Love Is An Action (What Love Is #1) Read online

  “Khloe…?” I look over at Liz who has a small knowing smile on her face. “I still don’t agree with this craziness. And I know what Cash is asking of you is a lot. But be yourself…follow his lead. If you can’t handle it, that’s fine too. All of the power to stop this is in your hands if you need it.” I feel a smile creep onto my face. I am so lucky to have a friend like Liz in my life.

  “Thanks Liz. I don’t think I’d be able to pull this off without you.” She grins in response.

  “Of course you wouldn’t. Now come on, we have an old lady to peeve.” She jokes as she climbs out of her car.

  I had been so lost in La-La Land that I had not even noticed we were parked in front of the entrance until I reached for my door handle to get out. The estate has to be at least three stories. Cool gray and blue paint covers the walls and bright white shuttered panels line the windows, chimney and surround the red doors. Large white pillars stretch from the base of the residence. There is a beautiful garden that sits on either side of the mansion. Trees and other shrubbery enclose the entire space and partially hide the three car garage doors. Three large black vehicles sit in front of the garages.

  “Wow.” I say as I step out of the car onto the gravelly driveway and follow Liz up the stairs to the front porch.

  We are greeted by some housekeeper who introduces himself as Jaque and is readily appalled by my ensemble but, remains polite none the less.

  Jaque gestures for us to follow him. I can’t help but glance around as we walk through the halls to get to Cash. All of the fixtures are so elegant. My entire apartment could fit in this house a hundred times over. There are also a few tall, beefy men in black suits standing and sitting around the room to the side of the foyer. I assume I wasn’t paying enough attention because soon I run gob smack into a chest. Lean arms catch me before I can hit the ground and I open my eyes to see a very amused Cash looking down at me.

  “I knew you’d fall for me eventually.” He breathes. I let the smell of his sweet, warm breath wash over my face. Then I realize what he said. Jerk.

  I glare as I push for him to let me go or stand up. He does, pulling me along with him and I look him over to see what he is wearing as I put distance between us to compose myself. He is rather relaxed in what looks to be old Levi’s and a red button down.

  I’m so used to seeing Cash in our school uniform that I have to stop and appreciate his dressed down attire a bit longer before collecting myself.

  “I am unsure if this ensemble is too perfect.“ I roll my eyes as I huff out a breath, trying to restrain my attraction to him. I swear this has been easy for the past year. He proposes to me and suddenly I can’t control the fascination I feel for him.

  “How is this going to work if we can’t even agree on the outfit I choose to displease your grandmother?” I whisper, crossing my arms over my chest which Cash stares at for a beat too long. “Hello?” I snap my fingers in front of his face and he shakes his head, bringing him back to the present.

  “Right.” He says a slow, impish smile creeps up onto his lips. “This is perfect. I will probably be thinking about this ensemble later… when I’m alone.” I swallow substantially.

  “Perve.” I tell him anyway.

  Does this mean Cash thinks I’m attractive? I guide my eyes to something else, anything else but Cashel to keep my thoughts clean. It is gratingly irritating that he can frustrate me and captivate me without even trying. My gaze finds the living room. Everything in the formal living room looks new, and I would say untouched if there was not a woman sitting on one of the couches.

  Corisande Castille sits on a beige mustache sofa with dark brown accents and delicate silk pillows. A matching love seat sits adjacent to her and a large cream colored upholstered chair sits on the other side of a large glass coffee table that takes up the center of the room. Behind the mustache chair is a generous, glass, double door that opens up onto a cherry wood deck.

  The place is beautiful and I am suddenly very aware of how different I am from Cash and his family. If I start to think about all of the obvious reasons that Cash and I don’t fit together, my insecurities will keep me from getting through this moment. I can’t let that happen. I take deep breaths and try to put all of that aside so that I don’t feel too nervous and intimidated to do my part in this alliance.

