Giselle. The name was pretty. I felt my chest relaxing, knowing she was Vincent’s sibling.
Vincent had a sister? How come I didn’t know that. Come to think of it, I didn’t know much about his family even from all the research I’d done. There just wasn’t a lot of information available. “I’ve seen a lot of pictures of you when I was researching your background. But how come I’ve never seen her in any of them?”
“Most of the pictures of me out there were taken when I was out in public. Some with my approval, some not. As you might’ve guessed by now, I like to keep my private life—well, private. That’s why I was concerned about ships seeing us last night.”
“Oh.” I’d forgotten how famous Vincent was since our involvement. Our frequent interactions made him flesh and blood, real. It was easy to forget he was often under a watchful eye by the media.
“Your sister’s very beautiful.”
He paused, eyes seemingly far away, deep in thought. It was the same look he had when I first told him about Marty. “She’s a good girl. I’d like you to meet her sometime. I’m sure you two would get along well.”
I wondered what Giselle was like. Was she basically a female version of Vincent? Perfect and charming?
“Come on. Let’s do some spying.” Vincent put his arm around my shoulders and we headed out into the forest like a pair of adventurers.
The rest of the morning passed in a flurry of bird sightings—ones I’d never seen before or seen only in nature magazines. Vincent played tour guide, giving me details about the different species on his island. We traded off on the binoculars and I whipped out my phone periodically to take pictures.
We were hiding behind a bush, the sun bright overhead, when I spotted a familiar bird perched on a tree branch. “Whoa, that looks like a puffin but with a big ‘ole beak.”
Vincent laughed. “It’s a toucan. Like the bird from those Fruit Loops commercials. Except this one is a Keel-billed Toucan.”
We watched it groom itself, using its beak to preen its breast feathers. With its brightly colored coat and distinctively shaped head, it looked majestic.
Vincent pointed and I saw another bird on a branch behind the grooming one that looked to be of the same species but considerably larger. The big one was closely watching the smaller one, bobbing its head up and down, shifting from side to side on the branch inspecting the smaller one from every angle. The grooming one didn’t seem to notice the sketchy behavior.
“What’s that bird doing?” I whispered.
“The one grooming is female and the other is male.”
The female toucan continued going about her business while the male silently hopped from branch to branch, edging closer to the female without her noticing. The female turned her head to preen at the feathers on her back and I thought she’d spot the male, but the male cleverly jumped to another branch out of sight as if anticipating her movements. Before long, the male made it to the same branch as the female, inched closer, then suddenly jumped on top of her. The female squealed and fluttered her wings but the male kept her steady with his strong claws.
“Whoa,” I said, my finger clicking the shutter on my cell phone camera. “Is that big bird humping the little one?”
“It’s called a cloacal kiss,” he said. “Birds have an orifice on their backside called a cloaca for reproduction. They touch their cloacae together and the male deposits sperm into the female. In some species, it only takes a few seconds.”
“Sounds kind of anticlimactic,” I mused, snapping another picture.
“I guess it depends on the birds. I’m sure it’s that way with some humans as well.” He grinned.
“Not with us. It’s a very long and hard process.” I turned my camera to snap a picture of him.
He smiled. “With lots of climaxes.”
“For sure. At least on the female’s end.”
“The female is what’s important. The male has to win her over.”
“Like some kind of challenge?”
He shook his head. “Because she’s worth the pursuit.”
“You could always try sneaking up and mounting the female like the birds do.” I pointed to the toucans. The female had calmed down and become receptive to the male humping her.
“You think that would work?”
I smiled mischievously at him. “Catch me and find out.”
He wrapped his arms around my waist and I playfully struggled to get free though I knew it was futile. “I got you.”
“No fair,” I said. “You have to give me a head start. Close your eyes and count to a hundred.”
“There’s steep slopes and sharp rocks on this island. I don’t want you getting hurt.”
“You’re sweet, Vincent. But I think my fragile female body can handle a frolick in the woods.”
“Okay, Kitten.” He smiled, releasing his hold on me. “I’m game.” He cupped his hands over his eyes then started counting.
I dashed off, zipping through the dense trees and hurdling over small bushes. I could hear the sound of his numbers growing distant.
“One hundred,” he said, voice faint. “Here I come.”
A few minutes later, I heard his footsteps crunching against leaves nearby and I ducked behind a large brush. I thought he’d find me but he walked right past the brush, calling out my name. I picked up a small branch from the ground and threw it in a different direction. He headed off toward the sound of the branch thumping against the ground and I had to keep my hand against my mouth to stop myself from laughing. I was amused I could outsmart billionaire Vincent Sorenson.
Once he was out of sight, I made my getaway in the opposite direction. I was having fun eluding him. I hadn’t played coy last night, but today was different.
I’d planned on setting out in one direction but a series of large trees and shrubberies caused me to make several small, winding detours. After a while, I wasn’t sure if I was still going in the same direction. Eventually, I realized I had no idea where I was going. I started to head back the way I came but stopped at a large scraggly tree, it’s branches resembling gnarled tentacles—the distinct appearance was very memorable. If I was tracing back my steps, I should’ve spotted this tree before. Why hadn’t I seen it before? Where was I? Vincent had said this island wasn’t large but it seemed pretty big. I couldn’t get a decent sense of my bearings because the thick foliage prevented seeing very far. I was starting to suspect I was lost.