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Page 28

| Sasha said, casting Ashton a look of sympathy. "You asked him to leave and he didn't. Are you going to have him thrown out?" |

| Not wanting to stir up any more trouble with Stanford tonight, and realizing the risks he would be taking, Ashton saw no choice but to ignore the man. "Naw, I don't think so," he said, leaning away from the wall. He started back toward the bar. "I'll just close the place down for a while. That way I'll get no arguments from anyone in particular." |

| Sasha scampered after him, the skirt of her dress whirling around her legs. "Ashton, if you close down the pub, we'll lose out on too many wages," she argued. She grabbed him by the arm, stopping him. She looked up into his eyes. "Ashton, it's not just because he's a confidence man that you don't like him. What else? You've never let any man intimidate you. You've never hesitated for a moment to throw a troublemaker out of your pub. Now you're going out of your way to keep from doing it." She paused, her heart pounding. "Why, Ashton? What aren't you telling me?" |

| Ashton glowered down at her, his pulse racing, aware that he had let his guard down too much tonight. As astute as Sasha was, she had picked up on too much that he had kept hidden from her. |

| His futuretheir futuremight be in jeopardy because of it. |

| It was best to ignore her implorings and hope that she would soon forget her questionsand Stanford Sidwell too. |

| Yet, would Stanford let her forget him? |

| Not likely! |

| Setting his lips tightly, Ashton moved away from |

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