She really should go inside and face Jude. Couldn’t avoid him forever. Besides, she was getting hungry.
With a sigh, she crawled off the lounger and stretched her arms up over her head. Her body felt loose and warm from the sun, her muscles more relaxed than they had been in years, but she still couldn’t shake the notion that she was shirking her responsibilities by taking time off from work. Yes, it was time she’d earned. And, yes, other people took time off with no repercussions. It didn’t make her less of a lawyer, somehow inferior to her counterparts.
And still.
Maybe she could sneak some work in tomorrow. Jude usually swam laps for an hour or so in the morning. She could do it without him knowing. A quick call to Noah for an update, a couple e-mails… Really, what would it hurt? She highly doubted K-Bar had the kind of technology needed to track her all the way down to Florida from one little phone call to her office.
The idea of work cheered her as she turned around to gather her things—and spotted a huge green monster swimming across the pool toward her.
She shrieked and dropped both her book and towel. The book skidded across the concrete deck and landed in the water with a soft plop. The towel disappeared from view, but she didn’t dare drop her gaze to look for it. Not with that…thing…swimming closer. Closer. Closer.
Sam hissed and arched up onto his toes, and she snatched him up in a hug, unmindful of his extended claws.
Closer. Closer.
She couldn’t move, her knees locked in terror. She imagined giant teeth clamping on to her leg, pulling her under the surface until water filled her lungs and choked her. Powerful jaws ripping through muscle and bone and dragging her dead body away. Nobody would know what happened to her until the alligator died and someone cut it open and found what was left of her in its belly.
Oh God.
“Libby!” Jude appeared in the patio doorway in nothing but his boxer-briefs, his hair mussed from a recent nap. He held his gun in a two-handed grip in front of him, but kept it pointed toward the ground as he edged to her side. He ran a hand over her hair, her arms, and her back as if checking for injuries, then took the terrified cat out of her arms and set him on the ground. Sam tore off toward the house in a streak of orange fur, and Jude returned his full attention to her. He clasped her neck, made her look at him with the pressure of his thumb against her jaw.
“What’s wrong? Hey, Libs, talk to me. Are you okay? What did you see?”
Unable to force sound through her frozen vocal cords, she pointed a shaking finger at the pool. He turned…and laughed.
Laughed. At an alligator.
He really was crazy.
“Is that all?” He set his gun on the table between loungers and knelt at the edge of the pool. In a move so fast all she could do was squeak in protest, he snatched the thing out of the water by its tail and the back of its spiked neck. It opened its mouth, but instead of rows of deadly teeth, it had nothing but pink gums and a darting lizard tongue.
Libby scrambled backward over the lounger as Jude turned toward her with the reptile in hand. “W-what the hell is that?”
“Iguana,” he said and loosened his grip on its neck. The iguana bumped its head against his hand, and he smiled. “A friendly one, too. He just wanted to say hi. Maybe bum some fruit off you. C’mere and pet him.”
“I don’t think so.” She stumbled back another step, her heart still hammering painfully. “W-where did it come from?”
“They’re all over around here. People let their pets go when they got too big to care for, and they started breeding in the wild. They like to snack on garden flowers, which is probably why this guy found his way here. Just looking for an evening snack, huh, buddy?”
He spoke as if he planned to let it stay in the garden. He would probably tease her relentlessly, but she couldn’t deal with that. Just…couldn’t. Sure, it wasn’t an alligator like she first thought, but it was huge and looked like a prehistoric throwback from her worst reptile-themed nightmare.
“It’s okay,” Jude said and took another step forward. “He’s harmless.”
“Please—” She choked on a surge of fear-induced tears. “Please, don’t. Can you…get rid of it?”
Jude stopped. Frowned. “He scares you.”
“Yes. Very much.” And here comes the teasing, she thought. If he did something childish like throw it at her or chase her around the pool with it, she was going to murder him. Slowly. In his sleep. After chopping off his balls.