Read Online Dirty Little Secrets (Dirty Little Secrets #1) by Cassie Cross - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Cassie Cross
Ads: Link
will always hang heavily around our necks, and nothing will ever be the same again.
“Do you think I could just stay?” I ask, because I’m feeling a rare, shining moment of hope that everything will work out for me. “Do you think I could just hide here forever, and start a new life? Do you think he’d get frustrated with looking, and I could just…move on?”
“I don’t know, Mia,” Marcus replies skeptically. “If you could find a way out of it-”
“There is no way out of it,” I tell him. It’s the first time I’ve voiced the words that I’ve known deep down in my bones since the moment I left Chicago. “There’s no undoing it, there’s no pretending I didn’t steal a…” I cut myself off, because I absolutely should not say that over the phone, even if I’m fairly certain that no one is listening. I don’t want to start getting careless. “Maybe I should just enjoy life while I can and hope for the best?”
“Don’t talk like that. I’ll go tell him I’m the one-”
I let out a bitter laugh. “Please. He knows it was me, Marcus. There is no sense in getting yourself in trouble when he’ll just come after us both, then. We’ve discussed this before, please don’t make me say it again, okay? I need this to not be for nothing. I want to believe that he’ll give up, and that I can stay here and…be happy.”
“Yeah, maybe he’ll give up,” Marcus says sadly. I know he doesn’t believe that. I don’t, either, but it’s a nice thought.
It would be a life lived with me constantly looking over my shoulder, and I’d never get to see Marcus again. But the thought of a clean slate is appealing, even though I’d always know what I had done. The prospect of just being happy is a nice one. I haven’t felt really, truly happy in so long.
“Mia-”
“I should go,” I tell him. Caleb is picking me up for dinner in an hour, and I have to get dressed and over to the hotel he thinks I’m staying in before he arrives.
There is a long silence before Marcus finally says, “Okay. Call me again as soon as you can.”
“I will,” I tell him, even though I’m not sure it’s the truth. “Bye, Marcus.”
“Goodbye, Mia.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
On what I’m considering to be our first real date—which I am defining as an outing that does not include dinner and sex at Caleb’s apartment—he takes me to an up-and-coming hotspot in TriBeCa. There’s a line spilling out the door that stretches all the way down the block, but Caleb’s driver lets us out out near the front door, and we walk right up. Caleb doesn’t even have to show the host any kind of identification, we just walk right in and pass all of the other people waiting for a table. Inside, a hostess greets Caleb by name, and guides us to our table.
The inside of the restaurant is two stories, but still manages to be very cozy. The whole place is lit with candlelight, and long, white tied-back drapes cordon off different sections of the restaurant, breaking the large space into smaller, more intimate ones.
We’re guided to a table in the corner. It’s secluded, and I get the feeling that this table is frequently given to Caleb when he eats here.
Caleb slides my chair out for me, and helps me push it back toward the table once I’ve settled in. Goosebumps cover my skin as his hand glides across my shoulder as he moves to take his seat across from mine.
“They treat you like you own this place,” I tell him with a smile.
Caleb shifts in his seat, looking uncomfortable, his eyes focusing on his hands, which are folded on the table.
“Oh my god,” I say, stunned. “You do own this place.”
My eyes go wide, I can’t believe it. I look around, and…wow. This is his . Not sure why it hits me so hard, or why it shocks me the way that it does.
“It was an investment,” he says casually, like restaurants are things that everyone puts money into. I find the blasé
“Do you think I could just stay?” I ask, because I’m feeling a rare, shining moment of hope that everything will work out for me. “Do you think I could just hide here forever, and start a new life? Do you think he’d get frustrated with looking, and I could just…move on?”
“I don’t know, Mia,” Marcus replies skeptically. “If you could find a way out of it-”
“There is no way out of it,” I tell him. It’s the first time I’ve voiced the words that I’ve known deep down in my bones since the moment I left Chicago. “There’s no undoing it, there’s no pretending I didn’t steal a…” I cut myself off, because I absolutely should not say that over the phone, even if I’m fairly certain that no one is listening. I don’t want to start getting careless. “Maybe I should just enjoy life while I can and hope for the best?”
“Don’t talk like that. I’ll go tell him I’m the one-”
I let out a bitter laugh. “Please. He knows it was me, Marcus. There is no sense in getting yourself in trouble when he’ll just come after us both, then. We’ve discussed this before, please don’t make me say it again, okay? I need this to not be for nothing. I want to believe that he’ll give up, and that I can stay here and…be happy.”
“Yeah, maybe he’ll give up,” Marcus says sadly. I know he doesn’t believe that. I don’t, either, but it’s a nice thought.
It would be a life lived with me constantly looking over my shoulder, and I’d never get to see Marcus again. But the thought of a clean slate is appealing, even though I’d always know what I had done. The prospect of just being happy is a nice one. I haven’t felt really, truly happy in so long.
“Mia-”
“I should go,” I tell him. Caleb is picking me up for dinner in an hour, and I have to get dressed and over to the hotel he thinks I’m staying in before he arrives.
There is a long silence before Marcus finally says, “Okay. Call me again as soon as you can.”
“I will,” I tell him, even though I’m not sure it’s the truth. “Bye, Marcus.”
“Goodbye, Mia.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
On what I’m considering to be our first real date—which I am defining as an outing that does not include dinner and sex at Caleb’s apartment—he takes me to an up-and-coming hotspot in TriBeCa. There’s a line spilling out the door that stretches all the way down the block, but Caleb’s driver lets us out out near the front door, and we walk right up. Caleb doesn’t even have to show the host any kind of identification, we just walk right in and pass all of the other people waiting for a table. Inside, a hostess greets Caleb by name, and guides us to our table.
The inside of the restaurant is two stories, but still manages to be very cozy. The whole place is lit with candlelight, and long, white tied-back drapes cordon off different sections of the restaurant, breaking the large space into smaller, more intimate ones.
We’re guided to a table in the corner. It’s secluded, and I get the feeling that this table is frequently given to Caleb when he eats here.
Caleb slides my chair out for me, and helps me push it back toward the table once I’ve settled in. Goosebumps cover my skin as his hand glides across my shoulder as he moves to take his seat across from mine.
“They treat you like you own this place,” I tell him with a smile.
Caleb shifts in his seat, looking uncomfortable, his eyes focusing on his hands, which are folded on the table.
“Oh my god,” I say, stunned. “You do own this place.”
My eyes go wide, I can’t believe it. I look around, and…wow. This is his . Not sure why it hits me so hard, or why it shocks me the way that it does.
“It was an investment,” he says casually, like restaurants are things that everyone puts money into. I find the blasé
Similar Books
