Chapter Four
Several hours later, Julianne was still in shock. Every part of her churned in confusion, even as she tried to focus her attention on hanging out with Chloe.
She’d thought that some quality sister-time would be just the thing to help her get it together.
“I mean, he’s still pretty perfect, though,” Julianne mused out loud. “Isn’t he?”
Chloe swept her hair off of her shoulders into a high ponytail and then adjusted the drawstring on her pink-and-yellow-striped lounge pants. “All I know is that we’re never going to a party where they only have PBR
ever again,” she mused. “Think about it—crappy beer, crappy guys. They go hand in hand. From now on it’s good drinks or bust.”
“Things went that well with Michael, huh?” Julianne chucked a pillow at her sister.
“Like I said, crappy beer, crappy guys. He seemed like such a sweetheart in physics lab.”
Julianne picked at the spots of dried paint still clinging to her hands as she considered her response. “Well, you know, clearly it’s time to start paying less attention to physics and more attention to chemistry.”
“Oh Lord, Jules. Stick with art, okay? Because comedy? Not your thing.” Chloe tried to look miffed, but her hazel eyes were laughing.
“When did it start going downhill?” Julianne flopped onto her back and stared up at the floral border edging its way across the top of Chloe’s bedroom walls.
“Oh, I don’t know … about half a second after he told me that I was pretty good at physics ‘for a chick.’ ”
Chloe’s heart-shaped face screwed up into a horrified grimace. “I’d say it was a pretty quick descent to rock bottom from there.”
“No way!” Julianne squealed, popping bolt upright again. “There’s no way—he couldn’t have actually said that!” She tossed another one of Chloe’s smooshy throw pillows at her sister for emphasis. “Wait, did he actually say that?”
“How could I possibly make this up?” Chloe lobbed the pillow back at Julianne’s head. “What part of ‘arrogant jerk’ isn’t coming across clearly here?” She paused and gnawed her left thumbnail thoughtfully while Julianne continued to stare, wide-eyed. “Good thing he’s not a communications major, I guess,” she said, sighing finally.
“You mean, because he should really never talk to anyone ever again?” Julianne asked, laughing, before taking a swig of water. “I mean, honestly—ew!”
“Julessssssss!” Chloe wailed. “Why is every guy I meet a complete loser? Are there no guys on the entire West Coast who aren’t completely sketchy? And you—” She turned her attentions toward Julianne. “You cannot even think about things going any further with Remi!”
“But …” Julianne snapped open her mouth in protest. “He’s …”
“I know, I know.” Chloe cut her off decisively. “He’s smart, he’s hot, he’s funny, blah blah blah. So are lots of other guys. But you know what he’s got that other guys don’t? Parents who are trying to bulldoze our beach. I wouldn’t mess with that, Jules. Crazy runs in families.”
“Not everything runs in families, Chloe. Dad has green eyes, and neither of us do. It doesn’t necessarily mean anything, right? Besides, if you’d seen him this afternoon … oh my God. He completely got everything I was saying about painting. And his surfing lesson was pretty much the hottest thing ever. And—”
“Okay, points duly noted.” Chloe was all business.
“So you’ll have some awesome memories. But you can’t keep seeing him. There’s no way it can go anywhere good.”
“But why not?” Julianne pressed.
“Because he’s one of them, Jules. He’s a McMansion Moore. His parents are terrors. They are the living embodiment of bad news.” Chloe was on a roll. “And that house! Can you honestly imagine someone living in that glass house who isn’t a complete and total jerk?”
“He’s not a jerk,” Julianne said quietly, feeling both absolutely certain of it and utterly confused.
“Maybe not yet. And maybe he won’t turn out to be as complete a jerk as his parents, but still, nothing good can possibly come of dating him. The Moores are nothing but trouble.”
“Can we please change the subject?” Julianne pleaded, her head swimming.
“Yeah, of course.” Chloe’s tone was bright again and Julianne felt herself relax instantly. “But promise me you’ll think about it, okay?”
“Sure. Of course. Seriously, don’t worry about it,”
Julianne assured both her sister and herself. “We have the entire summer to meet guys who don’t completely suck. Forget guys, even. I have an awesome job working for Bill’s crew. You’re going to be over at the children’s hospital—surrounded by hot med students, might I add—
and it’s going to be perfect beach weather for the next three months.”
“That’s more like it, except for the forgetting-guys part.
Summer is totally a time of infinite possibilities. We’ll work hard; then we’ll beach harder. There is no room in that schedule for wasting time on two-faced boys who are tacky enough to hit on us after we’ve sustained minor head trauma.” Chloe’s voice was resolute. “So, what exactly are you doing for Bill this summer anyway?”
Julianne scrunched up her nose, thinking. “You know, I’m not entirely sure. He’s going to give me a whole orientation on my first day. It’s this cutting-edge house, though. I think I’m going to be doing some of the more creative touches. I know Mitch and Hunter work for Bill, but I think I’m going to be the only girl on
