Hot & Spicy: De La Cruz Saga (26 page)

It looks like they are all genuinely serious. Okay, excellent, because I’m also extremely serious. I will not stop from loving mi baby for them or anybody else.

“Okay, primas, I’m going to dance for a little while with mi baby. I will leave as soon as I want to. Please don’t expect me to say adios,” said Erica smiling flashing her dimples at todas las primas.

“Okay, Erica, we understand,” said Bella smiling.

“Si, Erica. I think I will be doing the same thing,” said Jessy, nodding in agreement looking at las primas.

Erica nods, she glances over to Gabriel. He is at the bar with los primos, drinking a cerveza. He is listening to what Tony is saying, but watching Erica. He gazes into Erica’s ojos y knows that she wants him over there. He smiles at her nodding.

“Okay, Tony, the building concepts for the building structures that you design are amazing. I will like to talk some more about it at Sunday dinner, okay? Erica is waiting for me,” said Gabriel smiling.

“Sounds good, Gabriel,” said Tony nodding, smiling taking a drink of his cerverza.

Gabriel turns, striding toward his sweet angel. He reaches for her, nods to las primas. He hugs Erica into his side walking to the dance floor.

“Baby, finally, I can hug you,” said Erica with a sigh, getting closer to her baby. She wraps her brazos around his neck, and he wraps his brazos around her small waist leaning his cara right next to hers.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
 

CHRISTIAN
WALKS
IN
JUST
IN
time to see Gabriel y Erica start to dance. He stands for a few seconds to observe them.

Si, they are in love. At least, he’s not playing with mi little hermana,
he thought.
I think that now I know what they feel and what Gabriel went through. I’m not completely sure, but I feel like I do love Monique. Can it be possible to fall in love so quickly?

Chris strolls through the crowd to las primas’ table, smiling as he sits down. “Hermana, I just finished spending some time, drinking a cup of mocha, and talking with Monique,” said Chris with a huge smile, flashing off his hermosos dimples.

“Hola primo,” said Jose Enrique taking Jessy’s mano, and he escorts her to the dance floor.

“Hola primo,” answers Chris, looking at Jose Enrique smiling.

“Are you for real? Hermano, that is quick,” said Bella amused. “Is she the one, tu alma, tu amor?”

“I believe so,” said Chris, beaming at his primas. “I have a date with her mañana.”

“We wish you all the luck, primo,” said Paty delighted. “Monique is bella y smart.”

“Si, primo, good luck. I hope she is the one. It will be nice to see you in love y married,” said Claudia cheerfully.

“Si primo good luck. Let us know if she is the one so we can cover for you,” said Vero with a huge wicked grin.

“What do you mean?” asks Chris observing las primas with lots of curiosity.
What are they up to now?
He looks at las primas that appear like they decided to do something not the norm.

“Well, hermano, we have decided that when one of us has found our alma, the one, our amor, we will cover for them—that is if we desire to be together and not wait for la boda. We don’t want our padres to get hurt,” said Bella, looking at her hermano with curiosity to see how he will respond to this. He is after all un hombre and one of the eldest.

“Si primo, we believe that we’re all adults and that we will know what we want. When we meet the one, we will want to be with our amor,” said Claudia, looking at her primo.

“Si, we thought about this because of Ricky y Jacki. They are adults y married. They are having difficulties because of our traditions. We think that they should be together. They are endeavoring not to hurt our padres,” said Vero, looking at Ricky y Jacki dance.
They look so in love.

“Si, primo, we feel that Jessy y Jose Enrique, Erica and Gabriel are also adults. Why shouldn’t we cover for them? I will want todos to cover for me when I find the one, mi amor, mi alma. We all will know, we will feel it when we find the one,” said Paty, looking at her primo.
I know that Chris feels that he has found his alma.

Las primas are something else
, thought Chris.
They are correct, however. We are all adults. We are all attempting to continue our Mexican traditions and customs. Our padres are truly old school. It is hard to follow those traditions especially when you’re in love.

