How did he even know the book was mine?, Maria thought to herself, panicking. How was she going to explain this? Maybe he didn't know about the book, what it was about. But from the look on his face, she thought, he wasn't ignorant to it.

Oh, my God.

"No one dared me to take your book, Maria," he said gently, trying to get the look of horror off her face.

"Then how come…why do…," she took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart. "What is my book doing with your stuff?" she finally asked with a forced calm.

As she watched him visibly put together his answer, she froze. What if it wasn't her book? What if this was his? What if she just admitted to owning it if she didn't have to? Wait…no, there was a receipt sticking out of the middle of its pages. Her receipt, she saw when she opened up the book to examine it. The receipt she placed in so carefully just in case she chickened out and could not summon the courage to even read this piece of literature, and decided to return it. She had, in fact, already come up with a completely plausible explanation to give to the clerk as to why she was returning it. That it was a gift from a friend and it wasn't what she thought it was. No one would have known she looked at it, let alone bought it.

But now? Now it was too late. Not only did someone know she had it. He had taken it!

She realized that Kane was trying to get her attention, so focused she was on her own thoughts and musings that she didn't even notice he was trying to speak to her.

"Sorry," she muttered, head down. Trying to hide her quickly reddening face. Oh Lord, was she embarrassed.

"Maria," he started, waiting for her to look up again. When she didn't, he tried again. "Maria, look at me." Again he waited, and this time, she looked up. Her face gently tilted up, eyes focused on his chest, looking for all the world like someone who was trying not to run away and hide. He sighed, figuring that was the best he was going to get at the moment.

"I did take your book," he started again, but continued quickly when he saw she was about to interrupt, "but I wasn't dared to do it. I went through catering on my way here and I saw you sleeping at the table. You must have nudged it from where you were sleeping, because it was lying on the floor. When I saw what book it was, I took it. I figured you wouldn't want someone like Mickie to come across it and question you about it. I didn't want to wake you up because you looked like you needed a nap. That's why I brought you here; I didn't want to give it back in the middle of everyone arriving for the show."

The explanation spilled fluently from his lips, the half-truths flowing effortlessly and by the look on her face, he could tell that she bought the reasoning. For now. In a very kinda-sorta way.

"Oh," she said, looking down at the book in question. "I'm thinkin' that maybe I should leave before I say something even more horrifyingly embarrassing."

Kane watched her as she stood there for a moment more, then, after she turned around and headed for the door, asked, "Why did you buy it?"

She stopped just shy of the door, as he knew she would, and paused. He knew what he was doing, what would get her to stop before leaving. And there was no way he was letting her walk out that door now. The entire situation started off completely out of his control, and now, he was finally able to reign it back in and that was something he was looking forward to.

Slowly Maria turned around, afraid of what she would see. Was he going to poke fun of her? Ridicule her over her…choice of reading? It's something that Mickie would do, had she been the one to find her. She shuddered to think of Mickie finding it. Thinking quickly, she tried to think of something to tell the large man. Something just vague enough to pacify him and for her to get out of there.

Kane could see the thoughts on her face and said, "Tell me the truth, Maria. Don't lie to me." He said it gently enough, but the underlying order was there nonetheless. If he was going to do this, he was going to start now.

Maria sighed, knowing she couldn't get out of this one. So she said, very quietly, "I was just curious."

To Kane, she sounded so very much like a child who got in trouble for looking at something that she shouldn't have been. If she didn't look so upset by things, he probably would have laughed. But any humor on his part, right at that moment, would have been met with anything other than appreciation.

"Have you read it?" he asked quietly, smoothly, prompting her to answer.

She shook her head quickly, then, "N-no!" she paused after her forceful denial, then added, "I, um, mean…no, I didn't. I don't know…if I can…" She trailed off, not sure where to go from there. She wasn't even sure where she should have started, but no answer was easily forthcoming, so one was forced out, garbled, but there.

