There was a brief pause as Katrina took another breath and held it. She blew warm air past her lips, her heart beating rapidly. Goose bumps rippled across her arms.
Matthew sensed her hesitancy. He lifted himself up and rolled her over onto her back to stare down at her. “What’s wrong, Katrina?” he asked, concern rising in his tone.
She met his gaze and held it, his stare comforting as his eyes flickered back and forth across her face. “We’re having a baby, Matthew,” she said softly. “I’m pregnant with your child.”
Matthew stared. Her words echoed in his ears. Pregnant. Baby. His baby! He was going to be a father. He sat upright, throwing his legs off the side of the bed. Katrina sat up beside him, staring intently. She was waiting for him to respond, anxiety rising in her expression. Her words echoed in his heart. The woman who had his heart was having his baby. He was going to be a father. The realization of that hit him, and until that very moment he hadn’t known just how much he wanted such a thing. He reached and pulled her into his arms. He couldn’t stop himself from kissing her, plastering her face and mouth with damp kisses. Excitement bubbled from his midsection as he laughed with glee.
“Sweetheart, that’s wonderful!” Matthew exclaimed excitedly, hugging her tightly. “When…? How long…?” He had a million questions and didn’t know where to begin.
Sensing his desire for more details, Katrina gave him as much information as she could. “I found out just before I left Dallas. I wasn’t feeling well, and with everything that had happened, I just thought it was stress. I went to my doctor, hoping he would give me something, and…well…surprise. With everything that was going on with you, and believing what I believed, I thought it best for me to take some time to myself to mull it all over and try to figure out what I wanted to do.”
Matthew was nodding, his gaze unwavering as he studied her intently. He pressed his fingers to her tummy, then leaned over to kiss her belly button. Resting his cheek against her stomach, he took a deep breath, trying to stall the wave of excitement that coursed like thunder through his body. Her body trembled with nervousness beneath him.
“You do want to keep this baby?” he asked suddenly. “I mean…”
Katrina laughed warmly. “This is our baby. I can’t imagine wanting anything more,” she said. She paused, taking a big breath. “Matthew, I was scared that you might not want this baby. At first I couldn’t wrap my mind around you having a baby with someone else and me turning up pregnant, too. Then, when you showed up here, I was scared that you might not want children at all.”
Matthew kissed her stomach a second time before he sat upright. “I want every one of our children, Katrina. And I also want us to be married when we have them, sweetheart. You need to know that I am totally committed to you and Collin, and this baby. I want us to be a family in every sense of the word. I love you. I love you with every ounce of my heart.”
Katrina wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly. She held him close, not wanting to ever let him go. He loved her. He wanted her, her son and now their baby. Life couldn’t have been sweeter, she thought as she told him that she loved him, too.
Chapter 23
Matthew and Katrina were just minutes away from landing at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. As Matthew held her hand, caressing her fingers between his own, she marveled at how life could turn on a dime. A month or so ago she was convinced that everything she had trusted was lost to her. Even her faith in her own judgment had wavered, her usual instincts fragile. Just one week earlier she’d been pulling her hair out, trying to figure out the ramifications of her actions and the most responsible way for her to handle her pregnancy. And now, all was well, and the joy she felt was absolutely astounding.
Collin had been excited to hear that she and Matthew were on their way to take him back home to Dallas. Katrina could just imagine how the kid and her father had bumped heads during their brief time together, Collin’s teenage angst and her dad’s military austerity colliding like cold and warm fronts before a colossal storm. Neither of her parents had said a thing, but then they didn’t need to. She was certain that her father, retired Master Sergeant Mason Boudreaux II, had things under complete control.
She was suddenly aware of Matthew staring at her, his intense gaze washing warmly over her. She smiled, meeting his intense stare. “What is it?” she questioned, curious.
He brushed the length of his fingers along the line of her profile. “You are incredibly beautiful,” he said softly. He leaned over to kiss her cheek, sliding his arm around her shoulders as he pulled her close against him. “And I was just imagining how gorgeous our baby girl will be.”
Katrina laughed. “Our baby girl? Are you wanting a daughter, Matthew Stallion?”
He laughed with her. “Sweetheart, I want whatever God blesses us with. But I admit to wanting to spoil a little girl, just like I plan to spoil her mother. And since we already have a son, I think a little girl would be very nice. What about you? Have you thought about whether or not you want a baby girl or a baby boy?”
A thoughtful look crossed Katrina’s face. “No, I really haven’t. As long as our baby is healthy, I will be perfectly happy.”
“Healthy, happy, beautiful and a girl! I think that would be a winning combination.” His grin was a mile wide.
“You’re too cute,” she responded, her own smile shining brightly. She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his neck in a deep embrace, marveling once again at how quickly life had changed.
* * *
As their limousine maneuvered the circular driveway of the family’s Paradise Valley estate, Mason Boudreaux III stepped out of the front entrance, his hand raised in greeting. His nephew Collin pushed past him excitedly, the boy jumping up and down as he waited for the vehicle to come to a halt.
