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He lets out the sexiest rumbling laugh, his head falling back with the act. “Well, you have my permission to tell them all about that.”
I laugh and shake my head, pressing a kiss to his lips. “Nope. Naked rule.”
He’s grinning and then sighing happily. “I don’t know what this is.”
“I don’t either,” I say honestly.
“I want to find out though,” he says quietly, and I struggle with any words after that, so I just kiss him again. Then we quickly get dressed before we head to his house to let his dogs out.
“So why racing?” I ask when we settle in his living room, much like we did in mine. But this time, we’re fully dressed.
He seems to think it over, eyeing my clothes and then smiling. “Hmm, so the non-naked rule answer then...”
I grin but then nod. “Yes. The on the record, able to share with my followers answer.”
“I’m good at it,” he answers, but I don’t think he’s trying to be coy or even arrogant. It’s said very concisely.
“You are,” I agree. “But how did you find that out?”
He looks like he’s warring with his mind over the answer, and I almost chicken out and tell him we can talk about something else, but then he’s opening his beautiful mouth. “I grew up in foster care.”
“Oh,” I say, dumbfounded. “Royal...” I’m about to tell him this sounds like naked-rule territory, but he stops me with a quick shake of his head.
“It’s okay. Honestly, I’m surprised it hasn’t come up before. You reporters are supposed to be good at research, right?”
“Ha,” I say sarcastically, but it’s true. This is the first time I’m hearing about the famous Royal Dutton growing up in foster care.
He shrugs, trying to be casual, but I see the vulnerability in his eyes. “Anyway, one of my foster mothers, she was into racing, and she taught me.”
I know, without question, that’s the condensed version, but I’m happy he’s sharing anything with me, to be honest. “And you just ran with it.” Statement. Not a question.
“I did. I thought it would just be a hobby, but like I said, I’m really good at it.” He waggles his eyebrows at me, and it actually makes me laugh instead of rolling my eyes. Wow, have things changed in a matter of days. “But honestly, it was like racing was in my blood. I just took to it.”
I find myself smiling at that. “I’m glad you did.”
He studies me closely and then puts his hand on my face in a way I’m quickly becoming addicted to. I’m certain he’s about to kiss me, but fate has other plans because just then, his phone rings loudly.
He sighs heavily and grabs it, looking at the screen. “Fucking Jenny. I really need to fire her.”
I laugh. “No. You really need to answer that,” I say, and he reluctantly drops his hand from my face and does what I’ve suggested.
He brings the phone to his ear as he answers, but he doesn’t move away, so I can hear everything.
“Jenny.”
“Royal. You free for dinner tonight?”
His eyes meet mine, and I expect him to make a lame joke about a date with her or something that he normally does to get to her, but he doesn’t. He studies me carefully. “I don’t know. Who’s asking?”
I hear Jenny’s long sigh. “Your agent, who’s trying to save your damn career. I’m inviting Soren too. We need to check in about his plan.”
My eyes widen, and I pull my phone out of my pocket to see a single text from Jenny, inviting me to dinner. I show it to Royal, and he grins widely. “Okay. I’ll be there.”
“I’ll send the details to your phone. Don’t be late,” I hear Jenny say as Royal hangs up.
“Guess we’re going to dinner tonight. You wanna ride with me?”
I nod dumbly as I text Jenny to confirm before sliding my phone back in my pocket. “Since I doubt you’ll be nude in a restaurant with your agent, the naked rule won’t apply. Is that okay with you?”
