Wickedly Wonderful (Baba Yaga, #2)(25)
Something about challenging the wild, untamed foamy sea made her feel completely alive, and for just a while, let her stop worrying about who and what she was, and just be.
She was so eager to breach the blue-green depths, she must not have been watching where she was going as she moved purposefully toward the surf. Another body slammed into hers, two boards tumbling down to batter them both. A gallant hand reached down to help her to her feet, and she found herself gazing into the face of a god.
Or maybe a movie star. It was California, after all, and anyone that good-looking was likely to be famous, or on his way to being so. He reminded her a bit of that guy who’d played a private detective, and then James Bond. His dark hair was smooth and silky looking, and his gray eyes gazed at her with admiration and no little amusement. After days of Marcus’s clearly expressed disdain and annoyance, it was kind of nice to see a man look at her that way. Even if she had just run him down with her surfboard.
“Oh, hell,” she said. “I’m so sorry.”
“I’m not,” her victim said with the flash of a dimpled grin. An Irish accent made the simple words pleasantly exotic. “Otherwise, we might never have met.”
Something about him tugged at her senses. “I’m Beka,” she said, tilting her head to get a better look as she sat up straight. “Have we met before?”
The dark-haired man gave her a hand up, then leaned over to kiss her fingers with a gallant bow. “Not as such, Baba Yaga,” he said. “But you know my father, Gwrtheyrn, King of the Selkies. I am Kesh, and I am very pleased to make your acquaintance.”
Ah, a Selkie. No wonder he gave her tingles. Of the supernatural kind, anyway. Not like the tingles she got around Marcus. Dammit. Why couldn’t she be attracted to the gorgeous guy who actually seemed to like her?
“Um, me too,” she said. Suddenly she felt self-conscious, out cavorting on the beach when she was supposed to be working on solving the Selkie and Merpeople’s problem. “I hope you don’t think I’m goofing off; really, I’ve been out diving every day, trying to find out what is wrong with the water in the Selkie home, and I’m going out again later today. I just had a couple of hours first and thought I’d come catch a wave or two. It helps me think, you know what I mean?”
Kesh didn’t seem at all disturbed by what might have been interpreted by some as a frivolous distraction. Of course, he was obviously a surfer, too, so maybe he understood how addictive it could be. A little farther down the beach, the froth danced up on the wet sand in beckoning invitation.
“So, are you making any progress?” Kesh asked casually as they picked up their boards and strolled closer to the water. Seagulls practiced aeronautical displays overhead, alert for the tasty tidbits dropped by early morning donut eaters.
Beka bit her lip. “Well, it’s too soon to say for sure. Like I said, I’ve been diving every day, and taking samples from a few different spots. I can’t get down as deep as your home crevasse, of course, but I’ve collected kelp and other sea life from nearby and sent it off to a lab to be tested. I’m just waiting for the results.”
“Oh?” Kesh put one warm hand on her arm to steer her around a curly-haired toddler who was chasing a small dog, both sets of stubby legs churning up sand as they went. “Which lab?”
“The one at the university,” Beka said. “I have a friend there.”
She gazed at him, impressed all over again by how attractive he was. He didn’t make her skin hum and buzz the way Marcus did, but he was having an actual conversation with her, instead of yelling, which made for a nice change.
“You can tell your father I’m doing everything I can,” she said, not quite beseeching. “I haven’t seen anything obvious to tell me what is going on, and my magical senses just tell me there is something, but I’m sure I’ll get to the bottom of this soon. Then your people will be able to return to their homes.”
White teeth gleamed in a tanned face as he gave her a charming smile. “Not to worry, darlin’,” he said. “I’ve got complete faith in you. Now how about we see which one of us can catch the largest wave? The loser can treat the winner to dinner tonight, after you get in from your diving.” Brown eyes twinkled at her. “That way, even if I lose, I win.”
*
KESH WATCHED BEKA walk away carrying her board tucked under her arm. She turned around at the edge of the road and waved, and he gave her a big grin, not letting it slide into the sneer that lurked behind it until she was gone from view.
A lovely girl, she was. Pretty to look at and all heart and earnest Human emotion. Not at all like the Baba Yaga who preceded her, thank the gods. Now that one, she would have been tough to fool. But this silly girl? He already had her wrapped around his finger.
That Brenna, she was a piece of work, she was. She and Beka had used this as a home base the last few years before the Queen of the Otherworld had dragged Brenna kicking and screaming into retirement, and he’d seen her do a thing or two that the High Queen might not approve of, had she but known.
Not that Brenna wasn’t still poking her nose in, behind the scenes. She and Kesh had found a few small mutual goals, and she’d even given him advice on how to deal with the current Baba.
According to Brenna, her replacement was insecure and uncertain of her abilities. Which was a damned good thing, as far as Kesh was concerned. There was no way he was going to let one inexperienced Baba Yaga ruin his carefully laid plans.