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 involved in 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 park’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 midthirties.