Read Cold Midnight for Free Online

. breathtaking. It had never occurred to her that he could so easily replace what they had. And it still hurt. God, it hurt.
    Shaking off the memories, she called, “One more and we’re done. Match point, Ace.”
    She powered a serve at T.J.’s feet, pouring every ounce of past hurt into it. He managed a weak return that she slammed back so swiftly it bounced right past him.
    She chuckled at his eye-blinking shock. “Don’t worry about it, kid. You’ll get there.”
    His shoulders drooping, he strolled to the side of the court to retrieve his water bottle. Before she could regret putting him away so easily, she remembered that he wasn’t given to pouting when he lost. Something big was on his mind.
    Uncapping her own water bottle, she waited for him to join her by the tall, chain-link fence that enclosed the four tennis courts behind the Kendall Falls Health Club. They were the only players at the moment, thanks to the almost-daily thunderstorm brewing in the distance.
    “What’s with the long face?” she asked.
    “Nothing.” He shrugged with one shoulder, then said, “Oh, I almost forgot.” Shoving his hand into the front pocket of his shorts, he withdrew a wad of damp bills. “I know it’s not what I owe.”
    Kylie looked from the money to his sweat-streaked face, but he avoided her gaze.
    When she made no move to accept the cash, he thrust it at her, his pink cheeks reddening. “I know my mom hasn’t been paying.”
    Ah. Now they were getting somewhere. The boy had major mother issues, and as far as Kylie could tell, not one of them was his fault. “That’s between your mom and the club.”
    “Well, it’s between the club and me now.” When still she hesitated, he scowled. “I’m not a charity case.”
    She released an indelicate snort. “Of course you’re not. You’re my friend, and I play tennis with my friends because I like to, not because they pay me.”
    The suggestion of a smile touched his eyes, and he pocketed the money. Angling his chin to indicate something over her shoulder, he said, “That guy’s been watching us awhile.”
    She glanced around to see Chase Manning sitting casually in the metal risers next to the courts. An unexpected shiver ran through her, and she shook it off. Don’t be an idiot.
    “Do you know him?” T.J. asked.
    She forced a smile at the teen. “Yes.”
    “Looks like a cop.”
    The distaste in his tone surprised her. “You don’t like cops?”
    He shrugged. “Don’t think about them one way or another.” He swallowed some water and recapped his bottle. “Same time tomorrow?”
    “You bet.”
    He gestured at the ball-littered court. “I’ll clean up before I go.”
    “Thanks.”
    As T.J. retrieved the hopper and began collecting tennis balls, Kylie slid her racket into its case, conscious of Chase’s steady gaze on her. The fit of the brace on her knee felt more snug than usual, and she resisted the urge to adjust it. She couldn’t help the self-consciousness. The scars underneath represented everything that had gone wrong with her life back then, with them .
    Easing through the gate, she took advantage of her sun-shaded eyes to study him as she approached. He had changed so much over the years. He wasn’t “cute” anymore, not like when he’d been her training partner. He’d been boyish then, and quick to smile only for her, and tease. Now, his jaw seemed made of granite, untempered by the nearly black hair that the wind feathered over his forehead.
    She paused at the bottom riser of the bleachers and took off her sunglasses, determined to show him, and herself, that she didn’t feel the need to hide behind them.
    Chase’s lips curved, but the smile didn’t touch his emerald-hard eyes. “Looked to me like you were a little hard on the kid.”
    The deep pitch of his voice washed over her like a caress, so sensual that she imagined his lips near her ear, his warm breath against her sensitized skin. Her pulse kicked into a higher gear,