Sarah Laker

20 - The Heat

She hadn't really considered whether Luke would be happy to help. Well, of course he had to be, she knew he could never refuse a request from her. At least, that's what she'd always suspected.

He was finishing up in the warehouse at the back of the shop's storeroom, when he saw her waiting for him outside the sliding double doors.

She blew out a halo of cigarette smoke, freeing it to flutter off with the breeze. She looked on as he shouted his goodbyes to the guys in the warehouse, then strode over to her. His slow, confident walk oozing sex appeal. Making her throat tighten and her breathing quicken. Did he have any idea of the effect he had on her?

"What's all this about then? Smoking on a Monday? That's new for you, Sarah."

"You have no idea." Sarah stubbed out the cigarette under her heel. She smoothed back an irritating strand of hair and reached for Luke's hand. He grasped back, strong and secure. "Do you mind walking me to the carpark? I'll give you a lift back to where you left yours."

Luke smiled. "Deal."

They set off together, for a while in a comfortable silence. Sarah broke the spell first.

"I saw Duncan at lunch."

"Oh, yes?" Luke focused on the pavement, making it difficult for her to read him.

"He said we should move in together."

"Really, that's a new one. How did he come up with that idea?" His fingers tightened their grip on her hand.

Sarah didn't know if she was trying to force a reaction out of Luke or get the answer she hoped for. It came as a surprise to her to admit that this was what she really wanted after all. "I've been offered the shop. I think I'm going to have to sell the farm."

"What?" Luke stopped dead in his tracks and pulled Sarah around to face him. "You can't be serious? That farm is your life. It's your future too. Listen, if you need more help, land-wise, money-wise, all you have to do is ask. We're here for you. I'm here for you."

Sarah twisted her feet, rolling on the sides of her boots. What answer did she expect to get? What was it that she wanted him to say, and how would she even recognise it if he did say it? She felt like giving up.

"Just keep walking, Luke."

They continued in peace until they reached her car. The gloomy, concrete multistorey echoed with screeches of voices and tyres. Sarah played with her car keys, unwilling to get in.

Luke sighed and pulled at his beard. Was he that upset by Duncan's proposal? When he did finally talk, she didn't much care for the tone of his voice. It was so unlike him.

"Bastard couldn't wait a second to try and jump in there! Why the hell can't he just leave things the way they are? There's no way I'm going to let him get away with it." He then took a deep breath and spoke in a more rational way. "Obviously I can't tell you what you should do, but I wish you'd think about it carefully."

Sarah threw her cigarette to the ground and crushed it out under the heel of her boot. "Is there really any other option? I mean, come on, can you honestly imagine me setting up the farm again? Do you picture me delivering lambs and collecting eggs for the rest of my days? 'Cause I'm not sure that I can."

That was the problem. She knew he could see her doing exactly that. A far worse realisation hit her that right there and then she could also see herself doing it alongside him.

"You're more capable than you know, Sarah."

Luke's soft, honest tone shot through Sarah's defenses. His dark eyes deepened, intense and unwavering. She shivered under his gaze, feeling like a school girl once again.