To those of you who messaged me requesting I repost my stories, here you go. I'd thought I'd lost them after I took them down, but have been able to find them on various jump drives and memory cards. For reasons I'd rather not go into, I did feel the need to change the name. Let's just say legalities are involved.

Now for those of you who are new to my stories and my writing style, I will tell you right up front I write romance and my original fiction characters are going to be seen by some as Pollyannas or Mary Sues. This is how I write and if you don't like those characters, then please don't bother reading my stories and please, please, don't leave reviews or message me saying as much about my characters. I already know and I don't plan on changing them.

Now that I've said my peace, I hope you all enjoy the stories, even with all their flaws.

Chapter 1

Lexi checked the schedule sheet a second time then glanced at her watch. Six hours until they went live and she still didn't know what this notation on the sheet Huntered 'The Shield Enters' meant. When she agreed to temporarily take on the tasks of the backstage coordinator, the one stipulation she'd made was no surprises. Guess she shouldn't be shocked that the agreement didn't last. Vince and Hunter would have probably promised her the moon to get her to say yes.

Of course, no one, especially Lexi expected Emma, the current backstage coordinator to suffer acute appendicitis and end up out for at least six weeks. Her absence left management scrambling to cover one of the most important positions in the company. Jackie, the assistant coordinator had taken on only as much work as she'd wanted and it far from covered everything that needed done.

With Emma facing a slow and possibly painful recovery, the last thing Lexi had wanted was her friend worrying about work and letting management down. So when Emma recommended for Lexi to step up and take over she'd said yes out of loyalty to her friend and the company.

Growing up in a wrestling family and spending nearly all her life immersed in the business, Lexi knew not only the ins and outs of the business, but how difficult Vince could be to work for. Still, Vince and the entire McMahon-Helmsley family had done nothing but treat her with the utmost respect since she'd signed on nearly ten years earlier.

She'd come to love this company and there was little she wouldn't do for it or the McMahons, including setting aside her wrestling career to take on the task of coordinator. In return, Hunter had the writers provide Lexi with a personal storyline and some on-stage time by creating an up-and-coming team for her to manage. Still, she'd rather go back to wrestling beside Natalia and representing their family in the ring.

"Would you stop looking at your watch," Jackie snapped. "You're not going to slow time you know."

Lexi let out a sigh. Too bad she couldn't really figure out how to slow time, because right now she needed at least an extra hour to get everything on their list completed before show time. "I know, but this 'The Shield' notation is making me nervous. Why hasn't anyone told us what this is about?"

Jackie shook her head. "I have no clue, but I figure if they wanted us to know they would have told us by now. So why worry about it."

Lexi barely refrained from rolling her eyes at the younger girl's statement. Sometimes she wondered how Emma worked on a daily basis with Jackie. The girl had a lazy streak a mile wide and an attitude to match. "I think as the people in charge of making sure everything runs smoothly, we should be privy to even the most secret of storylines."

Jackie shrugged. "Obviously upper management doesn't agree. Why sweat it? If something goes wrong, you can simply say you were following orders. You can't be blamed for what you weren't told, right?"

"Wrong," Lexi argued. "It's just possible that the writers and management didn't realize or think about us needing to know this info. How can we make the show better if we don't know what we need to know? Maybe somebody should have a sit down with management and explain what it is we do and don't need to know."

Jackie leveled an annoyed look in her direction. "Well, why don't you go tell the writers that?"

"Why me?" Lexi asked.

"Because you're Lexi Hart," Jackie shot back. "I'm just a hired no name who is supposed to shut up and do my job."

"Fine," Lexi huffed. While she was there, she'd also talk to Hunter about replacing Jackie with someone more driven to give their best to this company. Jackie's shut up and do-only-my-job-and-nothing-more attitude would eventually cause huge problems. So if Jackie wasn't going to do anything then she would. "I'll be back." She turned and ran smack into a hard wall of muscle. Shock ricocheted through her system and a gasp slipped from her lips as her forward motion suddenly reversed with the impact.

She took a step back trying to regain her balance, but it was the two hands that grabbed her by the arms, that, in the end, kept Lexi from tumbling backward.

"Easy, sweetheart," a low, sexy and totally unfamiliar voice rumbled above her, causing a reactionary shiver to ripple through her system. For a moment she froze, too stunned by her body's response to move. As reality began to return, she shifted her gaze on the man who'd kept her from falling on her ass. Well-defined muscles hid beneath a tight fitting black T-shirt and held up a set of broad, strong shoulders and bulging biceps. Impressed, she allowed her gaze to travel higher and noted the squared, chiseled jaw hidden beneath a dark goatee. Full, supple lips appeared to tip up around the edges, as if he found the situation slightly amusing, though his piercing brown eyes staring down at her revealed something other than amusement.

The intensity in his gaze caused Lexi pause. Mesmerized, she barely remembered to breathe as she stared up at the fine specimen of man before her.

"Lexi," Hunter's familiar voice broke the spell and she slowly turned to look at her friend and boss. "You okay?"

"Um." She raked a now shaky hand through her hair and glanced back at the dark, sexy man still standing way to close for comfort. "Yeah, I think." Refocusing, she turned her attention back to Hunter.

"Good." Hunter gave a nod. "Because I'd like to introduce you to three new wrestlers who will be joining our roster." He motioned to a thinner man with two-tone hair. "This is Seth Rollins." He turned to another man standing next to Seth. "Dean Ambrose." Then he motioned to the man standing behind her and smirked. "And you've already met Roman Reigns. Gentlemen this is Lexi Hart. Lexi is not only one of our more prominent Diva's, but she's our resident jack-of-all-trades." Hunter praised.

Lexi's gaze shifted from man to man. "Gentleman," she replied, slowly regaining her composure. "Welcome to the WWE."

"They will be working together under the name The Shield," Hunter continued.

Wide eyed, she shifted her gaze back to Hunter. "So the mystery is finally revealed."

Hunter chuckled. "I suppose you could say that. I meant to get over here sooner and explain, but things have been crazy today. Anyway, they've already been briefed about the show tonight and know what they're doing, so just go along with whatever happens. After tonight you'll need to get with them and bring them up to speed on procedures and such." He turned to face the men. "If you guys have any questions, Lexi is the resident go to person."

"Good to know," Roman's sexy voice carried over her shoulder and awareness skittered up her spine as she glanced back at him. For the second time in nearly as many minutes, he pinned her with a piercing look. In an instant, desire flared through her system, heating her body from the inside out. Her mind scrambled to regain control. What was it about this man that caused such a violent reaction deep within her? More important, how in the hell was she going to control it?