Chris turns to look at his primos with their amor. He looks at his hermana y her amor.
I know that they have been together. You can see how possessive and intimate they hold each other. I also know that they are all getting married. They are not playing games. I can see their point.

They will be having a hard time to be together, that is for sure
, he thought.
I think that las primas have a good idea.

“I hope that it is only enforced when las primas know for certain and have a commitment from the special hombre. Then the plan can start. I don’t want you to be intimate with the incorrect hombre. The one will be the one. You can feel it. You just know it,” said Chris observing each prima y hermana.

“That’s exactly what we believe,” said Bella smiling, flashing her dimples, nodding her cabeza.

“We’re all waiting for the one,” said Paty looking at her older primo.

“Yeah, y we will never become intimate with un chico if he is not the one, mi amor, mi alma” said Claudia regarding her primo with disbelief.

“Si primo, we decided it is only when we know for certain that it is nuestro alma, amor, the one.” said Paty, regarding her primo. “Don’t you believe that Monique is the one, tu alma, tu amor?”

“Si, I do,” said Chris, observing their reactions.
I can see what they mean. If we become serious, I will want to be with her more. I want to be with her now. It will be a while until our boda. I know I will not wait. I get what they are saying. They will cover for us to be together.

Chris looks at his hermana y primas.
They are right
. “I get it. Okay, it’s a pact that we will all honor. Mi concern is for you primas. I don’t want anybody playing with you. You need to be sure that you have met the one, tu alma, tu amor, okay?” asks Chris. He sits back contemplating each prima y his hermana.
Well, I have sat back, I have covered already for Erica, it will be the same with each one.

“I will cover each one of you when I know for sure that the hombre is the one. I will talk to that hombre to make sure. That is the only condition,” said Chris with an evil smile.

“Hermano, you will be told that he is the one. We are not niñas. We are adults,” said Bella in a firm voz.

“Si, but I also know what hombres want and do. I do not want any hombre playing with mis hermanas y primas. If el hombre is the one, he will not be disgustado with mi questions. I know,” said Chris. “Okay, I will keep in touch to see where we are at on this pact. I want to be the first one to know when the one appears, okay.”

Chris observes each one to get their commitment.
Good, they agree with mi stipulation. Now I have to be on alert to make sure that the one is the one.
He smiles leaving las primas to talk to los primos.

“Hola, hermano, primos, what’s up?” asks Chris sitting onto the stool in the middle of Tony y Alex. “Where’s Javier?”

“Javier is dancing, and I’m just having a drink, looking at the love birds,” said Alex sighing, thinking
I need to be with Carolina
. What am I doing here?

“Yeah, it looks like our group is slowly getting smaller. I wonder who is next?” said Tony peering over at Chris.

“I have met a special chica. I think she is the one, mi amor, mi alma” said Chris with felicidad, smiling, flashing his dimples. He takes a drink, looking at his hermano y primo reactions.
Yeah, they are disgustados. Oh well. I understand now.

“You’re kidding, right?” asks Alex contemplating his hermano. “Unbelievable! The fever is hitting everybody.”

“Primo, I don’t believe you,” said Tony with a frown, taking a deep drink. “All of our fun is going down the drain. That will leave only Alex and me. Javier is hardly ever here.”

“Well, I think I am in enamorado, and you will meet her on Monday. She is starting to work for la familia’s company,” said Chris beaming.

“You mean the new assistant for Jessy? Yeah, she will be working closely with Jessy and I. So that means hands off?” asks Tony with a wicked grin.

“Si, she’s mia,” said Chris, looking at Alex y Tony. “I was talking to las primas y hermana, and they have come up with a pact for all of us. They want us to cover for Jose Enrique, Ricky, and Erica. They have arrived to the conclusion that they want to be together. Los primos are having a difficult time attempting to not hurt our padre’s y their expectations. All of them are trying hard to follow our traditions y customs. Our padres are truly old school. They especially feel that Ricky and Jacki are suffering the worse since they are married.”

