Julianne swallowed hard. How could this be happening? She felt like she had somehow fallen out of her life and landed in a romantic comedy. If she just counted slowly to five, maybe Drew Barrymore would walk in and the transformation would be complete. Remi was completely decked out in preppy professional attire, but his hair was still adorably shaggy and ruffled from the breeze. He was wearing gray dress pants, shiny square-toed shoes, and a light blue button-down with the sleeves rolled up for that “casual yet approachable boss”
look. Remi’s outfit amused Julianne. Even though his tie was clearly expensive, it was adorned with tiny T-squares.
She wasn’t sure whether to laugh or groan—it looked like his mother had dressed him. Still, it was impossible to ignore how hot he looked. Remi wore his authority well, and the little trailer was suddenly filled with his friendly confidence.
Smiling back without even realizing it, Julianne took another deep breath and said simply, “Hey.”
Chapter Six
Julianne felt like there wasn’t a single part of her that wasn’t shaking. She was being torn in a million directions from the inside out. She wanted to be mad—furious even—that Remi was here. Where did he get off interfering with her totally eco-conscious summer job, especially considering what his parents were doing? Still, whether he was the spawn of the devil or not, there was no denying that he looked like the same cute, charming Remi she’d spent the day with on the beach. Worn out from her internal debate, Julianne settled on total shock, took a deep breath, and swung her boots down off his desk. This will be fine, she told herself.
This will all be okay. I’ll just focus on what I’m doing and soon I won’t even notice he’s here.
She pushed her dark curls back off of her face and gathered up her sketchbook and pencils. Squinting out the window at the crew working outside, Julianne thought about making a quick getaway before he could reach her, before realizing that the only ways out of the trailer were over Remi, under Remi, or through him.
There were no two ways about it; he was standing directly in front of her. She opened her mouth to speak, but Remi beat her to it.
“I wasn’t expecting to see you here. It’s a nice surprise,” he said with a coy smile.
“Yeah, this is unexpected,” Julianne managed in response. Unexpected? That was the understatement of the year.
“I guess we never had the ‘how are you spending your summer vacation’ talk, did we?” Remi chuckled.
“During the school year, I intern for this architectural firm up in Seattle. They do a lot of really interesting stuff—eco-friendly, sustainable—and a lot of structurally innovative stuff, too.” Remi spoke quickly, with what seemed like genuine enthusiasm.
Jules couldn’t help notice the way his button-down shirt drew attention to his strong chin and the way his eyes sparkled when he spoke. No, no, no, she reminded herself. You can’t like him. You just can’t.
Julianne could tell that he was really excited about the house they were building, maybe even as excited as she was, but she was determined to affect a look of casual disinterest. So what if he was cute, smart, funny, and came complete with cool academic interests? He was probably still a jerk. Well, he was certainly the son of jerks.
And there was a good chance he would turn into a jerk himself. He probably wasn’t even that interested in eco-design anyway—maybe he had been wait-listed for some suit-required corporate internship and had gotten shuffled into this job.
“So when my folks told me they were moving down here, it seemed like a really good opportunity to check out the LA office,” Remi added. “It’s a newer office, a little bit smaller; so that’s how I got to project manage this summer. Basically, it’s a cool job and an independent study all rolled up into one, you know?” Julianne nodded slowly, only half-processing what he was saying.
“So what are you doing here?” Remi asked. Julianne tried to avoid his eyes, which were still—much as she hated to admit it—warm and syrupy.
“Bill Cullen, the contractor, set me up with the job,”
Julianne explained. “He saw one of my sculpture pieces in the Chamber of Commerce and called and asked if I’d be interested in trying this. Plus, I like to be outside, work with my hands, and try new things. Like you said, it’s sort of a combination of business and pleasure.” The moment the words were out of her mouth, Julianne kicked herself. Business and pleasure? she repeated to her-self. Did I really just say that out loud?
Remi nodded appreciatively, oblivious to Julianne’s discomfort. He wiped his hands on the sides of his pants before responding. “I want you to know, I can be totally professional. I promise not to make this weird.”
Julianne’s blue eyes widened with disbelief and her jaw muscles tightened.
“Excuse me?” she managed to choke out, trying desperately to figure out how things could possibly get any weirder. She pushed up the sleeves of her T-shirt, like she was getting ready for a fight. The whole construction site, which had felt so magical and full of possibility just half an hour ago, seemed to be shrinking, closing in on her.
“I said that I want you to know that I can be totally professional,” Remi repeated sweetly. “And that I promise not to make this weird.”
Julianne’s head was swimming. She couldn’t believe he was here at this construction site, when his parents were clearly the antithesis of everything the eco-house represented. Even more, she couldn’t believe the effect he was having on her. This was never going to work. It was too confusing, too messy. But she wasn’t about to walk away from this fabulous job without a fight. That would mean leaving the crew short a person and relegat-ing herself to a summer spent indoors selling surf wax or ice