Watching her carefully for a few moments, he decided how to proceed. Very gently, he realized, as she was already near the door, ready to bolt. "You should," was his simple reply.

But it was enough for her to look at him, blinking owlishly at him. "I…should?"

He nodded once, just a slight incline of his head, really, but it was enough. "It's good. Especially if you're curious about the lifestyle," he finished with a shrug. Looking nonchalant when he was anything but. Watching her carefully, he tried to figure out what she was thinking, but Maria had that puzzled look on her face. It was a face he knew well from all the times that he had watched her on Raw. Sure, he tuned in to see what was happening, but the brunette never failed to capture his attention. Not that he would tell her that, of course.

Before she could formulate any sort of response, he asked her another question: "Would you like to get breakfast with me tomorrow?" he paused, thinking of how that could have come across, then elaborated, "I have an early afternoon flight and I figure since we won't get done until late tonight, breakfast is just as good a date meal as dinner."

She looked so adorably confused, he wanted to smile. No time had been given between his slight explanation of her book and his asking her out, for her to process much of anything. Maria felt as if her head was spinning and she nearly put her hand up to hold it in place. He did that on purpose, she was nearly sure. Making his comments on that…that…book, and then asking her out on a…

"Date?" Monosyllabic words were really all she could come up with at the moment.

"Yes," the big man nodded, looking her directly in the eye, not letting her look away when he was sure she would. "Have breakfast with me." It was a statement, not a question, lending to no other answer than what he wanted.

Maria nodded slightly, her hair moving around her shoulders with the movement. Watching in awe as Kane slowly stepped closer to her, invading her personal space. Automatically she took a step back, not even knowing that she did it, until her back hit the cold wall behind them. Vaguely, she noted the small smile on his face as he came closer, stopping a few scant inches in front of her. Looking up, her eyes trained on his face, as her head rested firmly against the white stone. Thoughts were flying so quickly through her head that none gained purchase.

The Big Red Machine gazed down at the brunette beauty, contemplating. Slowly, he raised his left arm up to delicately place it on the wall to her side, blocking her in on two sides now. The only way she could escape was to move to the right, towards the direction of the door, sliding along the wall. But she had no intention of moving, he could tell.

The intensity was broken when a cursory knock sounded, the door being pushed open before the sound could penetrate the fog they were in.

"Please, please, tell me you finally gave her the book back," came the voice of Michelle McCool. Her voice became clearer as she and her large boyfriend entered the room, "I was going to come myself, but he wanted to check for him…Oh, my god."

The softly spoken exclamation finally broke through. Kane was the first to react, just a simple turn of his head to greet his friends, but he didn't step back. Maria blinked furiously, trying to get a grip on what just happened. She looked around the room, anything to not look at the big man in front of her, or the others. She was embarrassed, a red blush coming up her neck to settle on her face, but what she was embarrassed for exactly, she didn't know.

"You could have knocked," was all Kane said, looking at his on screen brother.

The tattooed giant chuckled, and Maria fought the urge to hide her head, and in fact, she did try to hide, turning her body away from the open door. "We did knock," was his answer.

"Louder," was all he said. He could feel Maria's embarrassment radiating off her body and he figured that he had gotten what he needed to across, for the time being, and he slowly eased away. He was still near, however, and keeping a close eye on her.

"You should probably get ready for the show," he told her quietly and watched as she took the easy out and headed for the door with her head down. He didn't let her get far, though, before he asked for her to wait. She stopped near the door, not looking at the tall blonde that was standing right next to her. "Don't forget your book."

Maria turned slightly and looked beneath her lashed as Kane walked over and handed her the book. Holding eye contact he added, "You really should read it."

She did nothing for a moment. Then, nodding, she left the room.


Hey everyone, I'm back! I took some time off to recover from surgery and I figured, since I'm finally feeling somewhat myself, I was long overdue for an update.

I think we got some Maria and Kane goodness under our belt to tide us over to the next chapter. Things are starting to get a little more interesting, no?

Please review and let me know what you think!