Chapter 9
Naturally, conversation shifted back to business. "You think they're really going to cut us after this merger, Randy?"
Ted snorted, shaking his head. "Not Randy, us maybe."
"They won't." Randy said confidently, studying Jade thoughtfully. "Your head feeling any better?"
"Very." She murmured with a nod, feeling his arms tighten around her a little more and smiled. It'd been so long since she was held by a man and it being Randy made it all the better. Her eyes drifted closed as she yawned, this time not stifling it, groaning when she was pinched in the arm. "That's not very nice, Orton." She grumbled, wanting to sleep. "I don't have a concussion." How many times did she have to say it? "I'm not even dizzy."
"You look like you might have one." Randy said quietly, smirking when she pinched him back. "Look, just make it to the hotel without falling asleep and once you're in your room, you can do whatever you want. I can't bother you in there."
Cody coughed, only to be slapped upside the head by Ted.
"Quiet Coddles."
Jade was tempted to say 'no, but I want you too', deciding to keep that thought to herself until they got to know each other a little better. "Fine." She grumbled, her eyes twinkling in amusement with a smile on her face. "So what time is the concert? You never told me and what kind of place is this?" She had to make sure it wasn't a dressy place or else she'd have to go shopping. Some places required a certain dress in order to gain access.
"Concert starts at eight and it's at an outdoor stadium, casual dress."
"Luna Coil?"
"Lacuna Coil. And everyone will be dressed like...Goths."
Randy leaned forward and slapped Cody upside his head. "Problem with that?"
"Only if you wear fishnets..."
"Thank god he's not going because I love fishnets." She winked when Cody groaned, giggling quietly and seen Randy was staring at her intently. "What's that look for?" She demanded playfully, seeing the hotel up ahead and actually felt a twinge of sadness enter her. She was having fun with Legacy, especially Randy, not wanting it to end so soon. Though she knew Paul would be hunting her down demanding what happened. "You know, on second thought, I might swap hotels so Paul doesn't bother me."
"Do you think he will?"
"Yeah, what's his deal anyway? He acts like he's in love with you or something, it's sickening."
"And then Mark is all over Stephanie. I think they need to swap or something."
"Jade isn't with anyone. Are you?"
"No, are you?" She countered, seeing Randy shake his head, and smiled. "Good because if you were I'd have to question why you asked me out to that concert." She knew it was a date, she wasn't stupid. He was paying for her way and probably going to buy her dinner, turning her attention to Ted. "I assure all of you that Paul loves Stephanie with everything inside of him. As far as Mark goes..." She shrugged, putting her hands up with the gesture. "She probably called him up seeing as how he's the locker room leader or something to that extent right?"
"You're kidding, right?"
"Thought you and Steph were best buds?"
Randy just stayed quiet.
"He and Steph did this storyline back in 1999, like some kind of wedding thing. Anyways, the rumor was he got a soft spot for her."
"Not lovers or anything, like dad with his kid or something."
"No offense, but I really don't know what the deal with Mark is. He's protective of her, that's all I know, just as Paul is to me. I'm like his sister in a way, though he's pissed at me for burning him with a cigarette." Jade smirked, not able to forget that and felt Randy chuckling against her silently. "Mark doesn't feel anything for Stephanie and if he does, well, he'll have to fight Paul and that's really none of my business. What I'm concerned about is doing my job, making money to pay my bills, and keeping drama out of my life."
If that sounded bitchy, Jade didn't care because it was the truth. She didn't care what happened with Stephanie because the woman could handle her own. Now if Randy went too far, like put her in a hospital, which he hadn't yet then they would have problems.
"Sister, you are in the WRONG company if you don't want to deal with the drama factor." Cody shook his head, chuckling under his breath. "WWE is all about the drama."
"Drama being running over young, beautiful women?"
"Shut the hell up."
"Both of you shut up." Randy ordered gravely.
Jade wanted to kiss Randy for saying that and instead flashed him a smile, sighing. 'I really don't want to deal with Paul tonight.' She thought, rubbing her temples, already feeling a headache coming on at the mere thought of dealing with Paul. She groaned when they pulled up to the front of the hotel and Paul, Mark and Stephanie were waiting there. "Aww damn!"
"Fuck, what do we do Randy?"
"C'mon Ted, we'll run interference." Cody sighed, slipping out of the car.
"Now gentleman, let's talk about this calmly and rationally."
Randy was already moving to the front, engaging the locks before Paul or Mark could open the doors and peeled out of there. "You alright?" He asked, glancing back at her.
