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Page 204

| She would, indeed, make the ultimate sacrifice for him. |

| She would allow herself to trust him! |

| Ashton leaned up on an elbow. "Oh?" he said, eyes wide. "You bought something for me? What?" |

| Sasha lowered her eyelashes. "I didn't say I bought anything," she said, slowly looking up at him again. "I just said that I found something." |

| "Oh, you didn't buy it because you worried about how much it cost?" Ashton said, scooting over to sit beside Sasha. He snaked an arm around her waist, glad that she did not draw away from him. |

| She looked innocently up at him, her gaze settling on the scar. "No, that was not the reason I chose not to buy it," she murmured. "It was something I had second thoughts about. I thought that perhaps it might not be something you'd want." |

| "And that was?" he persisted. |

| "A pen knife," she blurted out, looking quickly away from him again. "II thought that perhaps you might detest all forms of knives. Surely that is how you were scarredby someone's knife." |

| Ashton's hand went automatically to his scar. He always forgot about it until there was someone to remind him. Sasha's reminder was like a splash of cold water on his face. He knew that she must be filled with many questions but was glad that she, thus far, had refrained from pouncing on him with them. |

| "A pen knife would have been a nice gift," he said, trying to smooth over the awkwardness of the moment. "Thank you for thinking of me." |

| "You would have wanted it?" Sasha asked, her |

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