"Does anyone there speak English?" he asked after connecting with the police. "Good. I need to report a - an incident. 'Tis a wee bit strange, and ye may find it hard to believe - aye, I am speaking English."
Olivia chuckled. Then Robby turned slightly, and her jaw dropped. Good God. The front of his boxer shorts was protruding.
"There was a jaguar on the beach at Petra. A ja-gu-ar," he repeated slowly. "No, no' the car. The cat. A black panther. Nay, it wasna a big house cat. 'Twas a panther."
Robby raked a hand through his long hair, inadvertently giving Olivia an excellent profile of his washboard abs. She gulped. His flat stomach made the swelling in his underwear look even bigger.
"No, I'm no' high on any drugs," Robby growled. "And I can tell the difference between a bloody goat and a panther. Hello? Hello?" He hung up and walked out of her view.
With a grimace, Olivia settled back into the Jacuzzi. The police thought it was prank call. Who could blame them? How on earth could a jaguar get on a Greek isle?
And where was it now? She looked about nervously. She'd seen the cat scamper up a rocky bluff not far from here. What if the Jacuzzi was his favorite watering hole? She'd look like a yummy morsel, floating in the middle. She needed to relocate fast.
Robby heated up a bottle of synthetic blood in the microwave. He needed to take the edge off his appetite before returning to Olivia. He smiled to himself as he fixed her a glass of ice water. Carlos was right. If he played his cards right, he could get lucky. Hell, he'd been lucky ever since he'd met Olivia. She was the best thing that had happened to him since...he thought back. Lord Almighty, since he'd been transformed in 1746.
He needed to be careful so he wouldn't lose her. Or frighten her away. He glanced at his swollen groin and winced. He looked like he'd been playing the old bagpipe.
The microwave dinged, and he guzzled down half the bottle of warm synthetic blood. It was just as well the police in Skala hadn't believed his panther story. He sure didn't want them roaming the island with rifles, looking for Carlos.
Maybe he'd been too hard on the shape-shifter. There was a full moon tonight, so Carlos might have been forced to shift. Still, he shouldn't have terrorized Olivia just to help Robby have a hot date. He recalled how good she had felt in his arms, how she managed to look both sexy and innocent in her white brassiere and knickers. And she was waiting for him in the hot tub. His groin stiffened just thinking about her all hot and wet.
Bugger. He couldn't go back to her looking like this. He grabbed the glass of ice water and dumped half of it on himself. "Oy! Bloody hell."
"Are you all right?"
He spun and discovered Olivia standing in the kitchen doorway. He froze for a few seconds as he looked her over. She was clutching her wet clothes to her chest, effectively hiding the parts he really wanted to see. Still, he enjoyed seeing her bare arms and lovely long legs. His gaze wandered to her face, and he realized she was giving him a similar examination.
Her eyes widened at the sight of his groin.
Water dripped from his wet boxers, the droplets plopping onto his feet. Bugger. He must look like he'd just peed on himself. The blood he'd recently ingested rushed to his face, giving him a rare blush.
"'Tis naught but water, ye ken." He winced. His embarrassment was causing his accent to thicken. He lifted the glass so she could see it was half full. "I used some of yer ice water to...minimize a growing concern."
She made an odd strangled sound that sounded suspiciously like a stifled giggle. With pink cheeks, she focused on the counter behind him. "I thought I'd be safer in the house, since there's a jaguar out there."
"I see." So much for making love to her in the hot tub. "Did ye want this water? I can refill it for you."
"That's okay." She looked at the bottle in his other hand. "I'll just have whatever you're having."
"Nay! Ye-Ye wouldna like it." He quickly emptied the rest of the synthetic blood in the sink. "'Tis flat."
She watched him curiously. "It was wine, right?"
"Would ye like some wine? I can pour you a glass."
"That would be lovely, thank you."
He set the glass of water on the counter and retrieved a wineglass from an overhead cabinet. Then he located a bottle of merlot in the fridge that Carlos had opened earlier when he'd eaten the leftovers that Olivia and her grandmother had left. He filled the glass, then handed it to her.
"Thank you." She shifted her clothes to one arm so she could take the wineglass. Her wet jeans slipped from her grasp and tumbled onto her feet. "Oops."
"I'll get it." He leaned over to grab her jeans, then noticed how close he was to her bare legs. He straightened very slowly, enjoying the view. By the time his eyes reached her face, her cheeks were pink again.
She cleared her throat. "I need to get out of my wet clothes."
"That would be nice. Ye want to do it now?"
"I need a towel to dry off."