The sorceress of the the Apprentice

NEW TASK? NO PROBLEM, SAYS LAWYER KRISTINE LEFEBVRE

One question comes to mind when you meet Kristine Lefebvre. As she strides into the room, extends her hand confi­dently (her grip is firm but warm) and gazes at you over those sexy smart-girl glasses of hers, you shake your head and ask, What man in his right mind would fire this woman? Donald Trump didn't know what he was losing when he pink-slipped Kristine in the third-to-last episode of The Apprentice in April. Sure, she came off as "the bitchy lawyer," but Kristine was simply complying with the convention that every reality show needs an alpha female. And she certainly wielded her power gracefully. When Trump didn't pro­vide enough swimsuit models for a runway show in one of the contests, Kristine snapped her five-foot-10 frame into a plunging halter suit and

sashayed down the catwalk on Santa Monica Beach. The result: Team Kris-tine won a trip that night to celebrate at the Playboy Mansion.

"After that, Mr. Trump couldn't stop carrying on about my body," Kristine says over a foamy latte at a Los Angeles cafe. She's dressed in black business attire with diamonds sparkling at her cuffs. "He'd say, 'Why are you hiding behind those suits? You should be a model!' I thought, Hey, am I auditioning to become a corporate executive or the Donald's eye candy?"

The truth is, Trump began obsessing about Kristine's looks the moment he saw her. It was her trademark glasses that confounded him. "I kept telling him they're more comfortable than wearing contacts, but he wouldn't stop," she says, adding that she has a pair for every mood or day of the week. "Finally

I had to say, 'Mr. Trump, the glasses are like my brand. I have my glasses, and you have your hair. Let's leave it at that."

Not since Omarosa in season one of The Apprentice has a woman trumped the Tmmpster quite like Kristine. In one epi­sode she practically out-golfed him—and on Trump's own Los Angeles course, no less ("I don't think he'd ever seen a woman hit the ball like that," she says). And even when the billionaire fired her, Kristine got the last word in and let Trump have it. "He changed the rules by backped-aling on a promise he made not to fire candidates from opposing teams, and he needed to be con­fronted," Kristine says. "I don't think you get anywhere being intimidated by people." Then again, she's not one to carry a grudge. Says Kristine, "We saw each other a few weeks later, and it was all hugs and kisses."

That skill at winning over opponents is what makes Kris­tine one of the top lawyers in her field. Just the day before our interview, she closed a $90 mil­lion merger. Clients over the years have included Dan Marino and Shaquille O'Neal, and she has developed a subspecialty the male partners in her firm deeply envy: Kristine inks con­tracts for many of the women who have graced these pages, including Pamela Anderson and Vida Guerra. "The girls trust me," Kristine says. "I don't think men have the same concerns about how much of a vagina will show in a photo or who's going to pay for a bikini wax. I get that if a girl is in high heels for six hours a day, she'll need a massage."

That's not to say Kristine hasn't had her difficulties in the buttoned-down world of law. Frequently she is the only female in a room of very con­servative men, which can lead to awkwardness. "Some old guy will say, 'Honey, can you get me my coffee?'" she says. "I will absolutely get up and get it. He'll assume I'm a secretary, and when I start to lead the meeting he won't know what to do."

It's no wonder, then, that for all her abilities, Kristine has no trouble leaving work behind. She and her husband, celebrity chef Ludovic Lefebvre, a vet­eran of acclaimed L.A. eateries like Bastide and L'Orangerie, spend most of their free time sipping wine on the beach or hiking with their dog in the Santa Monica Mountains. In case you're wondering, Kristine doesn't cook. "Why bother?" she says. "The one time I tried to make something for (text concluded on page 138)

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(continued J'mm page 119) Ludo—I think it was coffee—1 burned it."

As an Army brat growing up in Hawaii and Colorado, Kristine was always able to turn her passions into successes. She swam competitively at the age of six and later played on a Colorado state-championship soccer team. She earned power-lilting titles that led to a job at Hooters, where she was twice selected as a calendar girl. Later she modeled in Miami and Milan.

At 38, Kristine is still fit, even after a bout with cancer last year that tested her strength both physically and mentally. She says she's 100 percent healthy now, adding that the experience made her face each day with renewed enthusiasm. It also helped her make the decision when playboy came calling. "You go around only once, so why not take every adventure that comes your way?' she says. "Being an intelligent woman and being feminine and sexual should not be mutually exclusive. You can be a professional and still be a complete and sensuous woman. My brains don't fall out of my ass when I'm naked."

.As for what her clients and fellow law­yers will think, she's not sure. Kristine is already a master of tailoring her look to the tone of a business meeting. "If I'm about to sit down with a group of investment bank­ers, I won't be wearing a top that shows off the angel tattoo on my back." But she adds that doing a pictorial like this may have advantages. "With men who already have an issue with how I look, it will help. Now that their fantasies about me are true, they won't be able to look me in the eve, which means I'll beat them hands down.'

At the Playboy Mansion the night of her Apprentice swimsuit victory, Kristine once again showed her business acumen by making a beeline for Hef. "Most people see Hef and see the silk pajamas and the girls," she says. "I wanted to know about the man and how he built his empire."

Kristine will undoubtedly be building empires of her own in years to come. These days she's helping her husband open a big L.A. restaurant, and she con­tinues to juggle law with modeling and charity work for such organizations as CHASF. for Life, which raises awareness about infant and child CI'R.

As for Trump, Kristine has no hard feel­ings. Even if she disagrees with his hiring practices, she respects his tenacity, candor and ability to get things done. There is, however, one nagging disappointment in not becoming part of Trump's inner cir­cle, she says. It's not the big paycheck or the fancy corner office or the opportunity for big-time success. Kristine already has all those things. "What I'm sorry about," Kristine says, adjusting those sexy specs of hers with a sly smile, "is that I won't get to see Mr. Trump's face when he finally sees what was under my swimsuit."