has been living out of the spotlight for years by his own design, but a source exclusively tells In Touch the reclusive reality star is finally starting to emerge from his self-imposed exile, much to the delight of doting sister .

“Rob is incredibly secretive about his life,” the source says, adding Rob, 38, has been quietly seeing a mystery girl lately, although social media sleuths may have deduced as much already, with one user claiming to have seen him driving around Rancho Park with a gal in his red Lamborghini.

The source notes the former Keeping Up With the Kardashians star is keen to keep his personal life as far away from the rest of the famous family as possible. It makes sense, considering most assume the trauma of having his life exposed throughout his childhood and young adulthood and the subsequent fan backlash and criticism he faced likely contributed to his current preference for privacy. 

“He doesn’t like his family to know anything, because he’s afraid they will somehow expose it. He doesn’t trust them and after so many years of being used as fodder for the TV show, they can’t really blame him,” the source explains. “They all admit they’re very nosy.”

As In Touch previously reported, when it isn’t Rob’s turn to care for his eight-year-old daughter by ex, Dream Kardashian, his current life consists mostly of hanging out with a few friends while sequestered away in a wing of sister Khloé’s mansion.

“Rob lives for his little girl, Dream,” a second source previously dished to In Touch. “She’s the absolute center of his world, and he spends most of his time with her either at his house or over at Khloé’s.” That source added that after years of abuse in the spotlight, the poor man is now “terrified of being out in public and getting recognized or photographed.”

The first insider adds, “The one person he sort of trusts is Khloé, but even with her he’s very secretive.” 

“He doesn’t have people over, he doesn’t tell her who he’s going out with, but she does at least know he is going out and living his life,” the source explains. “He just usually does it after dark and he avoids the hot spots.” 

As for the lucky lady, “He won’t admit to having a girlfriend, but everyone knows he’s seeing someone, he just won’t admit to it.” 

“When people try to grill him on it, he just laughs it off and tries to change the topic. Or he’ll straight up say it’s none of their business. But there are obvious tells when he goes out he dresses up, none of his slobby track pants, he wears cologne, all the things he only ever does when he’s dating someone.” 

The source adds that Rob’s not hiding anything from his closest sister, who is thrilled he’s taking a step toward normalcy, even if he isn’t quite ready to own up to it. “Khloé knows him inside and out so she can read him well. Now it’s just a matter of getting him to spill!”