He hadn’t spoken in this sort of detail about his life. It pleased her he trusted her enough to reveal these parts of himself.

“And then he died and she got into a car accident about two years later. She was injured pretty bad. Was in a coma for six days. In the hospital for five weeks. Like I said, my mother isn’t strong. She’s gone through a series of surgeries and she’s never really recovered.”

Her heart ached for him. “I’m so sorry.”

“She lives in an assisted-living facility near Atlanta. She likes it there. Likes being coddled and cared for, and that’s where she’ll die. I hate that this is reality, but it is. My aunt and uncle are the parents the ones I was born to never managed to be. I don’t know what I would do without them and their advice. So I know what you mean when you say it’s not the same.”

She took his hand, saying nothing else until they’d reached his house and she’d turned on the oven to put the lasagna she’d put together that morning in to bake. Spike scampered around, chasing a balled-up piece of paper he kept bringing back to Royal to throw.

“It’s totally all right for you to find yourself oops sorry busy on Saturday afternoon, you know.”

He handed her a glass of wine. “I’m going with you.” He clinked it. “I seem to recall you liked this one.” He turned music on, and Kacey Musgraves’s “Back on the Map” came over the speakers. Caroline smiled, putting her glass down to get close enough for a kiss.

Instead he got her close enough to haul to his body and then into a slow dance with some grinding and heavy petting thrown in and oh wow it worked.

Her head rested against his chest, her pulse a slow, warm throb. Her breath was full of his scent, the heat of his body radiating against her face.

The hands he slid up her back kept her pressed to him. He was a really good dancer. Slow and sexy. He moved…oh my God the way he moved. He loped, but with intensity, and such a thing shouldn’t even be possible but it was and he was really good at it.

When she imagined herself in his eyes, she felt beautiful. Sexy. “Coming back here would be so much harder without you. You make me happy, Royal.”

He pulled her tighter, his heart beating resolutely against her ear on his chest.

“I thought I knew so many things before you came here. I thought I knew what it meant to be undone by someone. But I didn’t. I didn’t know it at all. Not until you filled my vision and I fell in love with you. You undo me, Caroline. It’s terrifying and awesome all at once. Like a thrill ride.”

He’d just told her he was in love with her.

She tipped her head back to look up into his face. “Do I have loop de loops?”

“Oh f**k yes you do. You’re swoops and swirls and dizzying turns. You turn me upside down all the time. Sometimes you smile a certain way and damn. I’m hit by something new about you.”

She stared at him, swallowing hard.

“Wow.”

The song ended and Luke Bryan’s “Shut It Down” came on.

“I don’t think I’ve ever undone anyone before. I really like it.”

He laughed and kissed her, diving into her taste until he was nearly drunk with her. “I hadn’t welcomed you to my house yet. Terrible breach of manners on my part.”

“You’re a really good host that way. Thanks for sticking up for me. With my grandmother. Thanks for sharing that stuff about your mom with me. Thanks for slow dancing in the kitchen and wow, I…thanks for loving me.”

There was a pause and he felt her energy shift and he waited, hoping like hell whatever she said next was good.

And it was. “I’ve been falling in love with you since you fetched cereal for me off the top shelf. You backed me against something then too.”

He did very much enjoy backing her against things or getting her prone on the bed or the couch. He did it right then, backing her to his kitchen counter gripping the smooth edge at her back. “It’s pretty much my favorite pastime.” He kissed her again.

The oven dinged that it had finished preheating.

“Okay, woman, let’s get this dinner started. Tell me what you want me to do.”

She put the lasagna in the oven. She made a salad, and he put out some garlic twists she’d picked up at the Honey Bear.

“In a few weeks it’ll be warm enough to be outside. I have one of those deck heater things. I also have a new piece of outdoor furniture on order. It’s a covered chaise for two. I’m thinking ahead.”

“Awesome. I don’t have any outdoor space at my place. Yours is so lovely. It’ll be nice to use it.”

“Interesting thing that. Want to help me plant some pots for the deck? I traded some kale for groundcover and flowers, and I have the box planters out there anyway.”

Her smile—Christ, she was pretty—brightened. “I’d love to help you plant. But one thing.”

He set the table. “What?”

“Melissa invited us over Sunday afternoon for a barbecue. Clint is back in town so you can meet him too. Plus you can see her adorable little house.”

Caroline had been trying damned hard with his friends so of course he’d do things with her friends and get to know them.

“Sounds good.”

They settled at the table and filled their plates.

“So, do you have like a basic talk when you discuss your father’s case? Like the case in an outline or gif-formed answer?”