Chapter 1

“I’m headed to the park,” Molly called as she let the screen door slam shut behind her. It slapped against the edge of the frame, too warped to close properly. She absently made a mental note to fix it later…along with the hundred other things that needed doing around the house.

“You want backup?” Charlie yelled back, and Molly resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Her sister would do anything to get out of paperwork, but Molly wasn’t about to enable her, even if it would be nice to have someone along to help relieve the boredom.

“Nope, this should be easy-peasy.”

“You’re taking Warrant though, right?” Cara, Charlie’s twin and the worrywart of the family, peered at Molly through the screen door.

Their enormous, hairy Great Pyrenees mix cocked his head when he heard his name. “Yes.” Leash in hand, Molly allowed Warrant to tow her down the porch steps as she gave Cara a wave over her shoulder, wanting to get out of earshot before her sisters thought of any more questions. If Molly was delayed long enough, Charlie would somehow finagle her way into coming along, and that meant Molly would be stuck sorting her sister’s expense reports. That prospect wouldn’t be so bad, except that Charlie was terrible about taking care of her receipts. They were always sticky or stained or wrapped around chewed gum. Nope. Charlie could do her own expense report. It was a beautiful afternoon for a walk to the park, and Molly was going to enjoy it.

Warrant trotted at her side as they passed their neighbor’s scarily perfect yard. Mr. Petra silently watched from his wide, immaculate porch, his narrow-eyed glare boring into her.

Baring her teeth in a wide smile, Molly waved. “Hey, Mr. P! Beautiful day, isn’t it?”

As he continued to glower, Molly felt her forced smile shift to a real grin. Being passive-aggressively friendly to her sourpuss of a neighbor was oddly satisfying. She felt his disapproving glare follow her until she reached the end of their street and turned the corner. Warrant happily bumbled along next to her, although his broad, pink tongue was already hanging out of his mouth.

“We’ve gone a block,” she said. “You can’t be getting tired already.”

Warrant just blinked his oblivious dark eyes at her, and she sighed.

“You’re the laziest dog in the world. It’s a good thing you’re cute, or we wouldn’t put up with your shenanigans.” That last part was a lie. Molly and her sisters would put up with Warrant even if all of his fur fell out and he sprouted leathery, bat-like wings. They’d probably even get him specially made sweaters with appropriately placed holes for his new appendages. She smiled at the mental image as she ran a hand over his silky-soft head.

The sun beamed down warmly on them as they walked, light filtering through the trees that lined the residential street. Langston was close enough to Denver—just an hour’s drive from downtown to downtown if traffic was light—that commuters were snapping up new cookie-cutter homes on the northern edge of the small city as fast as they could be built. Set tucked against the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, the new suburbs had wide stretches of fresh sod and spindly saplings that cast barely any shade, but Molly’s house was in the older, richer, southern part of town. That meant neighbors eyeing her family’s worn and comfortably raggedy property from their own perfectly restored Victorians with lush, Mr. P-approved lawns, but it also meant that the trees were old enough to spread their sheltering branches over the yards and quiet streets, protecting Molly and Warrant from the strong Colorado sun.

Although it was mid-September, it still looked—and felt—like summer. The only hint that fall had begun was the absence of kids running around at two thirty on a Tuesday afternoon. Despite Warrant’s slowing pace, the mile-long walk went quickly, the peace of the quiet, warm day soothing her too-busy brain.

After much coaxing and a minimal amount of dragging her increasingly lazy dog, Molly made it to the park. Only a handful of people were there, mostly parents watching their preschool-age kids play. Warrant perked up once the dog run came into view, but Molly towed him in the opposite direction toward an empty bench next to the swings, doing her best to pretend that she couldn’t see his sad look. She failed miserably.

“I know, Warrant.” She sat and tried to ignore the guilt swamping her. “We need to make some money, though. You eat a lot, and it’s not the cheap stuff either. Your food is the equivalent of dog caviar, so I don’t think it’s too much to ask for you to help out occasionally.”

With a soul-deep sigh, he lay down next to the bench and rested his chin on his front paws. Molly turned her attention away from the dog and eyed the shops across the street. Her spot on the bench was the perfect vantage point.

