Mistress-of-the-Game - By Tilly Bagshawe Sidney Sheldon Page 0,81

Beyond the gardens lay the distinctive terra-cotta rooftops of Florence, spread out like a blanket in the warm, rosemary-scented evening air.

It's so romantic! How much nicer it would be to be having dinner with a lover here, instead of my boss.

Lexi felt a tap on her shoulder and spun around. The smile of contentment dissolved on her face.

"What are you doing here? Where's August?"

"In Taiwan, I believe. Something came up. Have you ordered yet? I'm famished."

Max sat down and snapped his fingers imperiously for the waiter. Without looking at the menu, he rattled off his order in flawless Italian. He was speaking too fast for Lexi to make out much of what he said. But she did notice he'd asked for a two-hundred-dollar bottle of Antinori red wine, and that he'd taken it upon himself to choose food for her, too.

Her eyes narrowed. "What are you doing here, Max?"

"We're thinking of buying an online recruitment company." His tone was casual. "Starfish. It's like a European version of Monster.com. They're based out of Florence, believe it or not."

Lexi didn't believe it. He's up to something.

Although they lived in the same city and even worked in the same building, it had actually been months since Lexi had seen Max. She traveled constantly. On the rare occasions when she was at Kruger-Brent, she didn't exactly seek out his company. Tonight he was wearing a blue open-necked shirt and black Armani suit pants. He smelled very faintly of an old-fashioned, lemon-ish cologne, and his naturally olive skin was more deeply tanned than usual. She'd forgotten how attractive he was and found herself irritated by it.

"How did it go in Rome? I gather Valaperti is a tough cantuccini."

Part of Lexi would have liked to ignore him. But the urge to boast was too strong.

"It went great. Valaperti was putty in my hands."

"Really?"

"Uh-huh. I sold him that land for over a hundred million dollars."

Leaning in closer, Max signed: "Did he try to sleep with you?"

Lexi looked amazed.

"When did you learn to sign?"

Max shrugged. "I only know a few phrases, but I'm working on it. I figured, you know, we're going to be working together for a while, so I should probably make the effort."

He seems genuine. But why is he being so nice and reasonable all of a sudden?

"So did he?"

"What?"

"Try to sleep with you?"

"No! Well, kind of. Maybe a little bit." Lexi found she was smiling despite herself. "Our friend Antonio evidently thinks of himself as quite the catch."

"How old is he?"

"Sixty-five? Seventy maybe?"

"Dirty old goat."

Lexi was surprised to find she was enjoying herself. Sitting in this divine, romantic spot with her lifelong enemy, the evening seemed to be flying by.

The wine arrived, along with two Tuscan bread salads. Before long, Lexi was happily tipsy. Max kept her amused with stories of doom and gloom in the Internet division.

"The only person who's gonna get a bonus this year is whoever wins the Jim Bruton Divorce Case Sweepstakes. His wife's finally leaving him, and the whole division's put money on how much she'll get."

"That's terrible! Poor man." Lexi giggled.

"Poor man, my ass. He had two kids with another woman and never paid a cent for either of them. When you're chairman, you should fire him."

Lexi sobered up immediately. Had she read his lips correctly?

"What did you say?"

"I said when you're chairman, you should can Jim Bruton. Come on." Max stood up, gallantly offering her his hand. "Let's go inside and talk. It's getting cold out here."

The hotel lounge and bar were both full, so they went back to Lexi's junior suite. Opening onto the gardens, it had its own private terrace as well as a study and separate living room, complete with antique Italian furniture and roaring log fire. Max fixed them both a whiskey from the minibar and sat down on the couch next to Lexi.

"Look. Starfish wasn't the real reason I came here. At least, it wasn't the only reason."

Watching his lips move, Lexi felt a powerful urge to lean forward and kiss them.

I must be drunker than I thought. She put down her whiskey.

"Go on."

"I want to call a truce."

For almost a minute, Lexi was silent. The entire evening had been surreal. August's no-show, Max turning up out of thin air, his uncharacteristic charm offensive. Now he was talking about truces? Finally, she said: "Why?"

Max smiled. "I'm not going to lie to you, Lexi. I want the chairmanship as badly as you do. I always have. But I recognize that's now unlikely to