For the Love of His Life (27 page)

Veronica dried her eyes happily, proud of her cousin for having created such an extraordinary cinematic experience, and amazed that the man she loved had been able to exhibit such a depth of emotions that everyone had experienced them along with him. And the love that shown in his eyes when he expressed his feelings to his co-star was the same look he gave to her each time they made love. He’d told her loving her allowed him to express feelings he’d only guessed at before. Now he knew what it truly felt like to love a woman, he was able to use that to make his on-screen romance believable.

You made an excellent film together, my boys
, she thought as she drove home after the movie. And she called Jared first, then Raul, to congratulate them once she was home.

Chapter Twenty

December brought with it the usual blur of activity. Veronica was always busier then with her website that offered her pies for sale on-line year-round. The net profits from her special Holiday pies went to support the same Kids Outdoors organization to which she and Raul had donated their Halloween costume contest winnings. She took orders for pies to be delivered all through the year, but her busiest time of the year was in December. Jake was thrilled to earn extra money by delivering the pies, to supplement his new year-round job delivering pizzas.

When Veronica had to decide when to use her ticket to visit Raul in California, she had to take into account her on-line business. Because of that, she booked her flight for Christmas Eve. By then most pies would have been delivered, and the ones for the following week’s orders, as well as what Marie would need for the few regulars at the resort, had already been assembled and frozen. This way Veronica could spend Christmas Eve through New Year’s Day with Raul. Her flight home was booked for January 2—a Saturday—with most people expecting to fly home that Sunday to get their kids back in time for school.

Veronica had never flown such a long distance before, but she was looking forward to seeing Raul again. Her fears over the plane ride were over-ridden by her anticipation, and she carefully packed the gifts she had bought for him in with her clothing in her small carry-on bag. After all, as he’d told her, “It’s so warm out here you won’t need to bring any cold weather clothing. And I won’t let you get dressed very often, since my plans involve us staying naked for most of the week.”

When she got off the plane she knew not to look for Raul. He told her if he were to be seen in a public place like that on such a crowded day, the resulting publicity would force them to run to dodge the paparazzi. Instead, he had a young boy about ten years old waiting for her, holding a sign with her name on it. She smiled at the boy as she got close to him and he nodded at her.

“He showed me your picture,
señorita
. You are much more
bonita
in person,” he said shyly.

She followed him out to the madhouse of cars pulling in to pick people up, and they waited until he saw the right limo and waved it over. He opened the back door for her and she reached for her wallet to tip him.

“Oh, no,
señorita
,” he exclaimed. “
Señor
Roderick has taken care of the payment!
¡Felices Navidades!
” And he darted away into the holiday crowd.

“Raul! I’m so glad to be here,” Veronica began as he grabbed her hand and pulled her into the back seat next to him.

Raul answered by pulling her closer and covering her face with kisses.

“I’ve missed you so much!” He said in between pressing her lips with his and licking at her face as if he needed to taste her.

“Um hm,” she moaned as she opened her mouth and their tongues dueled with each other.

Neither of them noticed how long the ride to his house took, since they were so busy touching as much of each other as possible, while still keeping their clothing on. At one point Raul slipped his hands under her shirt as if he would pull it off, but Veronica was mortified as she nodded her head to indicate the driver might see.

“He’s been told not to open the partition, so we have privacy back here,” Raul began.

“I don’t care! I’m not going to risk having someone snap a picture of my boobs that might make it onto U-Tube! I’m not famous like you, so I’m not used to having to think about things like that. But I’m also not about to flash anyone with internet access! I’d never be able to face my family and friends again!”

Raul smiled as he removed his hands from under her shirt.

“Okay, my shy
señorita
,” he acknowledged, “But once we are in my house, you aren’t allowed to wear anything except lingerie.”

“Agreed.”

The limo stopped and the driver opened the door for Raul, who held his hand out for Veronica to take as she slid across the seat to get out with him. She looked beyond him and gasped.

“
That’s
your house?”

He grinned at the shocked look on her face.

“Actually, I have one of the more modest houses on this block. You should see my neighbors’ mansions.”

“How do you find your way in that? Do you have to drop breadcrumbs so you can find your way back to the bedroom if you get up to pee?”

The limo driver coughed to cover up his laughter. Raul paid him then picked up Veronica’s bag and slung it over his shoulder.

“Come on, Cinderella. Come into the castle of your prince.”

She stuck her tongue out at him but followed him up to the giant porch that wrapped all around the house. The butler, who must have been watching for the limo, opened the door for him as they got onto the porch. He officiously bowed to Veronica.

“Welcome,
señorita
.” He flashed teeth that looked very white against his dark skin as he smiled.

She nodded, staring around at the opulence of the foyer.

“Is everything ready, Edilberto?” Raul asked quietly.

“
Sí, señor
.”

“Then you are dismissed for the evening. Remember to share my greetings with your family for the holidays. Enjoy your week off.”

The man nodded vigorously. “
Gracias, señor
.”

As he left the room he turned at the doorway at the opposite end,
“¡Felices Navidades, y buenos nueve año!
”

Raul turned back to Veronica who was standing shock-still in the same place.

“Don’t you like my house?”

She shook her head. “I’m in shock. I’ve never even seen a house this big except in pictures. Now that I’m in it, I really think I’ll have to drop pebbles or something, to find my way back if I wander around.”

