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gender. She suspected that he hadn’t exactly been doing that, though. But
his outburst had been so absurd.
    Maybe
she wouldn’t have been so sarcastic with him if she hadn’t known very well that
he knew exactly what her gender was. He’d taken a good, long look at her when
she’d first walked into the station. She was accustomed to men looking at her.
They’d done it all her adult life. Generally, she ignored them. But Jack Hall
wasn’t the sort of man that was easy to overlook, and that was probably the
crux of the problem. It was the first time in longer than she cared to remember
that a man’s attention had felt good. Worse, she’d felt some kind of flutter in
the pit of her stomach in response to his cool, blue gaze. He stood well over
six feet tall and had the build of an athlete. She imagined that he could carry
his own weight on the ranch if he wanted to. Of course she also doubted that
he’d have the foggiest idea what working a ranch entailed. He had “city”
written all over him. From his crinkled designer suit to his mussed salon
haircut. He was a city boy through and through. No doubt he’d get himself hurt
within twenty-four hours of stepping into the woods. Then again, something in
his gaze suggested that he wasn’t all fluff. Maybe he wouldn’t be such a
problem after all. She turned to the door. Agent Jack Hall and his partner had
no doubt had long enough to consider how badly they wanted their fugitive. With
any luck at all, they would both be willing to at least listen to her. She
didn’t doubt that getting them to tow the line would be difficult to say the
least, but as long as they weren’t complete idiots she figured they’d come
around. They’d have to if they wanted her help.
    Jack
lifted his fist to rap on the bathroom door. He was just swinging at it when it
suddenly swung open. He came within a hair’s breadth of smacking the woman he’d
come to find in the face. He caught himself just in time and jerked his hand
back before the dog at her side could misunderstand the situation. She blinked
in shock for a moment, then arched a brow at him as she cocked her head to the
side.
    “Trying
to knock some sense into me, Agent Hall?”
    Jack
frowned. “I’m sorry. I was going to knock on the door and it opened before I
could.”
    Casey
shot him a mildly teasing look. “You’re just having one really bad day, aren’t
you?” She held up a hand to silence him when he opened his mouth to answer.
“Never mind. I was only joking. I figure we got off to such a bad start it
can’t possibly get any worse.”
    Jack snapped
his mouth shut. She was joking? He expected her to be siccing that dog of hers
on him. He shot her a frown because he wasn’t quite sure how to respond. She
gave him an expectant look.
    “I’m
assuming you came here looking for me. Was there something you wanted?”
    Yes,
that was it. He was there to apologize to her. He cleared his throat. “Uh, yes.
I wanted to apologize for both my words and my behavior. I could offer a number
of excuses, but I won’t. Suffice it to say that I crossed the line and I was wrong.
Please accept my sincere apology.”
    Casey
almost smiled at the dire expression on his face. He was so sincere. It was
incredibly tempting to tease him about it. She reined in that urge, though.
Teasing him might be construed as flirting. Heck, it would be flirting. That
was one line she didn’t want to cross. So she gave him as neutral a look as she
could manage as she nodded.
    “I
appreciate your apology. I’m certain that we both misunderstood one another.
This is a tense situation for everyone concerned. A few frayed nerves are to be
expected. Why don’t we return to Stan’s office and talk this thing through a
little more rationally?”
    Jack
wasn’t sure why he felt like her controlled expression and tone was contrived.
The only thing he did know was that she was letting him off easy. She could
have made him beg. She could even have made