not the kind of man she wanted a bit of fun with, no matter what Daniela thought.
‘No, cara,’ he said and casually dropped the worksheet onto her desk and then stepped away. When he got to the door, he turned again and smiled, or at least she thought he did, but his unruly beard was making that difficult to decipher. ‘I enjoy the challenge of any woman, no matter her nationality.’
Sadie dragged in a sharp breath, hardly able to believe the audacity of the man. If he thought she would be his next challenge, then he’d got it all wrong. She went to the window and looked down at him as he returned to the workshop floor and, to her horror, he turned and blew her a kiss, as if she was a done deal.
Angrily, she turned on Daniela. ‘If you think I’m having a bit of fun with that, then you are so far off the mark it’s not true.’
‘I’m not suggesting marriage.’ Daniela grinned at her. ‘Just a bit of fun.’
‘No, absolutely no. I have Leo to think about.’
Sadie returned to her desk and tried hard to focus on the figures before her. Whoever that man was, in one short morning he’d undone all she’d achieved over the last three years since Leo’s birth. He’d brought Antonio Di Marcello right back into the centre of her mind and for that reason alone she wanted nothing at all to do with Toni Adessi.
* * *
Antonio poured all his annoyance into the next job, unable to believe he’d got away with that little encounter. As he’d entered the office he was sure Sadie had recognised him. Her sexy green eyes, rimmed with the darkest of greens, had held suspicion and he’d sent up a silent prayer of thanks that he’d taken Sebastien’s advice and adopted some sort of disguise.
She might be the one woman he still wanted, but his challenge had to come first. There was no way he was going to jeopardise the success of his, Stavros’s and Alejandro’s challenge just for a woman. She would, after all, still be here in two weeks. He could have his fun before resuming his identity as Antonio Di Marcello.
Several hours later, after helping with an engine replacement and resisting the urge to take control and tell the older mechanic how to do it, Antonio looked up to see Sadie, jacket over her arm and bag on her shoulder, walking towards the large main door of the garage.
She looked amazing, the sundress accentuating her figure. She was more beautiful than the image in his memory, the one which haunted him like an unsettled spirit of what could have been. She’d been nineteen the weekend they’d shared those passionate hours, but now, four years later, she looked more desirable, sexier—and it was killing him that he couldn’t assume his identity and continue where they’d left off. After all, he no longer had family duty and honour hanging over him. He would never bend to the manipulations of his parents again.
He’d been Sadie’s first lover—a fact he’d told himself was the reason why he hadn’t been able to shake off the memory of those two nights—and now he was here, undercover and completely unable to do anything to let Sadie know who he was. If she discovered the truth before his two weeks were up, he would lose his challenge. He’d let them all down and prove Sebastien right, prove they couldn’t last two weeks without their fortunes and everything that went with it. Even in the face of such a personal challenge, that scenario was unthinkable.
No. Sadie Parker would have to wait until Antonio was back in play. But for now Toni Adessi could indulge in a little flirtatious mischief. Test the water.
‘Going somewhere nice?’ he goaded and smiled smugly as she turned to look at him, a grimace of distaste on her face. His rough and ready manner certainly helped to keep in character, maintaining the disguise.
‘Yes, I am. To collect my son from the nursery.’
She had a child?
The news crashed into him. His Sadie and another man? The idea didn’t sit comfortably at all. But what right did he have to feel aggrieved when he’d ended the affair before it had even begun? He’d known all along he had no option but to make the marriage that was expected of him, the duty his family had always pressed on him. He hadn’t foreseen any problems, not when he and Eloisa had known each other since childhood, although for some reason he’d never thought of her as more than a friend. His mother and Eloisa, however, had been so close, already like mother and daughter, and he too had wanted the best for the business as well as the family name. What could go wrong, he’d thought, when he knew he didn’t want to indulge in the elusive emotion of love?
His childhood had been barren and loveless, so a marriage based on friendship for duty hadn’t seemed wrong. It had been the perfect way to avoid the dire consequences he’d seen when marriages were made out of love and then fell apart, often played out on the stage of the media, so he’d eventually agreed. He’d wanted none of that.
That agreement to make the marriage had meant that after just one weekend he’d had to set Sadie free and it appeared she’d done exactly what he’d hoped she would do—move on and find someone new. So why did it spike at him so cruelly?
He glanced down at her left hand. No ring. ‘And what is your son’s name?’
‘Leo,’ she said flatly, but still she didn’t walk away and again he wondered if she recognised him. ‘Not that it’s any of your business.’
‘His father must be very proud,’ he said, needing to know more about the man who’d taken his place in Sadie’s life, the man she’d settled down with, the one who’d been more than the passionate weekend affair they had shared.
‘I’m a single mother.’
Her words charged at him like a high-speed car. She hadn’t found the long-term happiness they’d glimpsed that weekend—just as he hadn’t when he’d married Eloisa.
Her gaze met his and he briefly forgot all about the challenge, the need to be a different man. All he could think about was how another man had left her in such a situation. He never had anything to do with a woman who had a commitment such as a child, but the need to protect Sadie, to look after her and her child was so strong it made any other thought temporarily impossible, as did the desire to give the other man a stern talking-to.
‘I’m finished here,’ he said as he wiped his grease-smeared hands on a cloth, forgetting to deepen his accent and become the brash man he’d invented that morning to complete his disguise. ‘Can I walk you somewhere?’
She looked at him and he knew he’d let the façade of brusqueness and bravado slip too low. He’d spoken as he would normally and he could almost see the questions racing across her face.
‘There’s no need,’ she said, but still she didn’t turn away. Was she tormenting him?
‘I am new to the city,’ he said, laying on the charm thickly and resuming his cover. ‘A pretty woman by my side would be a good end to the day, no?’
‘I don’t have far to go,’ she said, this time turning from him, but he wasn’t about to allow her to slip away so easily and he looked over at his manager for the go-ahead to leave, something he was completely unused to doing. Nobody ruled Antonio Di Marcello. Not any more.
‘Then I will walk with you as far as you go.’
Sadie walked out of the garage without accepting his offer and onto the bustle of the street. He tossed the cloth away and quickly followed her, eventually falling into step