She pulled her phone from her pocket and pretended that she wasn’t watching the door next to the cute ice cream parlor. The apartment above the shop was leased by Maryann Cooper, who seemed to be a law-abiding, responsible citizen. The same couldn’t be said about her younger brother, Donnie. He had a habit of taking things that didn’t belong to him—like wallets and cell phones and the occasional car—and he hadn’t shown up for his most recent court date.

Molly had a strong suspicion that Maryann knew where Donnie was hiding, and she would leave for her shift at the turkey-processing plant in an hour or so. Molly started playing a game on her phone while keeping one eye on the apartment across the street, just in case Maryann decided to leave early. Warrant stretched out on his side and dozed, snoring softly.

After a peaceful half hour drifted by, Molly stood and stretched, knowing it was time to move closer to the ice cream shop. Warrant provided an excuse to hang out at the park without her looking like a lurker—and he’d also proven to be an excellent conversation starter with people who wouldn’t have given her the time of day if she’d tried approaching them alone—but having the dog along did require some additional planning. Warrant’s top speed was a slow amble, so she had to allow enough time to get him through the park and across the street. Before she could make her move, an all-too-familiar voice made her groan and plop back down in her seat.

“Molly Pax. Just the person I wanted to see.” John Carmondy started rounding the bench but paused to rub Warrant behind the ears. The dog—traitor that he was—thumped his heavy tail against the ground and rolled over in a plea for belly scratches. To Warrant’s obvious delight, John complied.

“John Carmondy. Just the person I didn’t want to see.” If she’d known that he was going to be at the park, she would’ve stopped and talked at Mr. P for a while. Molly sent a quick text and then slid her phone into her pocket. “Why are you here?”

Still crouched to pet Warrant, John grinned up at her. Her dog’s back foot pedaled in the air as John found just the right spot. Molly wasn’t surprised. She was well aware that the man knew exactly how to hit everyone’s buttons. Too bad he seemed to take as much pleasure in pestering her as he did playing with her dog. “Why am I at the park?” he asked. “Why does anyone go to the park on such a beautiful day?”

Across the street, Maryann slipped out of the door next to the ice cream shop and hurried toward her ancient Honda parked on the street. She was leaving early today. Molly watched her go, holding back a growl when she saw Maryann get in her car and pull away from the curb. There went her chance to talk to the bail jumper’s sister.

“You’re such a happy dog, aren’t you?” John cooed. “Not all crabby like your owner.”

Molly rolled her eyes hard enough that she was surprised they didn’t spin right out of her skull. “I’m not crabby.” She hesitated, honesty pushing her to add, “Well, not to most people.”

With a snort, John gave Warrant a final belly scratch before straightening to his full—and significant—height. Crossing over, he took the spot next to her on the bench, and Molly fought the urge to shift to give him more room. He was just so darn huge, with biceps as big as her head and thighs like muscled tree trunks. His ridiculously enormous body took up almost the entire bench. “I’m special, then?”

“Special’s one word for it,” she muttered. Aggravating was another. So were flirty, distracting, and confusing, although she wasn’t about to admit to any of the last three. Forcing her brain back to the job at hand, she snuck another quick glance across the street. Even though Maryann had left, Molly still kept a furtive eye on the shops as she pretended to watch the kids playing on the jungle gym. She hoped that her unwelcome companion would wander away if she ignored him.

“So…who are we staking out today?”

Of course he didn’t wander away. She should’ve known better. John Carmondy was as hard to get rid of as head lice—and twice as irksome. The fact that her pulse did a weird skittery hop of excitement every time she saw him just annoyed her more. Shooting an irritated glance his way, she saw he was gazing across the street at the ice cream shop, the corner of his mouth tucked in the way it did when he was trying to hold back a grin. He wasn’t fooling anyone, though. The deep crease of his dimple gave him away.

Her sigh sounded more like a groan. “Did you want something or do you have some kind of daily annoyance quota you need to fill?”

When he laughed, she couldn’t help but dart another quick look his direction. The harsh lines of his face—the square jaw and dark, intense eyes and bumpy nose that had obviously been the target of a fist or two in the past—were softened by his full lips, the lush sweep of his long eyelashes, and that stupidly appealing dimple. Someone that attractive shouldn’t be so incredibly irritating, but that was John Carmondy in a nutshell: ridiculously pretty and just as ridiculously obnoxious.

