Read Online You're Still the One by Rachel Harris - Free Book Online Page A

reason he’d never see her again. He closed his eyes with a sigh. It was probably for the best.
    “Morning, Mr. Tucker.”
    A manila folder dropped on his desk, and Charlie raised his head to see Beth, the young wisp of a thing who worked the front desk. She was a relative of Mike’s, shy as all get-out, and she refused to call him Charlie. She made him feel ancient as shit, but at least this time she hadn’t called him sir.
    “Good morning, sunshine. This the list of local bars and clubs we discussed last week?” He opened the folder to find a huge stack of papers inside.
    Beth nodded. “Yes, sir.” Charlie gritted his teeth. “I included every bar I could find that advertised open mic nights in Jefferson, St. Tammany, St. Bernard, Plaquemines, and Orleans Parish. The owners’ names and phone numbers are listed on there as well.”
    “Awesome.”
    One of the things Strange Wheel tasked him with was community outreach and broadening their name within the Greater New Orleans area. Sure, the industry was taking note of their innovative style, but they wanted local musicians to know they had a place right here ready and willing to make their recording dreams come true.
    Charlie glanced over Beth’s work and gave an impressed nod. “You sure you’re only sixteen?” The spreadsheet she’d put together wasn’t only extensive, it looked complicated as hell. Creating something like this would’ve taken him forever. This generation definitely had a leg up on technology. When he lifted his eyes, he found her gnawing on her lip, a pink blush stealing across her pale cheeks.
    Dammit. The poor thing wore her heart on her sleeve. The other guys had made it obvious she had a crush on him, and if Charlie didn’t want to hurt her feelings, which he didn’t, he’d have to be more careful with how he praised her. “Thanks for this,” he said, closing the folder and tapping the cover with his finger. “Good work.”
    She beamed and started fiddling with her hair, lashes low, as she hung around unnecessarily, and he proceeded to attempt looking as important and harried as possible. He shuffled papers around and fired up his computer. Honestly, this job was a cakewalk, but he was a freaking champ at appearing busier than he really was. It came in handy whenever Tyler got into one of his organizational fits.
    Beth shifted her weight and cleared her throat, and when he didn’t respond, began inching her way toward the door. She made it halfway there when she spun around. “Oh, sir?” Again with that word. Withholding a sigh, he raised his eyebrows in question. “Arabella James is here.”
    It took Charlie a full thirty seconds to remember that Stone’s daughter had used an alias to apply for the position, an honorable attempt to withhold her identity. “Great. I’ll be right out to meet her.”
    With that, Beth closed the door, her smile dimmed, and Charlie rapped his knuckles on the desk.
    He’d known this day would come—hell, it was the reason he’d been hired—but he’d been dreading it all the same. He had nothing against the girl. The intern position wasn’t exactly rocket science; Hunter was handling it just fine, so Charlie was sure Arabella would, too. But the role of glorified babysitter rankled.
    Charlie loved working at Strange Wheel. Loved the fast-paced energy of recording, the rush of experimentation he got on the producing side of things. Arabella “James” Stone would only distract from that. Now that he was here, he wanted to immerse himself in music, not keep tabs on some haughty prima donna.
    “You made your bed,” he muttered to himself, mock-stabbing himself in the chest with a Bic pen as he shoved to his feet in surrender. His rolling chair careened toward the wall and crashed with a dull thump . “Now you have to make the best of it.”
    Back out in the hall, bits of conversation caught his ear. Not words, but sounds. Mike’s gruff, weathered voice, the result of smoking two packs a