I want to give a big shout out to everyone that has read the story so far. I want to send a special 'Thank You' to Harley-Hardy01, Superstar89 and xAngelofHardyx. You guys rock! \m/ (.) \m/ Here is chapter 2. Enjoy!

I jumped as the doorbell rang. I checked myself in the mirror for the hundredth time. I guess I looked okay. Bree had told me this get together was casual so I was wearing a nice pair of jeans, a black lace camisole under a royal purple v-neck sweater.

I pulled open the door, revealing John and Bree, smiling at me. John had his arm around her, holding her close. I smiled at them. I couldn't help it. They just always look so happy together.

"Hey guys."

"Ah, Rae." John leaned in and hugged me. "You look nice." He waved his hand at my sweater. "Purple is a good color on you."

"He's right, Rae. You look so pretty tonight. You'll knock the whole room dead." Bree hugged me.

"Umm, thanks." I looked down at my hands. I could feel my cheeks get warm at the complements. It was very rare for me to get a complement that was genuine.

"So, are we ready to go?" John asked, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. I grabbed my keys and purse off the table.

"Sure. Let's go." I would never tell them, but I was so very nervous. What if Bree's friends didn't like me? I wasn't a very social person anymore. The closer we got to the hotel, the more nervous I got. I hope this went okay, for their sake.

Bree and John had rented out one of the large dinning rooms in the hotel's restaurant. We were the first to arrive. Slowly, their friends started to show up. I got introduced to all of them. It was either Bree with, "This is my sister, Raelyn Harlow. Rae, this is Jeff and Matt Hardy." I would shake their hands. Or it was John with, "This is my beautiful sister-in-law, Raelyn Harlow. Rae, this is Shawn Michaels." Again, I would shake their hands. So far, everyone that I met was very nice.

Bree, John and I were sitting at one of the tables as the party was in full swing. I had met everyone and found them to be ridiculously nice and some of them, too charming for their own good. I alternated from staring at my ice water and glancing at the crowd of their friends. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw John look at his watch. He sighed in frustration.

"Damn it Bree. Where the hell is Orton? I told him to be here 45 minutes ago." Bree rubbed his arm.

"Don't worry honey. He'll be here. He probably had to go to his room and make himself presentable. He had a late flight. You know Randy, he always wants to look his best." Bree said with a smile on her face. From what I remembered, this Randy Orton, was John's best friend and Bree thought the world of him. She always told me, 'He's actually nothing like his character.' Whatever that meant. (No, as you can tell, I don't watch wrestling. Michael doesn't allow that 'trash' in his house.)

I was watching the ice in my water spin around my glass as I stirred it with my straw when I heard the chair across from me slid out.

"Finally man! Where have you been?" John said.

"I had to make myself look good, Cena. I couldn't just come here all wrinkled and smelling from my flight could I?" The deep laughing voice made the muscles in my stomach clinch. I had never had anyone's voice effect me like that before. I looked up to see who the voice belonged to. I was met by the most amazing brilliant ocean blue eyes. I wanted to, but I was having trouble tearing my own eyes away form his. He smiled softly at me.

"Randy," Bree started, "this is my sister, Raelyn Harlow." Randy stuck his hand out to me across the table. "Rae," I hesitantly took his hand, "this is Randy Orton." He closed his warm hand over mine. I felt it all the way to my toes.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you. Bree and Cena talk about you all the time." The heat from Randy's hand was quickly working its way up my arm. He smiled again. "The pictures I've seen don't do you justice." He kissed the back of my hand. My heart started to stutter in my chest. Randy's soft lips pressed against the back of my hand again. This was new. My body never reacted to anyone like this before. Not even Michael when we first met. I had to clear my throat twice just to get any sound to come out.

"Umm…thank you. I've heard a lot about you too. It's nice to finally meet you." I said quietly, smiling slightly. He squeezed my hand lightly.

"Trust me, the pleasure is all mine, Mrs. Harlow." He let go of my hand. I put it back in my lap, closing it tightly into a fist. I was trying to keep the feel of Randy's hand on mine for as long as possible.

"Ugh…don't call her that Randy." Bree said. (She and Michael are not on each other's favorites list.) "Call her Rae, just like everyone else does." Randy looked back at me.

"Is that okay if I call you Rae?

"Yes, that's perfectly fine. I don't mind at all."

"Okay," Randy said, laughing slightly, "Rae it is."

"Babe, I think we need to mingle a little bit." John said, standing up and taking Bree's hand.

"Oh, I think you're right. Randy, do you mind keeping Rae company for a little while?" Randy smiled and nodded.