“Oh, Pax… Such a jokester.” He continued before she could protest that she was completely serious. “What’s happening in your life? It’s been a while since we last got together, and I want to know everything. That’s what good friends do. They share thoughts and ideas and feelings with each other. So share, my good friend. Whatcha up to?” He turned toward her, slinging his arm over the back of the bench so that his enormous hand rested behind her. Although she tried to ignore it, she couldn’t help but shiver. She tried to tell herself it was her imagination, but it felt like the heat from his arm was burning the skin of her back like a brand.

“First of all,” she started, even as the adult in her brain told her not to encourage him, to just ignore him until he gave up and left, “I saw you only three days ago, when I grabbed that bail jumper from the hardware store.”

“The one I tracked down? The one you stole while I was in the bathroom? That bail jumper?”

Ignoring his—accurate—comment, she continued. “Second, we’re not friends, so there will be no sharing of any kind. Third, please go away.”

She did her best to keep her gaze forward, but it was like her eyes had a mind of their own. In her peripheral vision, she saw him clutch at his chest dramatically. “How can you say we’re not friends? We share all the time. Skips, jokes…we’re even sharing a park bench right now. We’re sharers, Pax. That’s what we do.”

“No, that’s not what we do.” Quit encouraging him, the smart part of her brain warned.

“We should share an office,” he continued, proving she shouldn’t have said anything. “I don’t know why you’re fighting this so hard. We would be incredible together. A dream team, you might say.”

Losing the battle over her self-control, she turned her head to look at him. Instantly, she regretted it when her brain went blank at the sight of him. As annoying as he could be, even she had to admit that he was a beautiful, beautiful man. Tearing her gaze from his amused face, she scowled hard at the ice cream shop across the street, trying to regain her composure—and her ability to speak. “One of us would be dead within a week. The other would be in jail for murder.”

“But think how much fun that first week would be. Totally worth it.” His chuckle was low with a growly undertone that made her shiver. Don’t be stupid, that practical portion of her brain warned. This talk about killing each other and stealing skips and his annoying qualities wasn’t some weird, twisted version of flirting. He might enjoy riling her up, and he was most likely sincere about wanting her to work for him—she and her sisters were very good at what they did, after all—but he wasn’t interested in her like that. He was just a very, very attractive guy who was used to getting what he wanted. When she refused his job offers and stole his skips and responded to his teasing with snark rather than utter adoration, he wanted her even more.

Heat rushed to her belly, even as she hurried to correct the thought. Wants me to work for him, not wants me in any other way.

Wrestling her mind away from that line of thinking before she could get even more flustered, she focused on the playground. A toddler who’d been playing on the base of the slide was swept up by her mom, and the two walked toward the ice cream shop. Even though it was the middle of the day, the place seemed to be doing a brisk business. An older couple entered the shop as a young woman in running clothes peered through the front window, as if tempted by the thought of a cone.

John chuckled and shifted on the bench, drawing her attention once again. “Has it only been three days since we saw each other last? It feels longer, probably because I missed this.” From the corner of her eye, she saw him gesture back and forth between the two of them, and she had to swallow an amused snort. He was persistent; she’d give him that. When she didn’t respond, he turned to follow her gaze, although his arm remained stretched behind her. “So…? Who are you hunting these days?”

And there it was…his true motivation. While she’d been dithering about whether he was actually flirting with her, he’d been focused on stealing her latest job. She gave herself a mental shake. When would she learn that John Carmondy was only interested in what benefited John Carmondy? “Who says I’m working? Why couldn’t I just be walking my dog on a beautiful day?” Even as she spoke, she scolded herself for encouraging him. John was the human manifestation of give an inch, take a mile.

He laughed again in that low, husky way that she refused to think of as sexy. “Because you have that look you get when you’re on the trail of a skip. You’re a bloodhound, Miss Molly Pax, and you don’t lift your nose from the ground until you find your target.”

Sighing in a deeply exaggerated way, she stood, and he immediately followed suit. Of course it was too much to ask that she could lose him that easily. She was going to have to get creative. “As much as I would love to stay and listen to you compare me to a dog, Warrant and I have things to do.”

Although Warrant got to his feet reluctantly, he perked up as she headed toward the dog park and walked willingly at her side.

“When are you going to come work for me, Pax?” John asked, catching up easily.

