SEALed at Midnight by Cat Johnson Read Free Book Online

treatment from the other Cassidy brother.
    Chris pulled back and said, “Be careful driving up there. I saw talk of a snowstorm on the news.”
    Thom laughed. “Don’t worry. We Yankees know how to drive in the snow. It’s only you southern boys who think a few flurries warrants a winter weather emergency.”
    “Yeah, yeah.” Chris rolled his eyes. “Just be careful and Merry Christmas.”
    “Same to you.” Thom tipped his head. “See you in a few days.”
    “You got it.” Brody’s voice followed Thom as he turned for the door. “And don’t forget, New Years is at Rick’s place again this year.”
    Thom raised an arm in acknowledgement as he pushed through the back door of the bar that led to the parking lot.
    The cool air hit him like a bracing slap across the face. He was grateful for that after the overly warm air of the bar and his full belly from dinner with the kids. He had become a little too relaxed and kind of sleepy.
    Luckily, when he’d stopped at the gas station to fill up before getting the kids this afternoon, Thom had picked up an energy drink. If he started to feel tired during the eight-hour drive to Springfield, he’d down that and be good.
    Sliding behind the wheel of his SUV, he thought about what Brody had called to him as he’d been leaving. New Years Eve was next week. Yet another holiday to remind him of his divorce.
    He’d negotiated to get the kids on New Years Day this year so he couldn’t get shitfaced at the party the night before. Even so, it would be good to be at Rick’s place with his buddies.
    Of course, it wouldn’t just be the guys. There’d be a few females. Rick’s sister Darci would be there and Ali too since she and Jon were a couple now.
    Even Zane had settled down with one girl, amazingly enough. And of course, Grant and his wife would probably come.
    One day—maybe—Thom would be interested in going down the dating road again. Since thoughts of his ex-wife still had his blood pressure rising into the danger zone, that day had obviously not come yet.
    Hell, she’d turn him so completely off women he hadn’t had sex in—what? A quick calculation told him it had been over eighteen months since the divorce had been finalized and he’d gone out on a drunken rebound-sex spree.
    That had been more about revenge and anger at his ex than pleasure for himself.
    Christ, that woman had messed him up good if even sex hadn’t held any appeal for him for a year and a half.
    Steering onto the entrance ramp for the highway that would lead him north and home, Thom decided this holiday was a good time to forget about everything bad in his life. A time to enjoy his family, the beauty of his hometown in winter and some much needed time off.
    He might even run into one of his old girlfriends from high school. A one-night reunion with a woman from his past might be just what he needed to break out of this funk he was in and end his dry spell.
    Some quick, easy sex might get him back on the horse, so to speak.
    Still, somehow that idea left him cold.
    Even with as bruised as he was from the divorce, damned if he wasn’t still a romantic at heart. He should probably work on that.
    Thom realized it was going to be a long night if he kept second-guessing his life and loves the whole way.
    He spun the dial on the radio louder, hoping the music would fill his head rather than his own thoughts.
    With a dry, open highway ahead of him, he set the cruise control for ten miles above the posted speed limit and reached for his energy drink, settling in for the drive.
    Next stop, Massachusetts.
    ~ * ~
    The first flakes began to fall just past Hartford. By the time he crossed the border between Connecticut and Massachusetts, the flurry had turned into a legitimate snow squall, forcing Thom and the other drivers on Route 91 to reduce their speed to a crawl.
    He might have been living in the south for the past decade, but he’d learned to drive in New England. He slipped right back into