"Sure, anything for the lovely Miss Taylor." She stood up beside John, shaking her head at Randy and walked over to her guests. I then realized that I was sitting alone at this table with Randy. My stomach suddenly felt like a too small cage of butterflies. God, what was wrong with me? I felt like a teenage girl being alone with her crush for the first time. Come on, get a grip, Rae. You're a married women for God's sake. As unhappy as it may be, you are still married.

"You know, you and Bree really look alike. You can definitely tell the two of you are sisters." Randy told me, starting a casual conversation.

"That's what I've heard people say. I think we may have the same eyes and nose, but Bree has always been the prettier one." He laughed. "What? Why is that funny?" I asked, slightly offended on my sister's behalf.

"Don't tell Bree I told you this but your eyes are the most gorgeous shade of blue I have ever seen." I felt the blush working its way up my neck. "And whoever told you that Bree was prettier must be blind or has never looked at you before in their lives. As much as I love Bree, you Rae, are easily the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in my life." I held a hand up to stop him.

"Randy…" He talked over me.

"I know you may have heard about my rep as being a playboy. With a different woman every night. The love 'em and leave 'em type. Well, that's not me. They are just rumors. Yes, I tend to flirt, a lot. But I never give out complements unless I really mean them." He reached across the table to touch my hand. Why had he felt the need to defend himself to me? There was no way that he felt the same attraction to me as I shouldn't be feeling towards him. Just not possible.

"Thank you." I told him, looking down at his hand laying over mine.

"No need to thank me for telling the truth." He said, squeezing my hand softly. I noticed that when he reached across the table, it pulled back the cuff of his white button down shirt. He had a tattoo. I had always been fascinated by tattoos. I had even flirted with the idea of getting one. That was before Michael. He would never let me 'mark up' my body. I guess I was lucky he let me keep my ears pierced. I pointed to Randy's wrist.

"You have a tattoo?" Duh, Rae. Good job in pissing him off. You can see the damn thing. What a stupid question. He smiled.

"Yeah. You like tattoos?" At least my stupid question didn't seem to make him mad.

"I've always been fascinated by them. The artwork is always so amazing." Randy unbuttoned his cuff and rolled up his sleeve.

"Mine are actually all the way up on both arms." I looked surprised.

"You have double sleeves?" Now, it was Randy's turn to be surprised.

"You know that term?" I smiled.

"I read a lot. I told you I was fascinated by them. Can I?" I asked pointing to his exposed forearm. He waved his hand at it.

"By all means." I gently stroked my fingertip across the artwork, tracing out some of the designs. I saw Randy slowly close his hand into a fist. It flexed the muscles in his forearm, making the design shift and move. It surprised me and I laughed.

"So you can make it dance?" I looked up at him smiling. "Do it again." He squeezed his fist again, flexing. It made me giggle quietly again. I looked up to see Randy looking at me. I pulled my hand, that was still tracing the design, back. Good job, Rae. "I'm sorry." He quickly grabbed my hand before I could put it back in my lap.

"No, I'm sorry for staring. It's just…I like to hear you laugh. I have this feeling that you don't get to do it that often. I want you to know Rae, you can laugh with me or at me anytime you want." He grinned at me. I smiled back.

Randy and I sat at that table for the rest of the night just talking. Talking about anything and everything. He told me about his childhood and getting into the 'business'. I told him about my childhood and growing up with Bree. I told him about how hard it was when we lost our parents to a car accident. In all our talking, not once did Michael ever come up. It was the best conversation I had, had in a long time.

It was strange, even though I had just met Randy, I felt like I could tell him anything. We could talk about anything and he would never tell me I was stupid or judge me in anyway. It was like we had a connection on a deeper level.

Before we knew it, 1am had rolled around. Talking with Randy, I didn't even notice how late it had gotten. Bree and John came back to the table just as I stood up to gather my jacket.

"Whoa, Rae. Where are you going?" Bree asked me as I slipped my jacket on.

"I have to get back to the house. I had fun tonight guys. Thank you so much for inviting me." I turned and looked at Randy. "I had so much fun talking to you. Thank you." He nodded and grinned.

"Anytime, Rae." I started to walk away from the table. Bree grabbed the back of my jacket stopping me.

"Rae, we can't let you go home this late by yourself. Stay here with John and I."

"Yeah, we have that spare room in the suite. You can have that. Plus, we want you to come to the pay-per-view tomorrow." I started to shake my head 'no'.

