Rekindled

He pushed the hat back on his forehead, trying to see who was behind the wheel. Dread filled his stomach as he recognised the brunette curls bouncing around the face that had haunted him for years. Sarah Mackenzie. It had been almost ten years since he had last seen her. Ten years of trying to forget the women who was stopping in front of him right now. He wondered if she had seen him yet. Did he have time to run and hide so she would just drive past? He would rather walk all the way back to the farmhouse in the morning heat before he'd get into a vehicle Sarah Mackenzie. Why the last time they were alone together, well, he just couldn't think about it. She slowed down and stopped beside him on the dirt, removing any hope he had of escaping unnoticed. “Well Connor Johnson.” She said in her soft sing song voice as she pushed the button to wind down the electric window. “Sarah Mackenzie.” He drawled in response, lifting a hand to touch the brim of his battered hat, careful not to show just how much her sudden appearance affected him. Sarah took in the man standing outside the truck. The last ten years had been good to him, very, very good. He had gotten incredibly sexy since the last time she had seen him. Scrawny arms had turned into large muscular arms, deeply tanned with a light sprinkling of golden hair adding masculinity. His hat sat low on his head shadowing his eyes which she was sure were throwing daggers at her. The long thin legs she remembered were encased in denim which faded across the fronts of firm thighs. His mouth was closed, lips tight, the makings of a beard stubbled over his face adding to his sex appeal. Everything about his stance showed dislike, he was not happy to see her, but it didn't hide the fact that he was an incredibly good looking man. She stared at the dirt road in front of her. They were at about the half-way point between their neighbouring farms and town. She glanced at the skies above. It wouldn't take long until it would be another sweltering hot summer's day. Taking a deep breath she asked, “Want a ride into town?” He didn't reply. Against his better judgement he opened the truck door and hoisted his body into the passenger seat. Was it the heat of summer or the heat of this man she could feel as he sat in the seat, invading the small space with his incredibly masculine body? His scent of man and sweat with a hint of aftershave filled the space sending her senses wild. How could she still react this way with him? He hated her! She had done her best to forget all about him over the last ten years. The last she had been told about him was he had married and moved interstate with the so called love of his life expecting his baby. She hadn't forgotten about him until she had found Jeremy. Her relationship with Jeremy had moved quickly, going from dating him to living together within only a couple of months. She was so blinded by the man who had done everything to perfection that she had forgotten about the other man who had once held her heart captive, and who was now causing it to race. Shaking those thoughts out of her head she asked, “Are you here for a holiday?” Connor stared at her profile, while she held onto the wheel with her long delicate fingers, fingers that used to drive him crazy as she would trail them up and down his back. “Nope.” He answered doing his best to appear nonchalant. She made no comment and concentrated on the road. It was a bit late in the morning for the kangaroos to be close by the road but you always had to be alert. “What about you?” he retorted, turning his gaze out the window acting as though he didn't really care, “Are you here for a holiday?” She quickly glanced at the back of his head and gave him the same response he had given her. “Nope” He turned his head and their gazes locked. His deep brown eyes bore into her green ones. Heat radiated between them both, shocking them with the intensity with which it flowed. The world around them disappeared. In that split second of time everything that they had shared between them in the past was once again in the present. She drove over a pot hole in the dirt road, jarring Sarah's thoughts back to what she was meant to be doing and she looked straight ahead once again. “I moved here yesterday.” She told him after a moment's silence. “You moved here?” he asked. “Elsie didn't say anything about that last week.” “She didn't know last week,” Sarah explained, “It was a very quick decision.” Connor didn't make a comment. Although her sudden appearance back into his life sparked a huge amount of interest within, he wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of seeing that interest. His life had changed dramatically since he had last seen her, and most of that change was thanks to his last meeting with the stunning beautiful Sarah Mackenzie. Giving his complete attention to watching the properties pass by from the passenger seat window, he tried his damnest not to let the woman sitting next to him sense how she was sending his blood racing. While Sarah, on the other side of the Ute, was doing the same thing.