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There was no way he could convince Maura Kingsley—or her father—that he could make her happy.
So. He didn’t have much choice now but to get through the next few minutes and go on with his life.
“I guess I’m not surprised to be treated like a noaccount by you, Stratton, or anyone who’s acquainted with my past,” Ash drawled, getting a bit of his own back when the other man’s eyes widened in anger at the use of his first name by Rumor’s bad seed.
He shifted the fawn to the side, hiking the little guy on one hip and tucking him under his arm, thoroughly aware of how ludicrous he must look standing there holding Bambi. “Rest assured, though, that you’ve got nothing to worry about when it comes to compromising your daughter here. There’s no reason for either of us to have anything to do with each other from here on out.”
Maura’s face filled with confusion. “But, Ash, you just said you wanted for us to—”
“I said a lot of things, Maura,” he cut her off. He couldn’t stand for Stratton to hear his most private of desires. “But you’ll remember the one I kept repeating was that I couldn’t make you any guarantees.”
He saw the shock in her eyes at his harsh tone, and he hated himself for it. But it was best to make this quick and final. She’d thank him some day.
“We both’ve got to live in the same town, and contrary to what your dad here is thinkin’, I don’t want any trouble,” Ash went on. “Sure, I’m still on parole for a few more months, but I paid my dues and now I’m back to make amends to family and build a respectable life for myself. I don’t want any trouble,” he repeated, and hoped he didn’t sound as desperate to Maura and her father as he did to himself. “And from my point of view, you’re exactly that.”
He steeled himself against the hurt and confusion he saw in her eyes. He couldn’t let it get to him, let her get to him. It was too much of a risk, and he’d risked enough already. And lost.
Not trusting himself to utter another word, Ash gave a short nod in lieu of goodbye and walked away, the little fawn still tucked under one arm.
Maura turned on her father like a fury.
“How could you, Dad?” she exclaimed. “Ash saved my life!”
He had the grace to look abashed. “Fine. I owe him my eternal thanks for that. But that doesn’t mean you need to.”
He actually shook his index finger at her. “And you know what I mean. I don’t need a damned crystal ball to know what happened in that cave last night. I don’t care if he did snatch you from the jaws of death, he’s no gentleman to take advantage of you that way.”
Maura set her hands on her hips. “I can’t believe you! I wasn’t exactly coerced, you know.”
At her implication, Stratton looked about to burst a blood vessel, his face was so red. Still, he didn’t continue his tirade.
Maura sighed. Her father’s lung cancer had been in remission for five years, but she didn’t need to do anything to aggravate him right back into it. Why, though, was he treating her as if she were a teenager who got picked up by the sheriff for parking out by Lake Monet?
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