"Oh, I can't impose on you guys. I'm sure you don't want me…"

"Nonsense!" John said laughing. "You could never be an imposition on us ever. We insist. That way we don't have to drive back to your place. We can just go straight to the arena. Then I can show off my favorite sister-in-law to the rest of the company." Bree nodded.

"Come on Rae Rae. Please stay." I sighed. Suddenly, I felt Randy's oh so warm hand take mine. I turned to look at him.

"Please, Rae. If you don't, I'll have to sit here and watch them pout for the rest of the night. Please don't do that to me. As a friend…" I wish we could be more. Whoa, where the hell had that thought come from? Damn Rae, you just met the poor guy and you want…married, remember? You. Are. Married. Damn Michael all to hell.

"Okay. I'll stay. But, I don't have anything to wear." I told Bree. She jumped up from her seat and wrapped her arms around me, causing me to lose touch with Randy's hand.

"Oh, I have plenty of things for you to wear…"

An hour later, I was wearing one of Bree's tank tops and a pair of her sleep shorts. I settled down into the unfamiliar bed. I clicked off the light. I rolled to my side, tucking the covers around me. It was nice sleeping in a different bed for a change. I would never tell anyone, but I hated sleeping in the same bed that Michael slept in. the same bed where I had been forced to have loveless sex with him for years. Most of the time, when he was out of town, I would just sleep on the couch. The couch didn't smell like his cologne. Why couldn't he smell like Randy? He wore cologne, but it was subtle. You had to be close to him to really smell it.

Oddly, this wasn't the first time that my mind wondered to Randy since we had been parted over an hour ago. He had been so sweet to talk to me all evening. I hoped I got to talk to him again. Maybe at this pay-per-view thing that Bree and John were dragging me to. As if, right on cue, I heard John's deep voice say something quietly to Bree. She laughed back quietly. I heard them talk back and forth for a few minutes. I sat up, throwing the covers off. I had to get out of the adjoining room. I was on the verge of crying, hearing how happy they sounded together. That jealousy I had, flared. I didn't want to be jealous of Bree, but I couldn't help it. I wanted what she and John had. Love. That's what I wanted. Love, not fear.

I softly made my way to the door of the suite, sticking one of the key cards in my pocket and shutting the door silently behind me. I had seen a pool off from the lobby when we had gone up to the suite. I think I'll go sit down there and listen to the water move. Maybe the soothing sound of the water would clear my mind.

At 2am, the hotel was pretty quiet. There was no one around as I walked into the pool area. Even with the opposite wall from me being completely made of glass, the pool area was warm. I walked away from the door to the far corner of the room. This way I could watch the whole room and the snow that had started to fall again. I sat down on one of the lounge chair with my back against the backrest and my knees drawn up. I wrapped my arms around my legs and rested my chin on my kneecaps, just watching the snow and listening to the water.

I sat there for a while enjoying the semi-silence, finally getting my mind to quiet down for a change. I jumped when I heard the door open. I moved my head just enough to look at the door. I tried to blend into the lounge chair. I didn't want to be noticed and I'm sure whoever was coming in was looking for solitude as well. My breath caught when I saw the 6'4" man walk into the room. Randy. One of the main reasons I wasn't asleep right now. I came down here not to think about him (oh, and not to hear Bree and John's intimate conversation) and damned if he wasn't right here.

He didn't look around the room, he just walked over to the wall of glass. He shoved his hands deep into the front pockets of his jeans. The movement brought my attention to his arms. He had changed out of the shirt he had worn earlier and was now just wearing a t-shirt. The short sleeves stopped high on his biceps. Even from where I was sitting all the way across the room I could make out the intricate design of his tattooed sleeves. He had told me they went all the way to his shoulders. I had to fight the urge to walk over to him, rip his shirt off and see just what was hiding under that sinfully tight t-shirt. Damn, even his jeans were mocking me. The way that tight material was hugging his butt and…okay, time to go back to my room. Maybe I shouldn't be alone with Randy. He seemed to evoke very naughty thoughts in me. Just as I was about to make my move and sneak out of the room, Randy turned around. His eyes widened momentarily, then a smiles spread across his face as he noticed I was sitting there. He walked over to my little corner.

"Rae, fancy meeting you here. What are you doing down here at this time of night?" I smiled back slightly when he sat down at the extended foot of the lounge chair.

"I couldn't sleep." Cause I was thinking about you. But there was no way in hell I was going to say that out loud though. He grinned at me.

"Ah, Cena and Bree, huh?" I knew I blushed slightly at his meaning.