“Never ever.” She paused and then added for good measure, “Ever.”

“I offer a really good health insurance plan,” he said in the tone of someone dangling candy in front of a toddler. The sad thing was that Molly would’ve been tempted by that…if this were anyone but John. She enjoyed being a bail recovery agent more than she’d ever expected, but the paperwork of owning a business was much less fun. There was no way she’d ever accept a job from John, though. Forget a week—she’d murder him before she completed her first day.

“Good for you.” As they drew closer to the dog run’s gate, Warrant trotted in front of her, eager to get inside. Molly’s phone buzzed in her pocket, and she pulled it out to glance at the text. Showtime. Get over here. She held back a smile at the perfect timing. Sometimes things really did work out beautifully, even when John was sticking his nose where it didn’t belong. “Here. Hold him a second.”

She tossed the end of the leash to John, and he caught it automatically. Turning, she jogged toward the road. In front of the ice cream shop, the runner who’d been peering wistfully through the window now looked to be flirting with a scruffy-looking white guy in his mid-thirties.

As Molly paused by the side of the road to let a car pass, she typed Donald Cooper, ice cream shop on Walnut St. NOW and sent the text before glancing behind her. She couldn’t hold back a smirk. John was trying to follow her, but Warrant had put on the brakes. He’d plopped his fluffy hundred-pound butt down in front of the dog park entrance and braced his front legs, refusing to move. That’s right, baby, she thought gleefully. Earn your expensive dog food.

“Don’t you want to go with your mama?” The distance between them made his voice faint, but Molly could still hear John’s cajoling words. “I bet there’s some bacon over there. Wouldn’t you like some bacon? Mmm…salty and meaty?”

A laugh escaped Molly as she glanced at the text that had popped up on her phone.

On our way from Clayton and Fifth. ETA four minutes.

Four minutes is doable, she thought as she jogged across the road, instantly adopting her game face. “Felicity!” she said, the last syllable rising in a well-practiced squeal as she trotted over to the runner to give her an exuberant hug. “I thought that was you.” Keeping an arm around Felicity’s back, she turned toward the man who was not even trying to hide the way he was checking her out. She gave him a small smile that he returned with a leer.

“Are you two twins?” he asked.

“Just sisters,” they chorused, before bursting into practiced giggles.

Molly kept her expression as dumb and happy as possible. “Who’s this?”

“This,” Felicity said, “is Donnie. I dropped my apartment key without realizing it, and he picked it up for me. The stupid tiny pocket in these shorts is useless.” She flipped the waistband of her shorts over, revealing the small inside pocket and a smooth, bronze patch of hip. Donnie’s gaze locked onto the exposed skin, and his eyes bugged out a little.

“That’s so sweet of you, Donnie,” Molly cooed.

“It’s so sweet.” Felicity tossed her glossy, dark hair over her shoulder, and Donnie’s eyes followed the movement as he swallowed visibly.

“You should buy him some ice cream as a thank-you.” Molly gave him an approving smile, carefully not looking over his shoulder. Surely four minutes had passed by now.

Pouting a little, Felicity said, “I’d love to, but I left all my money at home.”

“I have money.” Molly patted her pocket. “You can pay me back later, Fifi.”

Felicity gave her a quick, covert glare at the hated nickname, but the expression disappeared as quickly as it arrived, replaced by a beaming smile. “Thanks, Moo!”

Hiding her grimace, Molly accepted that as well-deserved payback.

“I should…” Donnie trailed off as he glanced over his shoulder, his whole body going stiff as he saw the approaching sheriff’s deputies. “Shit! Gotta go!”

He bolted.

“Wait!” Molly tried to grab his arm, but he slipped past her outstretched hand.

“Sorry, ladies!” he shouted over his shoulder. “You can buy me that ice cream some other time!”

Sharing an exasperated glance with her sister, Molly took off after him, Felicity close behind. “Way to be stealthy, Deputies!” she called back over her shoulder before focusing on the chase.

“Why do they always run?” Felicity grumbled as they sprinted past a Mexican restaurant followed by a bank, weaving between people who were trying to enjoy the early fall day. Donnie shoved through a group of young teens, ignoring their protests, and disappeared as the boys clustered back together. Molly muttered a breathless curse as she jumped into the road to skirt the group, not rude enough to knock the teens out of the way like Donnie had done.

