He was staring at her again, not even realizing that the corners of his lips curved upwards whenever he saw her smile. It happened way too much lately. But it seemed to him like she was becoming more beautiful with each passing day and he couldn't help but admire how stunning she was. Tonight was no exception. It would be a lie to say that he didn't notice the little red dress she was wearing, though. It revealed just enough of her skin beneath the lattice detailing at the neckline and in back. She somehow always managed to find sexy, but not over the top things to wear at work. Bonus points if she wore red. As far as he was concerned, WWE's uncrowned queen of red Eva Marie could bow down to Renee. She was the real royalty when it came to that color.

What he was feeling for her wasn't even the regular 'I'd hit that' attraction. Maybe he actually did feel that way the first time he saw her. He couldn't remember. They hung out regularly now and were pretty close, and even though he indeed was physically attracted to her, his feelings for her were by no means as shallow as in the beginning. He cared for her as a friend, but he was also becoming more and more attached to her beauty, her smile, her jokes, her simplicity, her laughter, her wit, her… everything. Dean felt like those feelings were starting to escape the zone of simple friendliness. And he didn't quite know what he was supposed to do with them.

"How are you doing tonight?" a pleasant voice enriched by a charming British accent asked him. Dean quickly returned to reality and turned his head towards William Regal. The man sat next to him, observing him carefully.

"…Alright." Dean shrugged. "There's not much going on today." He looked at his feet, which were swinging back and forth. He wasn't lying. He had a regular six-man tag team match with Roman and Seth and there wasn't a lot of storyline progression going on. After all, they were at Smackdown tapings. Bigger angles were reserved for Raw.

"I don't know. You seem absent-minded." Regal tilted his head a bit, eyebrows raising above his pale blue eyes. He knew him so well. Dean considered Regal as some sort of a godfather. They shared mutual respect and admiration, even though Regal could be Dean's father. He knew that Regal's advice was more heartfelt and valuable than any other, and he felt like he saw something special in him. That kind of closeness between them allowed Dean to trust him more than to most of the people.

He sighed and kept looking down, trying not to accidentally glance at Renee, who he could hear laughing with Brie Bella. "The blame is on a certain lady."

"Oh", Regal's eyebrows flew even higher on his forehead. "She doesn't know?"

"I barely realized it myself", Dean chuckled. "I don't know what to do. It feels weird."

"Be a gentleman. Charm her."

"I feel like I'm gonna suck at that charming thing."

"Am I talking to Dean Ambrose? Where's that confident man I know?"

Dean huffed. "Ahhh, I don't know. We're friends and I don't wanna mess this up."

"May I know who sh– ooh." Regal looked towards the backstage area where interviews were being taped and his mouth opened when he noticed Renee and the way Dean was looking at her. Again. "Dear boy, she likes you a lot. Trust me. You have a chance."

"You think?" Dean's eyes lit up a bit.

"Yes." Regal noticed Renee walking over to them and hopped off the crate they were sitting on. "And now I leave you two alone. Do not disappoint me." And with those words he hurried off, making Renee look at him funnily when she came up to Dean.

"What's up with him?" she asked, frowning.

"No idea." Dean shrugged. It took him only a moment to realize that he had to say something. Quick. "You look really pretty tonight."

She smiled. Good. Good. He didn't mess up this one. "Thanks."

"Ambrose, we're up next!" he heard Seth yelling from somewhere. He mentally damned him and the time and jumped on the floor, landing closer to Renee than he had intended. Her breath hitched a bit and her pretty big eyes slightly widened, but she didn't back away from him.

He only had a moment. "Bye." He bent down and pressed his lips on her cheek for a quick kiss. He could still feel the heat of her skin on his lips when he turned around. However, he couldn't help but glance back at her while he was walking away. She was still standing in the same place, smiling to herself and touching her cheek, which was becoming almost as red as her dress, especially after she noticed that he'd looked back. It made his heart flutter like mad.

Yep, he had a major crush on her.