Page 42 of Nobody's Girl

“I guess not.”

Ivo reached over and stroked her cheek. “To answer your question, I moved around so much I have never had a permanent home anywhere. I moved from Los Angeles over to Europe after college and since then, I’ve rented places for maybe six months tops. Paris, Venice, Rome, Naples, Vienna, Berlin, Barcelona…you name it.”

“A nomad?”

He grinned. “More or less. Now, of course, Paris has been my home for nearly a year.”

Sofia chewed her lip. “I don’t want you to feel like you’re being caged with me. I could live that life with you – travelling here and there.”

“I don’t feel caged. For the first time, I feel…settled. And I don’t mean that in a dull way, I mean, I have roots…no, I’m not explaining it very well. How about this…. imagine we’re two dirigibles.”

Sofia started to laugh as Ivo went on. “Two colorful dirigibles and we have the ability to fly anywhere but at the moment, we’re choosing to remain tethered to the Eiffel Tower for the moment. We still have the choice to go anywhere.”

“That was the best way to describe it?” Sofia was crying with laughter and Ivo chuckled.

“You know what I mean.”

“Lunatic.”

“Lunatic in love with you.”

Sofia put down her fork and came to sit on his knees, kissing him. “You would have to be certified to love me so I can believe that.”

“Who wouldn’t love you?” He whispered, his eyes soft. “Look at you…so beautiful, so kind, and loving sexy as all hell.”

They kissed, not caring that both of them tasted of scrambled egg. Catching her breath, Sofia leaned her forehead against his. “You have made me the happiest woman on the planet,” she said. “No-one could love you more than I do.”

“I feel the same. And we have so much time to really get to know each other. All the good stuff. All the bad.”

“I don’t believe you have a bad trait at all,” she grinned, but Ivo’ smile faded.

“Oh, I do.”

Sofia smiled at him. “Tell me. Unless you’re a serial killer with a mommy fetish, I can’t see it.”

Ivo grinned. “Well, now that you mention it…” He wrestled her to the ground started to tickle her, making her shriek with laughter. “I’m a serial tickle monster.”

“Divorce!” Sofia shouted, trying to fight him off, giggling furiously. He stopped and wrapped his arms around her. Sofia kissed his eyelids. “You are so silly. But seriously, Ivo, I can handle anything so all I ask is that you never hide anything from me. Promise me, I’ll always be the one you confide in from now on.”

“I promise that, with all my heart.”

She slid her hand down to his groin, feeling his cock harden through the linen shorts. “And this belongs to me now.”

Ivo groaned as she squeezed his cock. “It was yours from the moment we met, Sofia.”

“Remember the first time we saw each other at the pool?”

“How could I forget?”

Sofia stood and pulled her dress over her head, slipping out of her underwear. She held her hand out to him and pulled him up, tugging his t-shirt over his head. “I remember seeing you in the pool, this glorious body swimming up and down, and my body just reacted.”

Ivo kissed her as she pulled at the drawstring of his shorts and he shed them, stepping out of them. Sofia stroked his cock against her belly, feeling it stiffen. She looked up at him from under her lashes, knowing that drove him crazy with desire. “I swam with you; do you remember that?”

“I do.”

“And all the time, I was imagining what it might be like to just reach out and touch you. When we paused for air at one end, and I saw your face for the first time, there was water clinging to your eyelashes.” She stroked a finger over his long, thick lashes now and kissed his eyelids. “I thought you were the most magical thing I’d ever seen. The way the pool lights made your eyes so green…”

Ivo pressed his lips to hers. “I remember the way you disobeyed the swim cap rule and this mane,” he fisted her dark hair in his hand, “It was like halo around your head. When I saw you, with it streaming around you under the water, I thought, ‘My god, she’s an angel.”