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Page 25

| Ashton sucked in a trembling, angry breath of air. He took a step forward, Lightning jerking at the leash and snarling close to Stanford's feet. |

| But Stanford was not to be dissuaded by the threats of a dingo pupor an Ashton York. He stood his ground, oblivious of anything or anyone but Sasha. |

| Sasha was astounded by the man's persistence and knew that all she had to do to stop it was to turn and walk away. But there was something about the man and the strained behavior between him and Ashton that made her stay. Her lips parted when the man began to spin a tale that soon caught her in its spell. |

| "My dear Sasha, have you ever heard the tale of the seaside dairies where mermaids come up to be milked every morning?" Stanford said smoothly, his eyes twinkling. |

| "My word, no I haven't," Sasha said, always susceptible to fantastic fables. "Mermaids? Are there truly mermaids? Can they actually be milked?" |

| Ashton was at the limit of his patience. He grabbed Sasha's elbow and jerked her away from Stanford, walking her and Lightning toward the bar. "For God's sake, Sasha, don't you know when someone is pulling your leg?" he said angrily. "How can you be so naive as to believe anything that son of a bitch says?" |

| "He sounded so sincere," Sasha said, looking over her shoulder as the man continued to watch her with his sly grin. "And the storythe beginning of the storywas so beautiful. I could just envision a beautiful mermaid. . . ." |

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