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were down and she was not lashing out at him.
    “I understand,” she said firmly. “I let our walk lead to casual conversation and we aren’t that way.  My mistake for assuming we had reached a threshold and finally are attempting to be friendly.”
    Her words made him feel like a heel.  They’d been at each other’s throats, and she did break the ice by talking about something other than her situation. “You aren’t assuming that, Carla. I want you to talk to me. I’m not a bad guy, really.”
    “I’m not either.  I’m a very friendly person, and I have no enemies,” she said picking a fresh pine cone from the branch of a low hanging pine tree.  She sniffed it. “You and I got off on a bad foot.  Maybe we should start over.”  She stuck out her hand. “Hi, my name is Carla Parker.”
    Zach released an invisible irritated sigh.  Was this woman for real or bipolar?  Then he recalled their initial meeting.  She entered the bus shelter all bubbly and with a friendly greeting while he snubbed her.  He’d forced her to be nasty because he had been.  He looked at her small hand extended to him, waiting for a response.  “Ya know, I’ve been sneezing in my hands and don’t want to pass on my germs.”
    Carla withdrew her hand.  Her smile disappeared, taking that sexy dimple with it.  She didn’t seem to believe the excuse he gave for not returning her gesture of kindness.  The afternoon sun bled through the trees and filtered across her face casting a glow on her.  Her brown eyes twinkled under the brightness.  He was good at his job and read people very well.  He had misjudged Carla. There were no stress lines around her mouth or on her forehead. Her facial skin was smooth and free of blemishes.  She didn’t appear to need any makeup at all.  She had a natural beauty that shouldn’t be covered by layers of makeup.
    She flushed and shielded her eyes from the sun as they turned around to retake the same steps back to the cabin. “No problem, Agent Murphy. No problem at all.”
    His lips twitched. Damn, I did it again .
    Back at the cabin Carla went straight to her bedroom.  He heard the silent close of the door which meant he wouldn’t see much of her for the rest of the night.  He’d offended her again by not shaking her hand. He cursed himself as he walked to the bathroom.  Turning on the faucet to fill the tub, he undressed. He braced his arms on the sink and looked at his reflection in the mirror.  He’d blown the chance to put her at ease and make her feel comfortable with him.  He should’ve shaken her hand and not worried about passing any germs.
    Zach got in the tub resting his back against the curve.  Every bone in his body ached. His job was physical.  He didn’t have the privilege of wearing a suit and tie to work to sit behind a desk on a computer.  He was the type of agent that hunted, stalked and trapped his targets.  He’d been shot, stabbed and in more fistfights than he cared to admit or could count. He’d even slept with the enemy to get what he needed from them.  He blamed that too on why he felt no emotions or a need to be connected to anyone.
    He could not think of one woman that would want a steady relationship with him knowing he would drop his pants to sleep with a woman if it meant getting what he needed.  It was another part of his job that he had to do. He didn’t use sex often, but he has and more than once with the results leading to the suspects arrest.  He also felt the sting from the slaps across his face and received death threats from the women he’d used.  If he allowed his heart to play a part in any of it, he’d have to believe they’d follow through with those death threats. Since he kept his feelings out of it, he was able to shrug it off and move on to the next assignment.
    Zach rubbed the bar soap between his hands working up a lather before scrubbing his hair.  Dipping below the water he rinsed his hair and repeated the