SHE WANTED HIM. FIVE MINUTES ON THE SUBWAY, AND HE WAS

sure of it. Rudy had a gift for detecting the most subtle signals.

The train was crowded, and he made a point of standing

between her and the nearest exit. His eyes barely moved in her

direction. He just leaned against the pole and read the Wall Street

Journal. At least he pretended to read. It was all pretense, from the

polished black wingtips to the Armani necktie, from the pinstripe

suit to the tortoiseshell eyeglasses.

The train stopped and the doors opened. She started for the

exit--right toward him. A long winter coat concealed her body,

but the face was attractive. Nice mouth.

"Excuse me," she said as she passed.

She looked straight ahead, never making eye contact, but she

hadn t fooled him. Her tone of voice, the way she d passed just

slowly enough to let him drink in the sweet scent of her perfume,

were calculated steps in the age-old mating dance. Bottom line, no

one had forced her to use the nearest exit; the other set of doors

worked just as well. Surely it was no accident that her long brown

hair had brushed against his coat as she passed. Most telling of all,

she d opened her mouth, parted those lovely lips, and actually spo-

ken. Excuse me. A powerful message wrapped in precious few

words. In one brief but electric moment, she had initiated the con-

nection. Rudv could have said something back, and she would