youthful exuberance was a welcome change from the women he usually encountered. Most of the females who sought out his attention wore an air of desperation like a beloved perfume. But there was nothing desperate about Tarah. In fact, she’d been aloof and dismissive, barely batting an eyelash’s worth of attention in his direction.
Across the room, she was now giving him a look that had him twisting nervously in his seat, and he found himself grinning foolishly. She rose from her own chair and moved to his side, dropping down on the settee where he rested.
He took in a swift breath of air, filling his lungs to calm the nerves that had risen unexpectedly. “Dr. Boudreaux!”
“Mr. Stallion. Are you enjoying your Christmas Eve?”
“I am. How about you?”
“I forgot just how much I miss being around family over the holidays.”
“When was your last time here?”
Tarah pondered the question for a quick minute. “Thanksgiving, last year. I think. It’s been a good long while, but my schedule isn’t the most accommodating.”
“My brother says you’re a surgeon? Is that right?”
She nodded. “My specialty is neurosurgery. It’s usually a seven-year residency, and I have one more year and a half to go. I’ll be doing a fellowship my last year in trauma and neurocritical care.”
“That sounds...serious! You have to use a lot of big words in your profession, don’t you?”
She laughed. “It’s a lot of work, but it’s well worth it.”
“So, how can you hate football?” he asked, addressing one of her comments that had his cousins teasing him earlier.
Tarah shrugged, a smirk crossing her face. “Don’t take it personally. I hate basketball and soccer, too. I do like tennis, though.”
Nicholas laughed. “I hope you know that doesn’t redeem you.”
She gave him another smug glance, her eyes rolling. “Do I look like a woman who’s worried about redemption?
Nicholas met the look she was giving him, his own eyes widening ever so slightly. Tarah Boudreaux was extraordinarily beautiful. Everything about her reminded him of summer sunshine, the blue water of a tropical paradise and ice cream—rum raisin with chocolate, to be specific. Light danced across her face, and her warm honey complexion shimmered as if she’d been dipped in flecks of gold. Her mouth had the sweetest hint of a pout to it, and when she smiled, her lips were intoxicating.
He chuckled again, the gut-deep rumble warm and endearing. “Honestly? You look like a woman I should probably be fearful of.”
She laughed, rose from her seat and turned toward the kitchen and the throng of women who’d headed in that direction to get a jump on the holiday meal. She stopped abruptly, tossing him a look over her shoulder. “You need to be afraid, Mr. Stallion! Be very, very afraid!”
“Nicholas is my boyfriend!” Irene said emphatically, a hand on her hip. She held a brand-new basketball beneath her other arm as she tapped a high-top Converse against the hardwood floor.
Gabi nodded her head in agreement, her arms folded across her chest.
Michelle shook her head as Mark responded to their daughter’s comment. “You can’t have a boyfriend until you’re fifty.”
“Yes, I can! Can’t I, Mommy?”
Mark eyed his daughter with a narrowed gaze before tossing her mother a look. “I can’t handle this,” he said, his stare shifting briefly in Nicholas’s direction. He looked back at his wife as he pointed a finger. “Do something before I lock her away until she turns forty!”
Nicholas laughed, holding up both hands as if he were surrendering. Tarah sat across the table from him unable to contain her own giggles. Irene glared at her, which made the moment even funnier.
Everyone in the room erupted in a wealth of laughter.
“I would have to hurt someone!” Zakaria Sayed said, his daughter sitting in his lap. “They start way too young!”
Maitlyn rubbed her hand against her husband’s back. “Poor Rose-Lynne. She doesn’t have a clue what she’s up against with all the men in this family.”
Her brother nodded in agreement. “You got that right,” Kendrick Boudreaux echoed as he high-fived his best friend. “Zak and I will put that nonsense to a stop, quick.”
Katherine never looked up from the pot she was stirring. “Your children are going to do exactly what they want to do. You just need to ensure you give them a solid foundation to build on. He won’t be the first boyfriend that baby’s going to want to claim. Tarah had dozens by the time she was twelve. Then she turned eighteen, and we haven’t seen a man worth his weight in salt since.”
Tarah laughed. “That is not true!” she exclaimed, color rising to her cheeks.
“Which part?” Nicholas questioned, meeting her gaze.
She noted the smirk across his face. “I may have had dozens by the time I was thirteen, but when I turned eighteen, I didn’t waste my time with men who didn’t meet the Boudreaux family standard!”
“That’s debatable,” her father interjected. “Y’all remember that boy with the squint eye?”
Tarah jumped to her feet. “No, they don’t, and why are we suddenly focused on me? He’s the problem. Chasing after youngsters!” she exclaimed, pointing a finger at Nicholas.
Nicholas laughed. “I did no such thing!”
Tarah leaned down toward Irene, meeting the little girl at eye level. “You don’t want him to be your boyfriend,” she said. “He’s not very nice!”
Irene’s eyes narrowed into thin slits. She gave Tarah a look before easing her way over to Nicholas’s side. She dropped an elbow to his thigh as she rested her chin against her palm, leaning against his leg.
Nicholas laughed as he gave Irene’s ponytail a light tug. The little girl grinned brightly in response. He winked an eye at Tarah.
Gabi moved to stand beside her friend. “That’s why Santa didn’t bring you gifts!” she proclaimed, cutting an eye at Tarah. “You’re the one that’s not nice! Nicholas is real nice.”
Tarah shook her head as she stood up straight. “Santa brought me gifts!” she hissed between clenched teeth.
Gabi mimicked her Aunt’s eye roll.
“Did I really just get schooled by a first grader?” Tarah shifted her eyes from one kid to the other.
“I’m in second grade!” Gabi snapped back.
The entire room roared, another round of laughter sweeping through the space.
