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guilty of projecting Antonio Di Marcello’s flaws onto the new mechanic, but it was hard not to when he had the same mannerisms as the man who had not only abandoned her to marry another woman, one far more suitable for his position in life, but had ignored the fact that their weekend affair had made him a father.
No, it couldn’t be Antonio, she reassured herself as she watched the mechanic work. He would never lower himself to the standard of an ordinary working man, just as he would never marry an ordinary girl. A fact his mother had made painfully clear.
‘Whatever it was that Leo’s father did to you, you have to forget it and move on. Otherwise you will never find love and romance.’ Daniela’s warning echoed her mother’s and she knew they were both right. She’d even thought she might be able to do that, thought she was beginning to move on from the one weekend which had forced her life down an unexpected path. She’d thought she was finally ready to give up hoping Antonio Di Marcello would want to know his son—until the new mechanic had shown up, reminding her, tearing open old wounds once more.
‘Leo and I are fine as we are.’ Sadie couldn’t keep the impatient snap from her voice. She didn’t appreciate being made to remember what it had been like to carry Antonio’s child knowing he’d left her and married another woman. She’d tried to let him know he was to be a father, had sent messages to the big imposing house she’d discovered belonged to his family. She’d taken the dressing-down from his mother, who had looked at her with nothing but stony silence, but had heard nothing from Antonio.
‘Well, it won’t hurt to have a bit of fun,’ Daniela goaded her. ‘Flirt a little, enjoy yourself. You’re only twenty-three and far too young to give up on fun—or men.’
‘I’ll do no such thing.’
‘You will and here’s your perfect chance. He’s coming up.’ Daniela giggled mischievously.
To Sadie’s horror, Daniela turned and left just as the door to the workshop floor opened. Her breath caught in her throat as she looked at the new mechanic, trying to remember what Daniela had said his name was.
The way he’d tied the top half of his overalls at his waist with the sleeves, leaving him in only a white vest T-shirt, showcasing amazingly toned and tanned arms, was so distracting she blushed. Or was it the memories of two hot sultry nights this man had dragged from her past—a past which belonged to a very different Sadie?
‘What can I do for you?’ she said officiously, forgetting her beginner’s Italian and reverting to her native English. Since when had a man muddled her so much she couldn’t think straight? The reply which resounded round her head was instant. Not since Antonio Di Marcello.
‘You are English?’ The heavily accented voice was so gruff and completely unlike Antonio’s she relaxed—just a little. This man might look similar to the father of her child and had certainly stirred the past, bringing it back to the surface, but, with an unshaven face and unkempt hair breaking out beneath his cap, he could never be Antonio.
Antonio had always been immaculate. Even in that short weekend, she’d witnessed his attention to detail crossing from business into his personal life and she knew without a doubt that Antonio would never consider a beard, especially one so scruffy.
‘Do you have a problem with that?’ Irritation at the way his gaze roved blatantly over her made each word sharp. He didn’t have the manners and grace Antonio had possessed. Something which made him stand out from any other man she’d met before or since those two nights of bliss.
As she stood behind her desk she took the opportunity to study this strong male specimen who was as rough round the edges as Antonio had been refined. This man’s hair was unruly and his beard wild and untamed. His white T-shirt was far from clean and his arms were smeared with grime. He might resemble the man who’d stolen her heart, the father of her three-year-old son, but that was as far as the similarities went. He was most definitely 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