“Hey!” one of the boys called, puffing out his narrow chest as he trotted after them. “What’s the hurry? Stop and talk to us.”

The others in the group laughed and made oooh noises. Mentally thanking the universe the she only had to deal with sisters, Molly didn’t break stride as she barked out, “Get back to school!”

As Felicity choked back a laugh behind her, the boy deflated and returned to his hooting group. Molly barely noticed his retreat or her sister’s amusement, completely focused on finding which direction Donnie had run. A yelp from a middle-aged man as he stumbled sideways caught her attention, and she dashed in his direction. Spotting the back of Donnie’s blond head, she called out “This way!” and took off after him again.

Up ahead, two moms faced each other, chatting as they leaned on their baby strollers, blocking the sidewalk completely. Molly sucked in a worried breath, concerned that Donnie would plow right through them, sending the babies flying, but he went into the street to go around them. Molly started to do the same, but a garbage truck barreled toward her, and she returned to the safety of the sidewalk. She was going too fast to stop, so she jumped over the front wheels of the strollers.

Behind her, she heard Felicity calling apologies to the furiously shouting moms, but Molly focused on Donnie’s back. He was fast, the slippery doofus.

“Why do they always run?” Felicity asked again as she lengthened her stride to pull level with Molly.

“Because they know they’re going to jail?” Unlike her sister, Molly was already sucking air, and she cursed her love of pastries and hatred of exercise for the hundredth time. “At least…you’re wearing…appropriate clothes.”

“Could be worse,” Felicity said as they chased Donnie across an empty lot. “You could be in a dress and heels, like when we crashed that wedding to bring in the maid of honor.”

“True.”

Donnie darted sideways, grabbing the edge of a recycling bin and pulling it down behind him.

“Someone’s been watching too many movies!” Molly shouted at his back as she dodged around the tipped bin. “Are you going to run…through an open-air market next?”

Except for a frantic glance at them over his shoulder, Donnie didn’t reply. He took a sharp left turn between two large Victorian houses, and Molly skidded in the dry dirt as she tried to follow. Her feet slid out from under her, sending her down to one knee and her hands. Tiny pebbles bit into her palms as she grunted, pushing herself back up to her feet without missing a beat.

The fall had only cost her a second or two, and she took off after Felicity. Determined to bring Donnie in, Molly increased her speed, her legs churning even faster until she started catching up to her sister. They wove through yards, skirting evergreens and even a cupid-bedecked fountain that looked much too tempting. Molly’s lungs heaved with effort, her skin slick with sweat and gritty from salt and dust. She knew she was reaching the end of her endurance, and she pushed herself to go just a little bit faster, knowing that they had to bring down Donnie within the next few seconds, or he would get away.

Her molars clicked together at the thought. There was no way she was going to let Donnie get away. Not after all of this. Her latest burst of speed shot her past Felicity, who glanced at her with a bared-teeth grin. The crazy woman loved foot chases. If Molly had any energy to spare, she would’ve rolled her eyes.

Instead, she focused on the sweat-soaked back of Donnie’s shirt. Digging deep, she slowly closed the gap between them, until they were only ten feet apart. Giving her another hunted glance, he turned abruptly and headed for a six-foot wooden fence enclosing someone’s backyard. Molly and Felicity groaned in unison.

“Not it,” Molly said quickly, just before Felicity said it.

“But I’m in shorts and a sports bra!”

She sighed, her heaving lungs making it come out in an uneven rush. “Fine. I’ll do it.” Although Molly would much rather be the one who gave her sister a leg up rather than dropping into a stranger’s backyard, Felicity had a point. Molly’s T-shirt and capris were slightly more suited to hurdling a fence.

Donnie didn’t slow down as he approached the wooden barricade, using his momentum to haul himself up the side. Driven by the intense desire to avoid doing the same, Molly scraped up the very last of her energy and surged forward, leaping up to latch her arms around his waist. Her weight unbalanced him, and his grip on the top of the boards slipped, sending them both tumbling to the ground.

Molly hit the sunbaked earth first, grunting as the air was driven out of her lungs from the force of the fall. Although she managed to twist slightly so that his entire weight didn’t land on her, he still pinned her right arm and shoulder to the weedy ground. Then Felicity was flipping him over, and Molly was free of his weight.