Matthew gazed out the window, taking in the magnificent plantings and the rolling landscape of the forty-acre compound. The home sat high on Mummy Mountain, with panoramic views of the city and the mountains. Citrus trees lined the driveway and a breathtaking mountain view could be seen in the distance. “This is very nice!” he declared, nodding his approval.
“It’s actually my brother’s home. He built it and moved the old people in a few years ago. My father insists on doing the landscaping. It’s become quite the hobby for him since the army retired him.”
“What does your brother do?” Matthew asked.
Katrina smiled. “Mason owns a chain of hotels.”
The car came to a stop, and Collin pulled the door open. His excited greeting echoed through the midday air. As Katrina stepped out of the car, the young man threw himself into her arms.
“When do we leave?” he asked. “I’m ready to go home.”
Behind her, Matthew laughed. “Has it been that bad, kiddo?”
Collin rolled his eyes. “Worse! You just don’t know!”
Katrina waved her head from side to side. She moved to her older brother’s side and hugged him tightly. “Hey, you!”
Mason kissed her cheek and hugged her back. “Welcome home, kid!”
“It’s good to be back, big brother.” She reached for Matthew, gliding her arm around his waist. “Mason, I want you to meet Matthew Stallion. Matthew, this is my oldest brother, Mason Boudreaux the third.”
Matthew stretched out his hand in greeting, taking note of the strong family resemblance between the siblings. “It’s a pleasure.”
“The pleasure is all mine, Matthew. Collin has been telling us all a lot about you.”
“Don’t hold that against me,” Matthew said with a smile as he raked the boy’s head with his fingers, Collin having moved to his side.
“I won’t,” Mason answered with a deep chuckle. “Come on inside, you two. Everybody’s here,” he said as he led them inside the large home
.
Minutes later Matthew had been introduced to Katrina’s large family: her mother, Katherine; sisters Tarah, Maitlyn and Kamaya; Kamaya’s twin brother, Kendrick; and her brothers Donovan, Darryl and Guy. Lastly, he shook hands with the family patriarch, Mason Boudreaux II.
“Mr. Boudreaux, it’s an honor to meet you, sir.”
The elder Mason shook Matthew’s extended hand, eyeing him from head to toe. “Everyone calls me Senior,” he said. “My grandson speaks very highly of you.”
“Your grandson is quite the young man.”
“Boy has his moments,” Senior answered. “I appreciate my daughter having someone with a firm hand to keep him in check. Boy his age can be a handful if you leave him unchecked.”
“Your daughter does a wonderful job of doing that, sir. I think Katrina has a much firmer hand than I do.”
The older man smiled ever so slightly as he wrapped his daughter in his arms and hugged her. He pressed a wet kiss against her cheek. “Baby girl was raised right,” he said.
His wife giggled. “Matthew, don’t pay that man no never mind. He was a big old teddy bear with his kids.”
Senior laughed with her. “If you believe that, Mr. Stallion, I’ve got a bridge I’d like to sell you.”
The whole family laughed.
“Collin, baby, take your mama’s bags upstairs, please. Put them in the room where your aunt Tarah is staying. Put Mr. Stallion’s bags in the room with you.”
“Just a minute, Grandma,” Collin responded.
Senior cleared his throat. “Your grandmother asked you to do it now, not in one minute. Get moving,” the man admonished, his eyes narrowing into thin slits.
“Yes, sir,” Collin mumbled, reaching for the luggage that had been dropped in the hallway.
Katrina laughed. “Don’t buy the bridge, baby! Please don’t buy the bridge!”
* * *
The family dynamics were so reminiscent of his own family’s that Matthew had no problems feeling right at home. Laughter rang from one end of the massive home to the other, everyone regaling him with stories of their youth and Katrina’s antics. He thoroughly enjoyed the time he spent in the kitchen with Katrina’s mother as the woman directed him in the preparation of her famous mango salsa recipe, chiding him to chop the mangos, tomatoes, coriander leaves and chile peppers just so.
At one point Katrina stood in the doorway, staring, moving her mother to make a comment under her breath as she sidled up to Matthew at the counter. “My daughter’s quite smitten with you, I see,” she whispered, winking her eye.
Matthew cut an eye in Katrina’s direction and smiled. He dropped his gaze back to the woman’s. “I’m quite smitten with your daughter, Miss Katherine.”
“I can see that. It’s been a very long time since I’ve seen her so happy, and from what my other girls tell me, you’re quite the catch.”
Matthew laughed. “What else have they said about me, Miss Katherine?”
The woman smiled slyly. She hummed under her breath. “Mmm… Well…”
“Don’t you dare say one word, Mama!” Katrina suddenly admonished, her face flushed with color.
Matthew’s hearty chortle filled the room with warmth.
Katrina moved into the room and wrapped her arms around her mother’s shoulders. “You’re trying to start something, lady!”
“Yes, I am,” Katherine said and laughed. She grabbed the bowl of chopped vegetables from Matthew’s hand and placed it in the refrigerator. “On a more serious note,” she said as she moved back to the center island and changed the subject, “when do you plan to tell your father?”
Katrina cut her eye at Matthew and then back at her mother. “Tell him what?”
