Finn was stretching out his muscles backstage. Getting ready for his match later that night against Tyson Kidd. Although he had tuned most of the backstage chatter out, he heard loud laughter coming from the other side of the hallway.
Unable to drown out the noise any longer, he jumped up and went to investigate. As he got closer, he heard a strangers voice.
Something about the accent tickled the back of his brain. Where had he heard that slow as molasses accent before.
Before he could remember, he ran straight into the newcomer. Knocking her back, he instinctively reached forward, pulling her against him.
"Sorry lass. Didn't mean to crash into you. Did I hurt you?"
Looking into his eyes, she slowly smiled.
"I'm fine. It's my fault really. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."
Realizing he still had her wrapped in his arms, he begrudgingly pulled his hands away from her soft hips.
"Hiya, I'm Fergal Devitt. Nice to meet you."
"Hello Fergal, I'm Mackenzie. Mackenzie Buchanan. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Fergal was so lost in her smile that she began to blush. A very beautiful rose stained her cheeks.
"So Mackenzie, I couldn't help but notice your accent. Mind if I ask where you're from?"
Flustered by his consuming stare, she stuttered her answer.
"Tennessee. East Tennessee to be more precise."
Fergal snapped his fingers. "Tennessee. I knew I recognized your accent. Of course, I haven't been there since 2005. Had a match in Nashville. That was actually the night I was invited to train in California."
"Well I'm pleased you have such a fond memory of my homestate. No need to ask about your beautiful Irish accent."
A boyish smile broke out across his face.
"Can't hide it if I tried. Well Mackenzie what brings such a beautiful lass to the arena?"
Mackenzie bent down and picked up her duffel bag laying a few yards away.
"I have a try-out tonight. I'm in a dark match with Alexis later. I was actually on my way to meet with Dusty and Sara now."
Fergal was pleased to hear that she was a fellow wrestler. With Japan's separate promotions for each sex, he hadn't spent much time in the past few years with many female wrestlers.
Of course, that didn't mean he didn't know any female wrestlers. He was close friends with a few. Even trained a couple. Placing his hand on her lower back, he escorted her to the trainers offices. He would make sure he watched her match later.
After all, it had been a long time since he'd felt a spark of attraction to anyone. He wasn't planning to let this
spark burn out before he acted on it.
Mackenzie debated whether to give Fergal her number. She didn't have the best track record for reading signals correctly.
She couldn't count the number of times she'd come on to a guy just too find out he wasn't interested. Or even worse, he was already taken. That was even more embarrassing.
Finn noticed her twisting the straps of her bag. He couldn't decide if she was nervous or just trying to decide how to give him a polite brush off.
Not wanting her to be uncomfortable around him, he said his goodbyes as
Dusty opened the door.
Watching him hurry away, Mackenzie chewed on her lip. Well he sure ran off in a hurry. Guess he really wasn't flirting with me.
Pushing that uncomfortable thought aside, she pasted on a bright smile and greeted Dusty with forced enthusiasm.