Tempting (Red Lips & White Lies, #1)

by Bella Matthews

Nix takes a step back and drops his hand. “Yeah . . . let’s stick to code words, Kenz.” Kenz. He never calls me that. “Nixon,” a beautiful woman I’d recognize anywhere glides over to us. Annabelle Sinclair was one of my favorite people in the world growing up. Maybe because something about her always reminded me of my mom in a way Jules never could. Not that Juliette didn’t do everything in her power to take care and love Easton and me after our mom died, but it was different. Jules is our cousin. I grew up loving her and looking at her as a cousin . . . before she morphed into a surrogate mother. She was never my mom. After Mom’s death, Jules tried to love me enough for her and my mom, but it was always going to be different. Annabelle was my best friends’ mom, and she was, and still is, just one of those moms you knew loved being a mother. She made it look easy, and if you were one of the lucky kids her kids loved, then she embraced you like you were hers. I used to love being at the Sinclairs’ house. “Oh my goodness, Mackenzie . . .” she gasps and steps between Nixon and me, then takes my hands in hers and looks at me. “Look at you.”