Katherine lowered her head slightly as she gazed up her daughter. “I’m not stupid, Katrina. I can see it in your face, and it doesn’t help that Matthew is treating you like you might break at any moment. It’s not for me to say, but you certainly need to tell you father before he finds out from someone else.”
Katrina stammered, “I…we…it’s…” She looked to Matthew for assistance.
Matthew drew a heavy palm against the small of her back. “I was waiting for the opportunity to speak with your husband first, Miss Katherine, before we make any formal announcements. Katrina and I are both very excited about the news we want to share with you. But out of respect for your family and your hospitality, it’s only right that I have a man-to-man conversation with your husband first so that there are no misunderstandings about my intentions. I love your daughter very much, and it’s important to me not only that you both trust that but that you think me worthy of her love.”
Katherine studied him briefly, nodding her head ever so slightly. She reached out her arms to hug her daughter and then reached up on her toes to kiss Matthew’s cheek. “I’m thinking my girls might be right about you, Matthew.” She smiled sweetly. “Senior is out on the patio with Mason. If you’d ask my son to come give me a hand, please, I would appreciate it.”
Matthew smiled. “Yes, ma’am,” he said. He caressed Katrina’s back one last time, then kissed her forehead before he made his way outside.
When the sliding glass doors were closed behind him and he disappeared out of view, Katherine turned her gaze back to her daughter.
“I like that man, Katrina. I like that man very much.”
She smiled at her mother, her head bobbing up and down. “I like him, too, Mama.”
Katherine ran her hand across Katrina’s abdomen, her eyebrows raised. “And I think he’ll make a great father to my new grandbaby!”
There was a rush of noise behind them. “What grandbaby? Who’s having a baby?” Katrina’s sisters all chimed at the same time.
Tarah pressed her shoulder to Katrina’s. “You are pregnant!” she exclaimed excitedly. “I knew it. I told Kamaya that glow was about something else other than that man.”
“Yes, she did,” Kamaya said as she rinsed her hands in the sink and reached for a paper towel.
“Although a man that fine could make a woman glow and then some,” Maitlyn murmured loudly as she peeked out the window. “So, does he have brothers?” she asked as she leaned over the counter, reaching for a carrot stick.
Katrina laughed. “He has three of them but they’re all taken.”
Tarah waved her hand at Maitlyn. “Do you ever think about anything besides men? Our sister is having another baby, and you’re distracted by a man just like that.”
“Didn’t a man get her pregnant?” Maitlyn countered. “And I don’t always think about men. In fact the only thing on my mind right now is how to get rid of the lying, cheating man I’m married to.”
Katrina wrapped her arms around her sister’s shoulder. “I was sorry to hear about you and Don breaking up. I was hoping you two could work it out.”
Maitlyn shrugged. “You can’t work things out with a man who is not interested in being in a relationship with you. It’s better we split amicably before it gets any uglier.”
Their mother grunted, her annoyance painting her expression. It was on the tip of the matriarch’s tongue to tell her daughter that she had told her so when Tarah interrupted before the older woman could say anything.
“Um, excuse me… Off subject…again. How did you get pregnant?” Tarah asked, turning her attention back to Katrina.
The other women laughed.
Kamaya shook her head. “That man!” she exclaimed, chuckling heartily.
Katrina laughed with them, rolling her eyes skyward. “It definitely wasn’t planned,” she revealed, as she filled her family in on everything that had happened with her and Matthew since they’d met.
“Wow!” Kamaya exclaimed when she was done.
“Double wow!” Maitlyn added. “
Paris? Really?”
“I’m still blown away about the football stadium,” Tarah said.
Katrina was nodding her head in agreement. “Everything he does is just big and over the top.”
“Your brother Mason has gotten that way,” Kamaya said. “He’s become quite the romantic with the ladies! I keep telling Kendrick he needs to take lessons.”
Katherine smiled. She gestured with the knife in her hand, shaking it in both of her daughters’ direction. “All of my boys are romantic in their own way. It doesn’t take a whole lot of flashy money for a man to show his interest in a woman. You girls know that.”
“It’s not about the money, Mama,” Katrina said, nodding her head in agreement. “Yes, his wealth makes it easy for him to do things others might not be able to do, but it’s so much more. He’s creative and attentive and compassionate and—” she paused, her gaze drifting out to where she knew Matthew was deep in conversation with her father “—and he loves me and he loves Collin. He’s just… He’s—”
Maitlyn interrupted. “He’s special,” she said teasingly, her eyes widened in amusement.
The sisters laughed.
Katrina’s head waved from side to side. “Yes, he is,” she said. “Yes, he is.”
“Well, Senior looks like he’s about to choke Mr. Special,” Tarah said, staring out the window to where her father and Matthew stood. She slowly eased up the window, hoping to hear what was being said.
“What are you doing, young lady?” her mother admonished, moving to stare where she stared.
“Being nosy,” Tarah answered as she stepped closer to the window.
The rest of the Boudreaux women gathered around them.
“This might not be a good idea,” Katrina said.
Kamaya pressed her index finger to her lips. “Shhh,” she whispered as they all leaned forward to hear. And that was when they heard Matthew tell their father that he wanted to marry Katrina.
Seduced by a Stallion Page 19