"Umm, yeah, but not like that. I could hear them talking. That and sometimes I can't sleep in new places." I inhaled deeply, trying to calm my butterfly stomach and caught a whiff of Randy's cologne. The butterflies went crazy. I let my breath out slowly. "So, what about you? What are you doing down here this late?" He looked down at his hands.

"I couldn't sleep either. My mind wouldn't turn off."

"Oh. Is it something bad? Are you worried about something?"

"Not really bad per say, but I am kinda worried about what I can do about it."

"I'm sorry something has you so worked up. Do you want to tell me what you were thinking about?" Without thinking, I reached out and laid my hand against his forearm. His head snapped down, looking at my hand. Oh, I shouldn't have touched him. I made the move to take my hand away. Before my hand ever left the hard muscle of his arm, his hand was there, stopping my movement. I froze. My stomach became a pit of ice cause I knew what was coming next. This was gonna hurt. Randy was bigger than Michael. I'm sure his hit was a lot harder.

I stopped breathing when Randy lifted my hand off his arm and placed it in between both of his. The ice instantly melted when he started to stroke the back of my hand with his thumb.

"I was thinking of things I shouldn't have. I could probably get myself in trouble for the things I was thinking, the things I'm still thinking." He looked up at me. Again, I got lost in the ocean of his eyes. "Rae," he lifted my hand and kissed the back of my fingers, not breaking eye contact, "I was thinking about you." Me?

"Randy…" That was all I could say. Physically, I couldn't get my brain to form any other coherent words. Randy was thinking about me?

"I know." He kissed my hand again. The touch of his warm lips radiated through my entire body. "I know I shouldn't be thinking these things Rae. It's just that…" He pressed his lips to my knuckles again. Goosebumps popped up all over my body as I fought a trembling that seemed to take over my body. "Oh…you're cold aren't you?" No. My trembling had nothing to do with the cold. Before I could tell him, he stood up, still holding my hand. "Come on." He pulled me up. "Let's get you back upstairs." Randy led me out f the pool area towards the bank of elevators. He was still holding my hand and using it to hold close to his side as we waited. I wanted to say something, anything to him but being pressed against his side…

I looked up at Randy's profile. He wasn't looking at me. Was he regretting thinking of me? The elevator dinged, letting us know it had arrived. When the door slid open, Randy silently pulled me inside. I looked down at our still joined hands as Randy hit the button for the floor. A few seconds later, we started to move. Randy let go of my hand and took a step back from me.

"I'm sorry Rae." I was surprised. He had no reason to be sorry. I looked up at his face.

"Sorry? For what Randy?" He took a couple steps towards me. Out of instinct, I stepped back away form him. He took another step or two closer. My back came up against the wall. My hands instinctively went to the handrail, grounding myself.

"I can't seem to stop myself." My heart thundered in my chest. Randy leaned into me, gripping the handrail between my own hands and my hips.

"From doing what?" I whispered. He leaned in even more. His face was mere inches away from mine.

"What I wanted to do the moment I met you." His lips hovered over mine.

"Randy," I whispered his name an instant before he touched his lips to mine. The kiss was soft and gentle at first. I melted when I felt his palm brush against my cheek. Again, out of instinct, I released the handrail and laid my hands against his chest. God, touching him was like heaven. The muscles of his chest were hard and chiseled. Nothing like what I was used to. When Randy nipped softly at my bottom lip, while his other hand cupped my hip, I moaned softly. At that, Randy deepened the kiss, pressing his body against mine. I snaked one of my arms around his neck, while my other fisted in his t-shirt. No one had ever kissed me like this. With such passion, intensity and tenderness.

Randy pulled back form me as the elevator dinged again, signaling the arrival at our designated floor. His eyes were so intense as he looked at me. He held his hand as the doors opened. I didn't hesitate in taking it. When we walked out into the hall, I realized that we weren't on the floor of my room. Randy stopped us in front of a door. He didn't let go of my hand when he slipped in the keycard and opened the door. He pushed open the door, held it open with his hip and looked at me. He lifted my hand to his lips.

"Come in with me, Rae." I didn't say anything. He kissed my fingers again and gently rubbed his face against them. I knew if we went in the room together, we wouldn't be watching TV. This would change things between us. My mind briefly flashed to Michael. What would he think of this? Hell, he was gonna be pissed that I went out with Bree and John so I might as well enjoy what I could form this night. Maybe Randy would give me something to remember when Michael decided he wanted me. Its not like I was gonna see Randy after tomorrow night anyway. "Rae?" Randy asked again. I smiled softly at him and nodded.

"Yes." Randy smiled against my fingers and pulled me inside. He kissed me as the door clicked shut behind us.

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