  A man quickly takes a seat next to her. Her peach dress suit is crisply ironed, pearls are draped around her neck, and her white-gray hair is pulled into a tight bun at the nape of her neck. She sits with her ankles crossed to one side, perched on the edge of the couch. Cash walks over to her and leans down kissing both of her cheeks as they briefly converse in French before coming back to my side, Liz and I shake hands with her awkwardly.

  She looks me over, not the least bit surprised by me and then she says, “Please, sit.” Cash grasps my hand and leads me over to the love seat. Liz takes the fancy chair and we all sit in an awkward silence for awhile.

  Cash clears his throat. “Khloe, this is my grandmother, Corisande and my uncle, Delano.”

  “So, you are the girl that has beguiled my nephew.” Delano says. I force a smile. Delano is definitely related to Cash. His hair is almost exactly the same accept his salt and pepper locks aren’t shaved close on the sides. His shoulders are broad and his rolled up sleeves of his dress shirt show he’s a little more muscular than Cash. Delano is very distinguished looking. I drag my eyes back up to his.

  “It appears so.” I reply.

  “It is unbecoming to mumble. Do sit up, your posture is heinous.” Grandma dearest remarks curtly. I notice unlike Cash, her accent is thick. “I think she will do nicely. As long as you remember to make this relationship an appropriate one-”

  “Actually, this relationship is much more serious than I had imagined it would be when I set out to find a respectable girl to date.” She arches an eyebrow. It looks dangerous.

  “Ah bon?” Cash says this enough for me to know she said, ‘oh really?’.

  Cash reaches for my hand and looks into my eyes smiling a sappy love-sick smile that confuses me and makes me wildly uncomfortable at the same time. He squeezes my hand as if to say, play along remember? And so I mimic him although my smile is a little more strained and I’m not even sure my face can pull off ‘love sick’ but I give it my best. Cash approves and turns back to his relatives beaming.

  “Oh yes. I have asked Khloe to marry me.” Delano, who was in the middle of taking a sip of tea spits it out in a comedic spit take that makes me guffaw slightly before collecting myself.

  “Are you okay?” Liz asks him as he reaches for a napkin but his eyes are pinging back and forth between Cash and I.

  “Cashel? What do you mean? The pair of you are merely children!”

  “We’re both eighteen. And my birthday is not far off. I thought it would be perfect to be wed in the summer. I want to show her a summer in France.” He says the last part while he looks at me and my brain is trying to keep up. I look to Corisande who seems only mildly surprised. Not nearly the spit take worthy expression her son just presented.

  “Married?”

  “Yes. I reckoned it wouldn’t be a problem seeing as you and mère wanted a committed relationship.”

  “We just wanted you to be more respectable about your conquests.”

  “How much more respectable could I get than being married?” Cash questions. Delano opens his mouth again but, he is interrupted.

  “I agree.” Corisande says bringing all conversation to a stop.

  “Excuse me?” I ask.

  “Oui. I agree. This is a brilliant thought and I can’t say that I haven’t considered marrying Cashel off myself if not to simply keep him in the house for a while. But I have to say, him finding love on his own is even better.”

  Am I gaping? I think I’m gaping. After a second I try to make sure that my brain is firing neurons up there so that I can make my lips touch and close my mouth. Cash taps my leg and I look at him. He gestures down to our hands and only
then do i notice that I’m squeezing the life out of his. I let it go like it’s on fire. I can’t collect myself. The queen of trash talking is at a total loss.

  It isn’t supposed to happen this way. Cash almost guaranteed this would come to an end here. I look over at Liz and she is off in her own world of shock. No help from her.

  “Mère, you can’t be serious. Lena will never agree.”

  “Well now, that is a conversation that she and Cashel will need to have. We have our own family brand to look after, you know. And I think this is perfect. Oh, I can already see the wedding in my head. We must start planning together dear. I assure you, our family is the most well connected in Europe. Anything your heart desires shall be present.”

  I think I may be hyperventilating.

  Is this how it ends? Everything I’ve lived through and this is how I die?

