“Hello, Silken. It’s Max. How are you?”
There was a gasp, very subtle, a soft intake of breath, but he heard it…and he took it as a good sign.
“Max. It’s…great to hear from you. How have you been?”
“Good. Just busy. And you? You’re fine?”
“I’m fine,” she said, her voice stronger now that she’d gotten over the surprise of his call. “Just trying to stay out of the heat, but hard to do when you’ve got cars to work on. That’s why I stick my head as far under the hood as I can.” She laughed, sounding more like her confident self.
“We just touched June. I can imagine how you’re going to sweat when we get to July.”
“Excuse me? I don’t sweat, I would have you know. I perspire.”
Her dramatically indignant tone made him laugh. “My apologies, ma’am. Let me make it up to you. If you can take a break from work there’s a new Japanese restaurant in town I want to check out. They have an indoor waterfall, perfect for calming the spirit. Very Zen. Want to come?” Then he threw in the coup de grace. “Air conditioned, of course. Perfect, after a day of baking in the sun.”
“Ooh,” she moaned, “sounds good. I wonder if I can…” She paused, as if thinking. “I’m sorry,” she said, the regret clear in her voice, “I don’t think I can get away. We have a client picking up her car in an hour. I have to be here to make sure everything’s just right.”
“So your team can’t get the job done without you?” he asked, amused. “No-one’s indispensable, you know.”
“I know,” she said with a sigh, “but that’s just me. The eternal perfectionist.” There was another pause then she said, “Hey, I have an idea. What if I swing by your office when I’m done here, around three o’clock or so? I’ll pick you up and we can have a late lunch. That is, if it fits into your schedule.”
He’d planned to make it an early evening, chill and catch a ball game or two on the tube, but what the heck. Spending the evening in the company of a beautiful woman would beat that any day. Especially if that woman was Silken McCullen.
“I can make it happen. You’re sure you want to drive all the way out here, though? We can do this closer to your place.”
“I don’t mind the drive,” she assured him. “In fact, I enjoy it. I love hitting the highway. Sometimes you’ve gotta blow out the car a bit.”
That put a frown on Max’s face. “Just as long as you drive carefully,” he said, his tone stern. “And no speeding.”
“Yes sir, Mr. Davidoff, sir. I’ll be good.”
Silken’s cheeky response put a smile on his lips. “So I’ll see you sometime after three o’clock?”
“Three-fifteen,” she said. “It won’t take me long to get there.”
“Make it three-thirty,” he replied. “I’m in no hurry.” He kept his tone casual even though he was really looking forward to seeing her. Of course, he wouldn’t tell her that. He hardly even wanted to admit it to himself.
After they’d hung up Max went out into the lobby to have a word with his new receptionist. He had already hired an office manager, a marketing executive and a sales manager, all of whom would be starting in the coming week and would be hiring staff members of their own. The receptionist, though, he’d told to get started right away. He had no time to be manning phones. He had a business to establish.
He breathed a sigh of relief every time he thought of Davidoff Cosmetics, his flagship business. He had to thank his lucky stars he had a cadre of competent managers. They didn’t need him getting involved in the day-to-day operations of the company. That left him free to pursue other interests, like this one.
After he’d assigned Mrs. Redman her tasks for the afternoon Max hopped into his car and headed out to the offices of Dundix and Crawford. Before they could tie things up they had to get the matter of the outstanding licenses resolved. Only then would he rest easy. Billionaire or not, sinking three hundred million into an investment only to then be forced to abandon it would be a major financial loss and a bitter pill to swallow.
Normally he would have had his deputies handle such matters but this time it was important enough for him to tackle the issue himself. When he’d launched Davidoff Cosmetics and until he’d formed a team he could trust he’d been very much a ‘hands-on’ CEO and now, with this new business, he planned to do the same. When it was up and running smoothly he would hand it over to the team but definitely not before.
He didn’t have an appointment with Dundix and Crawford. He didn’t need one. They knew how critical his situation was, so they were treating his case as a priority. They’d better, with all the money he was paying them.
But when he got there the senior partner, Carl Dundix, was not in.
“He’s had to step out but he’ll be back shortly,” the attorney’s secretary told him. “But Ms. Crawford is here. Would you like to speak with her?”
“It’s okay,” Max said, pulling out his iPhone. “I’ll wait. I need to speak to both of them. Together.”
The woman nodded and ushered him into the visitors' lounge. “Please,” she said, her voice soft and her smile pleasant, “make yourself comfortable. May I get you something? Tea or coffee? Water?”
Max settled into the sofa and shook his head. “Nothing, thank you.”
The woman gave him another nod and then she was gone.
As he waited Max made full use of his time, conferencing with his offices in New York, London and Sidney, making sure all his operations were running smoothly. He got so involved in his discussions that he was shocked when he glanced at the time and realized he’d been sitting in the lounge almost an hour. He frowned. Had Dundix’s secretary forgotten him?
He was just leaning forward, making to get up, when she appeared at the door, smiling.