Chris looks at his hermano y primo, waiting for their reactions.
I see that they are concerned. Okay, now they understand. Great, now we can all make sure las primas y hermana are not played with.

“That’s incredible,” said Alex, taking a drink from his cerveza.

“That can be dangerous,” said Tony, shaking his cabeza with amazement.

“Exactly y I asked las primas y hermana to make sure to tell me first when they feel that they have met the one. I told them that I want to talk to the one,” said Chris, looking at Alex y Tony. He takes a drink from his cerveza.

“Okay, but it’s still dangerous,” said Alex, turning to look at las primas y hermana.

“Si, y I do see their point. Look, we are all adults. We will find the one, and we will not want to wait until la boda. I know that I will not wait,” said Chris, looking at them with a wicked smile flashing his dimples.

“Okay, I see your point,” said Tony, nodding, taking a drink.

“Well, I can tell you that the three couples right now have not waited. Not that they have told me, but you just can tell,” said Chris, looking at them.

“Yeah, hermano, I think that you’re right. I understand. I will honor the pact. I also want to make sure that the hombre is serious and is for real the one,” said Alex, looking at his primas y his hermana. “I don’t want any hombre playing with our tesoros.”

“Si, I’m with you, Alex,” said Tony observing las primas y hermanas.

“Okay, I think that this is a real thought-out pact. I know it is needed because we are young, healthy, and en enamorado,” said Chris smiling flashing his dimples. “I know I will need it.”

“Yeah, I can see that you’re thinking about tu chica,” said Alex with a grin shaking his cabeza.

“Si, I had mocha with her today. Mañana, I have a date. She is mi novia,” said Chris grinning. “Yeah, she’s mi novia in the traditional way.”

“You’re joking,” said Tony, a little amazed at his wild primo.

“No, I’m not joking. She is officially mi novia. She is not just a date. She is mi novia, and I will marry her in a little bit. I have to give it a little time to flourish,” said Chris grinning, taking another drink.

Si, I see that they are surprise. I’m extremely serious. I think that I’m even going to quit the Navy y start working at la familia’s company.

“I have decided to not re-enlist. I will start working at la familia’s company. Jose Enrique asked me to think about it. I have decided that I will marry y start working,” he said smiling, flashing his dimples, looking at his shocked primo y hermano.

“She must be real special if you feel so strongly,” said Alex looking at his hermano. “Just think that you were pissed at Gabriel on how quick they are marrying. When you know, you truly know, si, asi es?”

“Si, I do understand now. I didn’t understand then. I’m telling you that you really just know when it is the one, tu amor, tu alma. Las primas y hermana are right,” said Chris with a real serious look on his cara. “I need you to promise not to tell mi novia that I’m a SEAL. I have not told her. She thinks that I work at la familia’s company.”

“Why does she think you work there?” asks Tony with curiosity.

“When I met her today, I was doing an errand that Jose Enrique wanted me to do for him. I had a report for him. We ran into each other in the hallway and all of mi papers flew out of mis manos,” he said, taking another drink. “She thinks that I work there. I don’t know where she thinks I work.”

“Why didn’t you clear that up?” asks Alex, looking at his hermano.
I wonder what he’s up to.

“We didn’t talk about it. I really didn’t want her to know that I’m a SEAL. You never know how chicas react to that. Look at Erica,” said Chris, looking at his hermana with su novio.

“Okay, but you need to tell her soon, and especially if you’re going to marry her,” said Tony, looking at Chris.

“I will tell her soon. When I know that she will not freak out, okay?” said Chris, looking at them to see that they will cover him with Monique.

“Okay, hermano,” said Alex nodding.

“Si, primo, I will. What do I tell her if she asks where you work at?” asks Tony, wondering how to handle it.