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

day since he was old enough to light a cigarette, and a woman’s musical laugh. Despite his surly mood, it tugged a smile out of him, the cadence of his heartbeat responding to the honeyed notes. It was exciting and soothing at the same time, and something nudged at his memory.
    He hesitated only a second as he neared the lobby, preparing himself to charm the daughter of the man who signed his paychecks. He released a breath, nodded to himself, and rounded the corner—
    Then came face-to-face with his kiss-and-run vixen.
    Charlie’s steps came to a grinding halt.
    The ghost of the woman from the club materialized alongside the hipster-dressed intern standing in front of Mike, smiling and looking excited, nervous, and hot as hell. Charlie shook his head at the impossibility. No. They couldn’t be the same person. The Arabella Stone in his mind was no older than Beth, twice as shy…and every bit as smitten.
    Maybe admit that she’s fantasized about you for years?
    Charlie cursed under his breath. That’s what the woman had asked him at Country Roads. And, obviously, the girl in his memory would’ve grown up by now. Just because he hadn’t seen her in several years didn’t mean she’d stayed trapped as a young teen for life.
    That old premonition he’d gotten when Stone first approached him roared back with a vengeance. Something had warned him then to be cautious, that everything in his life had a downside, but he’d ignored it. He should have known better. Lately, if things could go wrong, they did, and having the sexy woman from the club be the boss’s daughter definitely counted as wrong.
    “Little Bit?” Charlie’s voice was a hoarse rasp, hands clenching at his sides to keep from reaching out, while his head screamed at him to run. Trouble signs flashed in his periphery. As for Arabella, her smile froze on her glossy lips, and as her big doe eyes turned to meet his, they widened in shock.
    Well, look at that. Little Arabella Stone had grown up.
    And he was fucked.

Chapter Five
    “Charlie ?”
    Holy nuggets of crud, her worlds were colliding.
    Arabella licked her lips, a deer caught in the headlights. “Wha-wha-what are you doing here? I thought Blue was on hiatus.”
    Belatedly, she realized she could’ve at least attempted to deny her identity, but she was simply too shell-shocked. Not exactly the blasé post-kiss impression she’d intended to make when she first saw Charlie again, and yes, she’d had a plan in mind.
    From the moment she’d gotten home from the club, she had known there’d be no escaping the fallout of her escapade of deceit, but when the time came, most likely during a future Belle Meade event, she’d assumed one of two things would occur:
    He’d have forgotten her again.
    Or
    She’d be the epitome of cool, calm sophistication, and explain that it’d been a harmless lark. The two of them would then laugh the night off as innocent flirting and walk away amused, but both secretly pining for each other.
    Okay, so even she could admit that second outcome hadn’t been likely, but it hadn’t mattered because she’d had time to come up with a better plan !
    Being the friendly stalker that she was, of course Arabella knew Charlie’s schedule. He was supposed to be back home in Franklin for the summer. She’d been aware that the band used Strange Wheel for a handful of songs on previous albums—it’d been what put the independent studio on her radar in the first place. But that hadn’t been an issue when she applied, because Blue wasn’t recording now. She’d known. She’d checked!
    Mr. Hebert, the sound engineer who had ultimately hired her and met her at the door that morning cleared his throat, and Ella dragged her gobsmacked gaze in his direction.
    “You two know each other,” he commented somewhat gruffly, a strange expression on his weathered face. “That’ll make things easier.”
    Arabella’s eyebrows lifted. “What easier, sir?”
    A snort came from