Dirty Little Lies (Dirty Little #2) Read Online Free Page A

much about you.”  
    Caleb clears his throat, and if I didn’t know better, I’d swear he was warning her to be quiet, probably to keep her from telling me everything that she’s heard about me. Which…why is she hearing things about me, exactly? I feel like I’m in some kind of twilight zone.  
    Ben—ex-boyfriend Ben, serial cheater and breaker of my heart Ben—is reading up on me? He’s following my life and my work and telling his friends about it?  
    Mia must get a sense that I’m about to barrage her with questions. “Caleb told me a lot about you,” she hedges, even though I know it’s a lie. She’s so sweet I don’t call her out on it. “You two knew each other in college?”  
    I nod, then take a sip of my champagne. “We did, and I somehow lived to tell the tale.”  
    Mia and Caleb let out a chuckle, then Mia looks a bit wistful. “I would’ve liked to have known Caleb back then.”  
    “I don’t know if this will disappoint you or make you happy, but I don’t have any scandalous stories about him. Caleb was always the perfect gentleman when I was around.”  
    Mia narrows her eyes at me like she doesn’t believe me, but I’m telling her the truth. Caleb treated me better than Ben ever did, often times sticking around in the aftermath of a breakup, offering me a pint of mint chip and a shoulder to cry on.  
    “Did Caleb tell you that Oliver couldn’t make it tonight?” Mia asks.  
    I nod.  
    Caleb laughs. “I told you I wasn’t going to forget.”  
    Mia shrugs. “I just wanted to make sure. Ben should be here any second,” she says, scanning the crowd. “I told him not to be late, but he’s late.”  
    I invited him, so the fact that he’s coming isn’t a complete surprise, but knowing that his appearance is imminent makes my heart skip a beat.  
    I’m not sure I want to examine the reason for that too closely.
    “Marisa,” Caleb starts, and I know for sure that I don’t want to hear what he’s going to say. I have a feeling that it’s going to be exactly what I don’t want to hear: that Ben’s changed, that he really means it this time, that he wants to give us another shot. “Look, about Ben…”
    I just…I can’t hear that right now.  
    “I’m sorry, I just remembered that I have a…I have a thing I have to attend to over there.” I hope I sound as friendly as I’m trying to sound, and not completely like I’m bailing, even though Caleb knows me well enough to know that I’m bailing. “I’ll see you two before you leave?”  
    Mia gives me a friendly smile. “Maybe we can meet up for coffee sometime?”  
    I nod. Yes, coffee. “Sure, that sounds wonderful.”  
    I practically trip over my own feet as I make my way to the door, desperate for some fresh air.  

CHAPTER FIVE

    The Murphy Building is an exquisite structure in a city full of exquisite structures. Sure, its cracked marble stairway needs some repairs, and the grand, ornate columns along the front that stretch up toward the sky aren’t as polished and unblemished as they used to be. In a place like New York—where every inch of real estate is precious—the fact that such a beautiful building fell into this state of disrepair is appalling.  
    It’s always been one of my favorite places in the city, ever since I was old enough to climb to the top of the stairs on my own. I’d look out at the crowded streets full of taxis and buses, the sidewalks packed with people hurrying from here to there. For the first time in my young life, in a city that is so easy to get lost in, I felt big.  
    My nanny would take me on picnics here on my first and last days of school. She’d lift me up onto the short marble ledge that ran along the East side of the building, then pull herself up to sit beside me. We’d eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with the crusts cut off, and dangle our legs while we ate, our heels clicking against the concrete wall.
    Ben kissed me for the first time on