Rolling over and pushing to her knees, Molly blinked a couple of times to orient herself. “You good?” she asked, and Felicity gave her a fierce grin. Her knee was pressing firmly into Donnie’s spine, and she had a strong grip on his hand, using it to twist his arm behind his back. Donnie was swearing and muttering, his words muffled by the thick thatch of weeds his face was shoved into.

“Never better.”

“I’m not,” Donnie whined. “Who the hell are you?”

With a breathless chuckle, Molly stood up and did a quick inventory, checking for any injuries of her own. Although her shoulder was throbbing where Donnie had landed on it, she knew there was no major damage done. She’d just be bruised and sore for a few days.

The two deputies ran toward them, barely winded, and she raised her eyebrows. “You were slow on purpose, weren’t you?”

“I’m admitting nothing.” Maria winked at her as she and her partner, Darren, took over, allowing Felicity to climb off of Donnie. “Just think of it as a measure of trust in you. We knew you’d run him down. You always get your guy.”

“Besides,” Darren said as he cuffed Donnie’s hands behind his back, “this way you really feel like you earned the payout.”

“I’m fine with not earning it,” Felicity said, and Molly nodded in agreement. “If we’d ended up having to go over that fence, I would’ve been annoyed.”

“I’ll leave the acrobatics to you youngsters,” Maria said, helping Donnie to his feet.

“Youngsters?” Molly exchanged a skeptical look with her sister. “What are you? Thirty?”

“Thirty-two.”

Rolling her eyes, Molly fell in behind the trio as they headed back in the direction of the park. “Okay, Grandma.”

“No one read me my rights.” Donnie’s voice was a winded mix of complaint and triumph. “That’s illegal. I’m going to sue you all.”

“We’re only required to let you know your Miranda rights if you’re being questioned while in police custody,” Maria explained with more patience than Molly could muster after that chase.

“We never have to read you your rights, dummy.” From Felicity’s gleeful tone, she had just about as much sympathy for Donnie as Molly did. “We’re not cops.”

“I can’t believe you played me like that,” Donnie whined from his spot between the two deputies. “That’s why I don’t trust chicks.”

Darren gave him a look. “How were you not suspicious when they started paying attention to you? Those two are way out of your league.”

Molly tuned out Donnie’s indignant sputters and turned to her sister. “Thanks for getting here so fast after I texted. How’d you sneak away without Charlie tagging along?”

Felicity grinned. “I asked her to help me clean the garage. That’s the one thing she hates more than paperwork. There’s no way she’ll go out to check if I’m in there. She’ll be too worried that I’ll make her help.”

“Genius.”

“Yep.”

As they reached the ice cream shop, a shout across the street caught Molly’s attention. When she turned her head and saw John and Warrant, both looking equally stubborn and annoyed, she pressed her lips together to hold back a laugh.

“Talk about genius.” Felicity sounded just as amused as Molly felt. “You finally figured out a way to ditch Carmondy. Nice one, Molls.”

“Thanks. I just wish he’d give up on following me around and chase his own skips.”

Her sister’s eyebrows bobbed up and down comically. “I’ve told you about a thousand times why he’s really always trailing after you.”

“Not that again.” Molly groaned. This was a regular joke that Felicity—all of her sisters, actually—teased her with, but it was as far from reality as it could possibly be. “He wants me to work for him. Since I keep refusing, he wants to steal my skips out from under me. That’s all there is to it.”

“He’s in loooove,” Felicity cooed, and Molly jabbed her sister in the side with her elbow. “How have you not realized this? He basically has cartoon hearts where his pupils should be whenever he looks at you.”

“Hush.” Even though Molly knew it wasn’t true and that her sister was just trying to get a rise out of her, the running joke still made her squirm…mainly because the teeniest, tiniest, stupidest part of her felt a ridiculous surge of hope.

Although Felicity smirked at her, she did fall silent, to Molly’s relief.

“Would you mind finishing up with Maria and Darren?” Molly asked. “I need to retrieve our dog.”

“Sure.” Felicity jogged to catch up with the deputies, who were ushering Donnie around the corner to where they must’ve parked their squad car.

“You’re my favorite sister!” Molly called after Felicity before crossing the street. Her pace slowed as she neared John and Warrant, their twin accusing stares making her feel a bit guilty, even as she had to bite back a grin.

