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He nods, cupping my face with one of his hands again. “I mean, I’d rather be naked. But yeah, I’m fine with you reporting on anything you want to.”
I smile at the naked part, even if it blows my mind a little that he admitted to wanting to be naked again with me. “Are you sure you’re okay with what happened?” I have to ask. It doesn’t feel real.
He leans in, brushing his lips over mine softly, his head nodding as his nose brushes against mine when he kisses me softly. “I’m very okay with it. I want it to happen again and again, but only if you want it to.”
“Of course I do,” I blurt out and feel him smile against my lips.
“Good.” He takes my hand in his and holds it sweetly—far sweeter than I could have ever imagined Royal being. “I have no idea what’s going on, but I haven’t felt like this before. I’ve never...” He trails off quietly, swallowing hard as he eyes meet mine. “I know I have a lot of money and fame. I know what I let people see, and trust me, part of that persona is me—Iama cocky shithead.” I find myself smiling yet again, but my smile fades when I see the seriousness in his eyes. “But I—”
“Royal...” I breathe quietly, my hand sliding over his cheek. “You don’t have to explain it to me. This feels new to me too.”
But part of it feels very familiar too. All too familiar. A famous athlete, saying all the right things. And me falling for it.
I try to push that away. I don’t want to be just another jaded asshole. I want to believe in this... whatever it is.
He nods his head slowly and then leans back into the couch, pulling me to his side. “I want to try,” he says so quietly, I barely hear him. “For once, I want to try.”
I don’t know exactly what he means, but I just lean into him instead of asking him.
Something tells me he’ll let me know when he’s ready.
And I can wait.
CHAPTER18
ROYAL
The naked rule.
I like it.
But I’m definitely dressed right now. So I know whatever we talk about at dinner is very much on the record. Even though I’m starting to trust Soren, and I’m pretty sure if I asked him not to divulge anything, he wouldn’t.
But the naked rule works for me. Maybe it’s because I absolutely like being naked with Soren—or maybe it’s just silly enough to be the perfect agreement—I don’t know, but it works.
Sadly, I didn’t get any more naked time with Soren today. After we agreed to dinner with Jenny, we played with the dogs for a while in my backyard, had a quick lunch, and then mostly just hung out at my place—fully clothed.
But he didn’t try to question me.
It was very casual.
Very ordinary but not boring. Not at all. I always thought I needed flash and thrills, but with Soren, I don’t want any of that. I’m perfectly content, watching mundane television and playing with my dogs until it’s time to go to dinner with Jenny.
Who, by the way, totally knows something is up.
What, I’m not sure she’s figured out, but she eyed us pretty damn hard when we walked into the upscale restaurant together. I wanted to grab his hand in mine, claim him right then and there.
But I decided that might be pushing it.
Kansas City isn’t really full of paparazzi, but that doesn’t mean people wouldn’t have their phones out and snapping pictures if I walked inside, hand and hand with Soren. We’re both fairly famous around here, and even just walking into the place not holding hands, we had a fair share of photos snapped.
“So how is the project going, Soren?” Jenny asks, taking a drink of her martini as we sit at the table, waiting for the food we ordered.
We both flinch at her calling me a project, and yeah, she notices. Jenny misses nothing. I recover a little faster than Soren, but he’s the one to answer. “It’s going well. People are really warming up to Royal.”
I’m not sure that’s true, but I keep my mouth shut. “I’ve seen the comments,” Jenny says, and I swear I see a ghost of a smile. “Now that it’s off-season, what do you have planned?”
The question is directed at Soren, so he answers, “Whatever Royal wants to show me.”