  “That sounds great, Mémée. I’m sure you and Khloe will have a great time of it. Why don’t I show her to the restroom for a moment? Excuse us.” Cash shoots up and drags me with him and all I can do is try to shuffle my feet to keep up with his pace. We make a hard left into a modestly sized bathroom and Cash slams the door behind us. I yank my hand from his and put it to my chest.

  “I can’t breathe.” I’m like a tire with a hole in the rubber. The air just won’t stay in my lungs. Cash steps in front of me. He looks like he wants to say something reassuring but he can’t find the words.

  “What the hell just happened?” He runs a hand through his hair before responding.

  “I don’t know. I…I was certain she would flip her lid like my uncle did.” He pauses and shakes his head. “Of course that would be the normal reaction yet my grandmother is anything but that. Still I-“ I punch him in the shoulder.

  “You said this would be it! That they would call it off.”

  “I said might.” His cocky exterior is slowly making an appearance. He exhales. “It’s okay. This will all be fine we just have to-“

  “The hell it will! We can’t get married. I can’t get married Cashel! Baby Jesus, is that you?” I ask as I tilt my head to the ceiling.

  “Now you’re being a bit dramatic.”

  “Says the guy who made a fake proposal to drive his family crazy?”

  “Touché.” He sighs. “Look, we can’t back out now. We have to go through with it.”

  “I don’t have to do anything.”

  “Well, no but, we can’t show our cards. I’m sure she already saw that look on your face. You looked like you’d just seen a ghost.”

  “I had. It was the ghost of common sense, and it was showing me my life flashing before my eyes.” Cash rolls his eyes, even I can hear that I sound borderline hysterical.

  “Look, I promise we won’t have to get married. I’m sure once my mom hears of this she will shut it down. There is no way she is going to let this happen.”

  “Yeah, well, you said that about your grandma.” At the mention of his mother, the make-up mogul, my legs almost give out. I don’t know the woman but, I don’t want her to hate me. I bite my lip.

  Cash grips my arms and leans down so that he’s in my face. I’m surrounded by him, and it’s not as uncomfortable as I’d imagined it would be.

  “Trust me. This will work. My Mémée’s just a tough cookie. There is no way that she is anymore okay with this than we are. She’s just better at holding her cards close to her chest. I’ll bet she is counting the seconds that we are away and becoming more and more thrilled. She knows she’s rattled us, so now we have to present a united front. Yes?” This isn’t a good idea. If the plan is already going downhill this soon, it’s probably a sign of things to come right? Right. So if I know this. Why am I nodding my head?

  “Great!” he hugs me but moves away before I find the brain cells to reciprocate. I give myself the pep talk of my life as we make the short trek back to the seating area. Liz sighs heavily when she sees us. We sit before I meet Corisande’s eyes.

  She’s the cat that caught the canary. A shark that smells blood in the water. She is so self-satisfied that it makes me sit up straighter in challenge as I meet her gaze head on.

  “I do hope I didn’t scare you off my dear. I just get so excited about weddings. Unless of course, you’d prefer not to marry my grandson. Which would be a shame, but so is that hair.” Liz sucks in a breath and I bite the inside of my cheek to restrain myself. It doesn’t work.

  “Are you always this abrasive?” Delano nearly falls out of his seat at my response to his mother. When I think of them as moguls it makes it harder for me to look at them as people. I soon discover though, that if I look at Corisande as if she is Mrs. Tucker—a teacher at my school that despises me—it makes it easier for me to be myself. In my mind, Corisande is a French Mrs. Tucker.

  “Yes.” She replies matter-of-factly before picking her cup up and taking another sip of her beverage. I glance at Cash to see he is surprised too.

  A throat clears. “Khloe, do you originate from here?” Delano asks. He still has not managed to totally collect himself but I can tell he is desperately trying to. Laughter seeps from his eyes like rays from the sun. I guess he’s gotten over his shock and jumped into hilarity. He is so alight with amusement at the entire situation that I second guess exactly what it is that I am getting myself into.

