Tempting (Red Lips & White Lies Book 1)

Caitlin walks out of Sweet Temptations, looking as fierce as ever, just as I’m walking in the next morning. Sky-high black knee boots, a black leather pencil skirt, and a black cardigan that only has three buttons buttoned in the center. Her black hair is artfully tucked up in a messy bun, which I’m sure took her fifteen minutes to look as perfectly imperfect as it does, and chunky diamond studs dot her ears. She rocks her confidence like she’s never had a doubt in the world, and even though she’s my little cousin, I think I want to be her when I grow up.

“Little overqualified to be doing coffee runs, aren’t you?” I hold the door for her as she balances a bakery box and a cup carrier with what I bet are Lindy’s, Everly’s, and her coffee orders.

Cait’s crystalline blue eyes look me over from the top of my head to the tips of my purple Jimmy Choo’s. “We take turns. What’s your excuse? Because seriously, Kenz. Those shoes belong somewhere more fabulous than Main Street.”

“I promised Juliette I’d meet her before I need to be in the office. Is she inside?” Jules’s office is across the street, so she may have stopped in there first.

“She’s inside talking to my mom. Good luck. They look like they’re conspiring.” She turns toward Everly’s shop before I call out to her.

“Conspiring about what?” My heart races in my chest. The Kingstons conspiring is never a good thing.

Cait looks over her shoulder and winks at me. “Good luck, Kenzie.”

“Luck with what?” I ask as she heads two shops down to Everly Wilder Designs, ignoring me.

Damn it. Good luck with what?

If I don’t go in, I could walk into my office in three minutes. It’s only around the corner, right off Main Street. What can Jules say if I tell her I bailed for an emergency? I look through the huge picture window to see if I can make a clean escape, but I can’t. I’m totally busted. Jules and Amelia, Caitlin’s mom, are both staring at me from the table in the corner of the shop.

Time to pull my big-girl panties up, I guess.

I push through the door and wave at the two of them, then make a pit stop at the counter for a cinnamon pumpkin cappuccino with a shot of espresso and extra whip, because really, can you ever have too much whip? Once the extra-caffeinated goodness—which I’m fairly certain I’ll need to get through what’s beginning to feel like a strange ambush—hits my system, I square my shoulders and brace for impact.

Okay, I’m not generally a drama queen, but whenever Jules and any of the aunts get together, it’s like you’re going to war with a coven of powerful witches, each with their own special brand of magic. It’s always safer to approach them carefully. That thought makes me smile. “Hi, ladies.”

“Kenzie . . .” Jules stands and squeezes me in a tight hug, like it’s been months since she’s seen me instead of a week. “I swear I miss you more now that I get to see you all the time than I did when you were in DC.”

Probably because Juliette called every other day during my residency. She’d leave me five-minute-long voice memos if I didn’t answer, and sometimes Becks, Blaise, and she would send me a quick video just so I could see their faces. And she’d always stop by my brownstone whenever Becks and she were in town for any senate business.

She’s a special kind of woman, and I’m so unbelievably lucky to have her in my corner. But I’m still a little nervous right now.

“Hey, Jules. How was DC?” I sit down between Amelia and her and side-hug Cait’s mom. Amelia’s not nearly as touchy-feely as the rest of the family.

“It was good. But I’m glad to be home. More importantly, how was your weekend?”

Amelia snickers and rises from her seat. “Real smooth, Juliette.”

Jules rolls her lips in, holding back a smile.

“Kenzie, don’t leave without taking some scones for your office. I’ll go box them up.”

“Thank you,” I tell her as she walks away, and I turn all my attention on Juliette. “Go ahead. You know you’re dying to ask.” I inhale my cappuccino as she watches with hopeful eyes.

“I really am.” Excitement is coming off her in waves. My cousin is one of the most beautiful women in the world. A former supermodel who’s as stunningly beautiful today as she was twenty years ago. And right now, she looks like she’s a teenager trying to get her friend to spill the beans. “What is happening with you and Nixon Sinclair? Sawyer called Becket and said you two were together at the gala last week.”

“Sawyer has a big mouth for someone who wasn’t even there,” I murmur under my breath.

“Be happy the Kroydon Kronicles didn’t run with it. Then you’d have the whole town talking. So . . . are you going out again?”

“It was one time, and it wasn’t a real date. When am I supposed to find time to date, Jules? I’m building my career. If I’m not at the office, I’m at the hospital or at home studying charts.” I break off a piece of her pumpkin muffin and pop it into my mouth, buying myself an extra minute or two.

The excitement she had a minute ago changes. “Are you still considering applying for the gynecologic oncology fellowship?”

“I’m thinking about it,” I admit, still not sure I want to commit to a three-year fellowship at this point in my life.

“Kenzie . . . I worry about you, sweetheart.” She reaches across the worn whitewashed table and covers my hand with hers. “I don’t want to see you hide behind your career forever. Take it from someone who spent a decade doing exactly that.”

“I’m not hiding, Jules.” I temper my voice so she doesn’t hear my frustration. Jules and I have had this conversation before, and it rarely ends well. “I love my job. I’m proud of it, and I’m damn good. Specializing doesn’t mean I’m hiding—it means I’m helping.”

“I need you to really hear this, Mackenzie. I don’t care if you’re dating Nixon. I don’t care if you ever date anyone. What I care about is you and whether you’re living a full life. Work is only supposed to be a piece of that. You’ve got to fill the rest of it up with other things.”

“Jules . . .” I want to tell her she’s being dramatic, but I would never disrespect her that way. “My life is full. I have my friends and family. I have a job I love. And if I decide to do this, I’d only apply for local fellowships. I wouldn’t leave again. I promise.”

She tucks her hair behind her ear. “I’ve got all three of you kids home right now. You can’t blame me for wanting to keep it that way for as long as possible. Blaise has less than two years left before he leaves for college, and he’s already talking about wanting to go away to school. I don’t want to let go of you again.”

“Jules,” I chuckle. “You never let go the last time.”

“Fine. I didn’t let go. But can you really blame me?” I know what she’s saying without coming out and saying it, and no, I can’t blame her. When you lose someone so quickly . . . someone as young and vibrant as my mom was . . . it changes your outlook on life.

“I’m not dating Nix.” I decide changing the subject is my safest move. “He was going, and I was going, so we went together. As friends. That’s it. There’s no story.”

She cocks her head and stares. “Yeah . . . I’ve heard that before. I may have said it to myself a time or two.”

“Oh yeah?” I steal another bite of muffin before she pushes it to me. “How’d that work out for you? Are you still friends?”

“Yup. Best friends. I married him.”

My pumpkin muffin gets caught in my suddenly dry throat.

“There’s always time, Mackenzie. And you can have it all. A career. A husband. A family. Whatever you want, you can have. It might not be easy, but the best things never are.”

I don’t need promises of an easy life. I can navigate difficult. I thrive on hard. The harder the better. I can take that and make it my bitch.

But what scares me enough to turn and walk away, is the idea that it can all be ripped away in a single heartbeat. That . . . I don’t think I could survive that. Not again.

Rumors are swirling that we may have our first sighting and it involves fresh meat.

One fan favorite Revolution-ary and a member of Kroydon Hills’ very own royal family may just be the first casualty . . . I mean coupling of the season.

Do you wanna guess who?

Only time and this reporter will tell. Stay tuned!

#KroydonKronicles #Revolutionary #KroydonHillsRoyalFamily #FreshMeat