Page 17 of Not So Stranded
Kit grinned at Hiaka, who definitely blushed as they chuckled. “What can I say?” Hiaka said. “I woke up with urges.”
“And I am very glad I was here to help.”
“As am I.”
Tossing the towel away, Kit sat cross-legged on the deck and took a deep breath. As good as that had been, they had things to decide and they needed to get on it. “We need to talk about where we’re going.”
“Southeast,” Hiaka said, pointing.
“Right, yeah, but where exactly is Cecaelia Bay? I couldn’t find it. And also, while I would love to go there with you, I could lose my grant if I just up and left for…a vacation?”
Hiaka nodded. “I don’t know how you get an island onto a map, but it’s definitely about a half-day’s swim from Kaua’i.”
“Oh,” Kit said, relieved. “I was worried we wouldn’t be able to get there with the fuel we have.”
“Are we running low?”
“No, not for that distance.”
“What about your grant, then?” Hiaka asked, squinting at him. “Are you only allowed to study turtles where we were?”
“I’m following up on reports that people have submitted when they’ve seen turtles on land. We didn’t know there were any nesting sites on Ikaika, but now we do.”
“Well, then, I’m guessing if you don’t know where Cecaelia Bay is, then you don’t know there are turtles nesting there.”
Kit blinked at him, surprised. “Pardon?”
Hiaka grinned. “There’s a beach on one side of the island that gets a lot of turtles laying eggs. The other side has sort of a cliff that gets tons of birds who breed in all the nooks and crannies, too. Eric was going to look at getting the island named as some kind of sanctuary to help keep people away, but him living there was an issue.” They shrugged one shoulder. “I don’t remember why.”
“Because it can’t be both a sanctuary and a residence?”
“I don’t know the particulars.”
“I don’t really know anything about getting a place designated as a sanctuary, but I do know that no one is aware of a turtle nesting site on Cecaelia Bay. That’s a name I’d remember.” Kit’s thoughts started spinning. “The scope of my grant is to explore the Hawaiian Islands for new sea turtle nesting sites.” He chuckled, smiling. “I can absolutely change location without nullifying my grant.”
Hiaka was smiling, too. “I can’t imagine Eric would have a problem with you studying the turtles on the island.”
“Eric who?” Kit asked, realizing he’d never asked.
“Eric Baird.”
“Eric Baird?The billionaire?”
“Is he?”
“Uh, yes,” he said on a laugh. “Politics and commercial real estate, I think. Skyscrapers and stuff like that. He disappeared after a scandal that…” Kit trailed off, not sure if he should share the man’s business like that. “Um, never mind.”
But Hiaka waved that away. “Oh, we know about it. I mean, not every gory detail, but we asked why he was out there on an island all alone. He told us about getting set up to be outed and the backlash from his family of asshats when it happened.”
“Asshats?” Zenori asked with a frown.
“They’re not nice people,” Hiaka explained. “Or they weren’t. Most of them aren’t in politics anymore because of their own scandals, and his father died last year.”
“Ah. I could not imagine how a human might cause a hat to remain on their ass. Even as round as Kit’s ass is?—”
Kit started laughing, his mind involuntarily conjuring an image of a person trying to keep their ass hat on.
“So literal,” Hiaka said before leaning over and kissing Zenori.