  “I’m originally from California…” I trail off recalling the memories of before we moved to Louisiana, when my father tried a little harder to be a parent. Those were the days when he would hide alcohol bottles and beer can filled trash bags in his room. I wasn’t readily aware that my father had a problem until towards the end of grade school. Even then, things weren’t great, but compared to how things are now, I had it easy.

  “Lovely. How are you liking it?” I just wanted to keep listening to him talk, his accent was absolutely enchanting. Plus, talking to him was making me relax a little bit. I could do this.

  “I could do without the swampy, humid weather honestly. Other than that, the schools are good I guess. Plus, my best friend is here.” I answer and his lips kick up in a friendly smile.

  “Yes, the heat here is very different. I think it is due to the humidity.” Delano jokes and I smile, relaxing a little. He isn’t all that intimidating; in fact, he seems kind of sweet.

  “How long have the pair of you dated?” Corisande’s gruff voice makes my shoulders tense again. So far, she had seemed content simply observing me.

  “Recently, Mémée. She was actually one of the first friends I made upon my arrival.” Cash answers. She scans the two of us, eyes like a hawk. I almost laugh at his idea of ‘friends’. I almost immediately despised him. Assuming he would be like all of the other rich brats at our school that were cruel to me once they figured out that I did not come from a background like theirs.

  “So, you have made your fiancé aware of the events she will need to ready herself for?” Corisande asks her grandson causing him to look away. Now I’m really nervous.

  “Not quite yet.” He counters lowly.

  Her cat-like eyes flicker to me. “I hope your love for my grandson will be able to withstand the trials you are getting ready to journey through, young lady.” It takes a great effort for me to conceal the shock I feel at hearing the word love being used to refer to Cash’s and my relationship. Geez lady, I’m already trying to keep it together.

  Still, I am sure that I gave something away when Corisande’s expression turns to one of satisfaction. She has got to be onto us. I press my lips together and pinch them to one side as I wait for her to elaborate. “I can’t imagine how Lena will take this. Actually, I can. She will have some snide remark about how much easier Theo was.” She says. Theo is Cash’s older brother. Cash has mentioned Theo to Liz and me a couple of times but he never embellishes on him, suggesting they do not have the best relationship. I am so perplexed as to how to respond that I decide it best to keep my mouth shut.

  “If your taste in decor is anything like this…style you have, I believe I can manage the
planning without your help. After the fittings of course. I believe I have the perfect designer in mind. You need to complete etiquette classes as well. Assistance with fashion. It’s necessary to…clean your image.” Corisande tells me with a brow that dares me to object. I take the challenge.

  “I’m partially offended by most of what you just said.” I respond. In the case that this does lead to an actual wedding, shouldn’t I have some say in it? “Also, I have perfectly fine manners.”

  “-Furthermore…the bridal gown itself.”

  “—I do get to pick out my own dress, right?”

  There probably isn’t even going to be a wedding. But, her brash personality is so abrasive to me that I find it necessary to challenge her like I do anyone else when I feel cornered. It’s like I have a little devil on my shoulder in a skin tight latex red ‘devil’ Halloween costume with a pitchfork twirling her hair telling me: She can’t talk to you like that! You don’t even know her. What happened to giving someone the benefit of the doubt? And my conscious is all: Right? We don’t need this. We can pick out our own wedding dress and make our own fashion choices.

  Corisande gives me a look, then glances over my clothes. “Clearly, you cannot be trusted to make correct fashion choices. What you wear from here on out will be a reflection of my family and of course Cashel.” I set myself up for that one.

  “Well, compared to what he was chasing before, I doubt the media will believe he fell for some chastity belt wearing, uptight, wet blanket.” Cash turns a laugh into a cough to my right and Delano bites his lip. I’m afraid I’m going to give the wrong family member a heart attack with all of this excitement. “They will probably put me on someone’s worst dressed list, but at least they will understand why someone like me was able to keep his attention long enough to make him want to make such a commitment.”

  Corisande and I are deadlocked in a stare off when Liz suggests, “Perhaps I could help. I plan to study fashion and design maybe I can lead Khloe in the right direction?” I actually like that idea but neither Corisande nor I look away from each other.