Read Online Fair Play by Deirdre Martin - Free Book Online Page A

room?”
    â€œSure.”
    Theresa took the tray and did as her mother asked, gratefully accepting her sister-in-law’s apology on her way out of the room. She went to help her father out of his chair, but he was already being aided by Michael, whom, she noticed, took the not-so-subtle opportunity of sitting down right across from her at the table. Maybe her mother was right, she thought, as her father led the family through saying grace. Maybe Michael wasn’t “like that.” But Theresa wasn’t about to risk finding out.
    â€œSo, Ter,” said her brother, heaping his plate high. “Did you know Michael plays for the Blades?”
    â€œNo, I didn’t,” deadpanned Theresa. “I just moved here from Mars. Tell me more.”
    â€œHe’s a successful, famous athlete but he still lives in Brooklyn,” her father added, his eyes flashing with significance.
    â€œMaybe he’s not successful enough to afford the rent in Manhattan,” Theresa pointed out coolly.
    â€œOr, maybe he hasn’t forgotten where he comes from,” said Phil.
    â€œWhoa, folks, please,” Michael appealed as he looked around the table. “Let’s get off the subject of me and talk about something interesting here, like who’s going to make it into the Superbowl.”
    Theresa’s family seemed to take the hint, and for that she was grateful. Talk of football led to talk of individual players, and Michael had her family laughing until they damn near cried telling them about the time he and some of the Blades tried to take on a couple of the Giants in an impromptu touch football game.
    Was he always this entertaining or was he putting on a show for her approval?
    Whichever it was, she was forced to admit he seemed able to hold his own on any number of subjects and appeared to have a never-ending supply of amusing stories, which he told with great flourish. He also appeared to be an all-around good guy, even going so far as letting little Vicki crawl all over him during dessert, despite her mother’s protestations. Even so, it creeped Theresa out that he was even here. It was like one of those bad, B-grade horror films where someone seemingly innocent worms his way into a family, only to turn around and dismember them in their sleep a few months later.
    Every once in a while, Michael’s eyes would seek hers for some kind of confirmation, which Theresa would pointedly ignore, giving him the look Janna had chris tened “The Ball Shriveler.” She wanted to make her displeasure at his presence clear. It was icky. Deceitful.
    And it wasn’t going to work.

CHAPTER 04
    â€œ Mind if I walk with you to the subway?”
    To Michael’s mind, it was a simple enough question, but Theresa looked as though she were deciding the fate of nations while she buttoned up her coat.
    â€œSure,” she finally said, her voice noncommittal as she waited for him to finish up his good-byes to her family. Walking up Eighty-sixth Street together, Theresa’s pace was closer to a sprint than a walk.
    â€œWhat’s the big rush?” Michael asked, hustling to keep up.
    â€œI don’t want to miss my train.”
    â€œYou won’t.” He checked his watch. “You have a few minutes left.”
    Theresa said nothing. He might be wrong, but Michael could swear she looked kind of annoyed, the way she had all through dinner. He knew he had some explaining to do. “Theresa, I swear to you, I did not bring your parents a care package to worm my way into your family.”
    â€œRight.”
    â€œLook, I brought your parents some stuff from the restaurant because it felt like the right thing to do. And I won’t lie, I was hoping that maybe, the next time they talked to you, they’d mention I’d been over and say what a nice guy I was.”
    â€œOr invite you for dinner so you could ambush me, and I’d have no way of