“Yeah, Irish Wolfhounds get pretty big. Pancake is actually on the smaller side, believe it or not.”

“I choose not,” Harmony quipped. Why would anyone want a pet that could so easily overpower them? At least her loaner dog was small and easy to carry around if needed.

A tall, slender man spotted them from across the park and came jogging over. “Sorry about him!” he called. “He always loves it when he gets a chance to play with little dogs. He didn’t slime you, did he?”

“Hi, Nolan. No, we’re fine. It’s good to see you and Pancake,” Abigail answered for the both of them.

Harmony quietly studied the man standing before her. She vaguely remembered the pipsqueak two years behind her in school who was also called Nolan, but this fellow looked nothing like him at all. He was at least six foot five with long, lean limbs, sandy blond hair, and a smattering of freckles splashed across his thin nose. The thing that made him truly handsome, though, was his shining green eyes, which studied her with amusement.

“Have we met?” he asked, offering her an ingratiating smile. “I feel like I’d remember meeting someone as breathtaking as you.”

Oh, brother. Harmony had been hit on plenty of times. Men liked her curvy figure and long, dark hair that fell halfway down her back in tight waves. Pickup lines that included breathtaking, however, usually came from men far older than Nolan. Honestly, this smooth-talker was nowhere near as impressive as his hulking beast of a dog.

“That depends,” she answered cautiously. “Are you Nolan Murphy?”

His slow grin seemed oversized for his face. “None other. It seems my reputation proceeds me, then.”

“Yeah, it’s not that.” She looked away to hide a smirk. It was a special pleasure of hers to keep male egos in check. “We went to school together.”

“You remember Harmony King, don’t you?” Abigail prompted.

Harmony saw the exact moment recognition flashed in Nolan’s emerald eyes. “Oh, you were the girl—”

“Without a home, yeah. That’s me. Hi.” It always sounded worse coming from someone else’s mouth, which is why Harmony chose to beat him to the punch instead. From pickup lines to punch lines, it turned out this would be a very memorable trip to the dog park, after all.

Nolan frowned and twisted his hand in his dog’s shaggy fur. “That’s not what I was going to say, but forget it. Who cares about the past when we all live in the present?” He winked at them, and Abigail fell apart in friendly laughter.

Harmony remained silent. The longer this conversation continued on, the more awkward she felt. Why wouldn’t Nolan just take his dog and go back to his side of the park already?

“I haven’t seen you in ages,” Nolan told her, smiling once more. “Are you newly back in town?”

“Very newly,” Abigail answered for her.

“Well, welcome back,” he continued as if it were perfectly normal for someone else to be carrying on Harmony’s side of the conversation when she was standing right there herself. “Maybe I can take you out some time, show you how things have changed?”