“Thank you for holding him,” she said, taking the leash. “I just had to take care of something.”

Instead of yelling about getting ditched, however, John’s attention ran over her grass-and-dirt-stained clothes and settled on the scrape on her forearm. His eyes narrowed. “What happened?”

She flapped her hand to dismiss his concern. “I just didn’t feel like climbing over a fence today.”

“That makes no sense.” He eyed her carefully, as if searching for other injuries. “You okay?”

“Of course. All in a day’s work.” She couldn’t help smiling at him. No matter how aggravating John Carmondy was, it was kind of nice having someone worry about her.

She quickly nipped that thought in the bud. If she allowed herself to get mushy where John was concerned, he’d start stealing jobs from her left and right. Even worse, if she didn’t stay on her guard around him, she’d end up agreeing to work for or with him, and one of them would surely end up dead in short order. It was important for their continued safety that she resist any urge to soften toward her biggest rival.

“You are hurt, aren’t you?” His voice was full of concern as he took a half step closer, as though ready to administer first aid. Molly didn’t find the idea of John’s big hands on her as repugnant as she should have. In fact, the thought of him taking care of her, of letting her lean against his broad chest as he checked her scrapes and bruises was almost…nice.

That thought brought her back to reality, and she turned sharply away, tossing him a muttered “bye.” That was why it was important to not let Felicity’s insinuations take root in her brain. Molly had to be careful, since she had a bad habit of playing the sucker for a pair of puppy dog eyes and a sob story. Although she’d been forced to develop a hard shell when she and her sisters started their bail recovery business, there was nothing she could do about her soft, marshmallowy center. She was pretty much stuck with that.

“Remember,” she muttered as she strode toward the dog park, Warrant happily trundling along at her side now that he was finally, finally getting his way, “that way leads to death or prison.”

“What?”

She turned her head to see that John had tagged along. His scowl had softened, and a corner of his mouth was even threatening to twitch upward again. “I was talking to Warrant.”

“About death and prison?”

“He’s a good listener.”

“I’m sure he is.” John matched his pace to hers, as if they were a couple taking their dog for a walk. Molly tried to speed up, but his long legs easily kept pace, and before long she was the one getting sweaty and breathless.

Slowing down again, she gave him an exasperated look. Since she had four younger sisters—and a mom who acted more like a kid than any of her offspring ever had—Molly knew her glare was on-point. “Why are you still here?”

For some strange reason, that question banished the last of his scowl, and he grinned sunnily at her. There was no sign he’d ever been annoyed or concerned. “It’s a beautiful day. Why wouldn’t I want to spend it in the park?”

“This place is pretty big.” She didn’t believe for a second that he was following her around for the fun of it. John Carmondy wanted something from her. “Can’t you spend this beautiful day in another part of it? One that’s away?” She gestured in a broad circle, encompassing the entire park.

He chuckled. It was like he was incapable of being offended. “But it’s nicest right here.”

“It smells like dog poop right here.” They reached the gate again, and she paused, wanting to chase John off before they entered the run. It was one thing for him to follow her around the park, but standing together, watching Warrant play, laughing over the dogs’ antics…it all felt too dangerously intimate for her comfort. John wasn’t her boyfriend. He wasn’t even a friend. He was a rival and a skip-stealer, and Molly knew it was ill-advised to let him into the dog park with her. There was no way to watch some big hulk of a guy play with puppies and not turn to mush inside.

“All I smell is flowers.” His grin widened, and Molly let her head fall back as she mentally swore at the sky.

“Fine.” She opened the gate and followed Warrant through it. “But there will be no laughing. And no playing with puppies.”

“O…kay?” He sounded like he was ready to disobey the first rule already.

“In fact, there will be no cute behavior whatsoever. Understand?” Unclipping Warrant’s leash, she let him into the main part of the run. He immediately galumphed over to make friends with an overweight black Lab.

“Not really?”

She glanced at his bemused face and quickly turned away. She could already tell that this wasn’t going to end well. There was going to be cuteness, and she was going to get mushy, and it was all going to end with someone’s death.

He smiled, flashing that aggravatingly adorable dimple as he settled in next to her, and she had to admit…it wouldn’t be the worst way to go.