He began to walk in the same direction that Edilberto had gone.

“Come on back here my love. Let me show you what I have planned to welcome you here.”

As she entered the dining room in the back of the house, her nostrils were assailed by various smells of delicious foods. She stared in awe at the table that held platter of
tamales
, grilled meat and vegetables, and a round covered bowl shaped to hold
tortillas
.

“What is all of this?” she began.

“A traditional Mexican-style feast for us to celebrate being together for the
Navidad
.” He went over to a punch bowl and used the ladle to fill two glasses with a red liquid. He walked back to Veronica and offered her one of the glasses.

“Edilberto makes an excellent sangria. And his wife made the food. Between them, I am very well fed. I asked them to make a meal that would let my
señorita
know how much she means to me. Even the salsa is home-made.”

“Do we serve ourselves?”

He nodded. “Yes. I’ve given both of them the entire week off. I figure that you know how to cook and we want to be naked for most of the time. I’ll worry about cleaning everything up after you leave. For this whole week, I want to focus only on you and how much I love you. You have changed my life, Nica, and for the better. That alone, is worth celebrating.”

As they ate, they talked constantly, updating each other on what had been going on in their lives and sharing anecdotes. Once they had both eaten all they could, Raul got up and brought two coffee cups and an urn over to the table.

“I hope you don’t mind that we had to eat first.” He winked at her.

“Edilberto and Laura both felt guilty that I’m paying them for their week off. They insisted on having all of the food at eating temperature when we walked in the door. Laura left when I headed out in the limo. She had to get started on cooking for their family. But I didn’t want to insult them by telling them we wouldn’t be eating until after we had wild monkey sex in the foyer. So I agreed that we would eat as soon as we got back.”

Veronica smiled as she sipped the coffee. “Umm! Delicious! What’s in it? Cinnamon?”

“Yes and a hint of chocolate. If you think all this was good, wait’ll you try Laura’s flan!”

She rubbed her belly. “Flan? I’m already going to need to digest for hours!”

He winked at her. “We can go relax in the Jacuzzi out by the pool. I’ll bring the punch bowl out there and we can continue to celebrate by the light of the moon. No stars, of course, since there’s so much damn light pollution here, but we can pretend we see them like up by you.”

As they sipped their coffee, Veronica asked, “Is everyone who works for you Hispanic?”

Raul nodded. “Yes. I try to spread the wealth around to my fellow
hispanicos.
In a state where there are so many of us, most don’t make even minimum wage, since they’re agricultural workers or day-laborers. That’s why Edilberto and Laura were so insistent that they make so much food for us before she went home to make their family’s feast. Neither of them have ever had a paid vacation before, even for the holidays. I didn’t have the heart to tell them it’s because I’m too selfish to share you with anyone else.”

Veronica smiled. “But you didn’t have to offer to pay them, just to give them some time off.”

Raul shrugged. “What can I say? I met a woman…a beautiful blonde goddess and she has touched my soul. I’m not the man I used to be. I feel like Ebenezer Scrooge,
after
all the ghost have visited. In any small way possible, I want to help other people like you helped me. Besides, they are such hard workers and they have six kids. They can use the money and I know they’ll appreciate being able to celebrate without having to come and clean up after me, for a change.”

“And the limo driver? And the kid at the airport?”

Raul nodded. “As I said, I’m learning to like spreading my wealth around.” He noticed her empty cup. “Are you ready for the flan, or just for more coffee?”

“I think I can fit a little bit of flan into me, then we need to get all of this food put away so we can reheat it for the next time. Getting up and moving around will help my digestion.”

“Then we can head out to the Jacuzzi?” he asked hopefully.

“You just want to see me naked,” she teased.

He nodded vigorously. “Why yes…yes I do. But then you already knew that.”

She giggled. “Bring on the flan.”

After the first spoonful, Veronica sighed. “Oh my! This is the creamiest, sweetest thing I’ve ever had on my tongue!”

Raul shook his head. “It’s a close second. But
you
are the creamiest, sweetest thing I’ve ever had on
my
tongue.”

When Veronica blushed he took her hand and kissed the back of it. “Why Nica
, mi cariña!
You’re blushing. Quite a nice shade of pink, I might add. The same shade of pink your whole body turns when you come hard…”

“I think it’s time to put away the food. I need to move around to digest my dinner. Otherwise I’m going to jump you right here in the dining room and force you to make good on all of these promises of wild sex you’ve been making!”

“Ah…my Nica. Woman of my dreams. The kitchen’s in that direction,” he inclined his head.

They spent the next half-hour cleaning up after their feast, then Raul carried the punch bowl with the ladle on a tray and Veronica carried the glasses. When they got out to the pool area she giggled.

“A Christmas tree out by the pool?”

Raul nodded. “It’s how we roll out here in La-La land. Remember, we never get any snow. Notice the white flecking on the branches? It’s similar to the stuff we used on the set when we were supposed to be trudging our way through four feet of snow. It looks real, but like mostly everything out here, it’s fake…it’s made of sugar and plastic.”

He put the punch bowl down and held out his arms to pull Veronica into them. He inhaled deeply with his nose buried in her hair, before it traveled down to her neck. He nibbled at her ear lobe, making her squirm.

“Now,
querida
, it’s time for you to give me what I want the most for Christmas this year…you…naked and at my mercy.”