Jade was in the passenger seat now, having been set there after Cody and Ted got out, knowing they were probably getting their asses handed to them. "I need to go back and get my things..." She smiled when Randy got on his phone, directing her and his things to a different hotel before hanging up, shaking her head. What a mess. "What did you do?" She finally asked, staring over at him, and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Paul wouldn't just come at you with a sledgehammer and I'm pretty sure Mark doesn't carry chains around. What happened?"
Randy's grip on the steering wheel tightened ever so slightly. Not answering, he reached for a cigarette, lighting it up and inhaled, cracking open the window. "I don't think you want to know." He said finally in a low tone of voice. Actually, he knew she didn't want to know. He didn't want to tell her either, then she'd realize what everyone had been telling her. He was out of his mind.
She sighed and took his pack, since she didn't have hers, lighting one up herself and took a drag of it before touching his shoulder. "Randy, I'm not going to think bad about you. I just want to know so that when Paul does confront me about what happened, I'll have my facts straight." The poor guy was so afraid she'd think ill of him and she seen him tense to the point where the veins in his neck were bulging out. "Forget it." Sighing, Jade rolled down her window and took another drag, blowing the smoke out, letting the nicotine work its way through her system. She was tired, hungry and confused, the combination just didn't work.
"Tell him the truth. Cody knocked you down and I picked you up." Randy said simply, the truth wasn't so hard. Granted, Paul would still twist it around so this had all been planned by him and Jade was just some unknowing pawn in a game being played, but...Even Randy's luck wasn't that good. "I'm hungry." He announced, glancing at her. "How about you?"
"Yeah, I am." She admitted softly, seeing he was slowly relaxed, and took another drag. "What do you feel like having and where are we going?" She asked, knowing it was another hotel, though if Paul and Mark were after Randy, they were probably going to the next town over. Leaning her head back against the seat, Jade closed her eyes and turned up the song since they were still listening to Lacuna Coil, the song 'The Truth', singing softly to it while finishing her smoke.
"I don't care, somewhere with a drive-thru, we're not stopping." Randy said bluntly, knowing damn well Paul was going to wind up calling him for kidnap and groaned. He reached across to the dashboard, opening it and pulled out his cell phone, handing it to her. "Call Stephanie and let her know you're fine and I'm not torturing you to death or something."
Blinking, Jade took the phone from him and dialed Stephanie's number, knowing it by heart and put it to her ear.
"WHERE THE FUCK IS SHE?"
"Paul, calm down."
"Jade?" He immediately sighed a huge breath of relief, nodding at Mark, who was busy playing smashing skulls with Ted and Cody. "Where are you?"
"I'm with my lover, or didn't you know?"
"Goddamn it Jade, this is no time to play games! What the hell happened tonight?"
"All you need to know is that I'm having a fabulous time with Randy and I'm fine. He's not torturing me or anything...only in a good way." She giggled wickedly, eyes flashing. "Now if you'll excuse me, I was enjoying being kidnapped." She hung up and lit another cigarette.
"MOTHER FUCKER!"
That hadn't exactly been what Randy had in mind for her to say, though he had to admit it was damn funny. He sighed when his cell rang and took it from her. "What?"
"If you hurt her-"
"Look, she's fine. I'm not beating her, raping her, or plotting on killing her, so stop calling before I lose my temper."
Jade rolled her eyes and shook her head, hearing Stephanie's voice even with how soft she was talking. The woman had a shrilly voice that sometimes hit her nerves. She continued smoking her cigarette while Randy talked, finally hearing him hang up, and turned her head to stare at him.
"Lose your temper eh? So what exactly does that mean?" She was mildly interested and blew smoke downward so it didn't hit his face, not that he would mind since he was as much of a smoker as she was.
"When I lose my temper, bad things happen." Randy said after a moment's consideration. "That angle they're running with me having a disease, an anger disease, it's not a storyline. It's true. Only, I'm not quite as psychotic as they like to portray me. I can manage it, for the most part."
"Well that's good to know." Jade cracked a smile at him and turned to stare out the window again.
What the hell was she doing? She was alone with Randy, something she had dreamed about, but this temper issue concerned her. Somehow, she knew he wouldn't hurt her, at least not intentionally. That wasn't a comforting thought as she rubbed her temples, finishing her cigarette and flicked it out the window, wondering what was going to happen now. Stephanie was probably freaking out along with Paul. She had no clue why Mark was involved besides the fact that she was Stephanie's best friend and he was a backup of sorts. Her headache was coming back as Jade pushed them all away, not wanting to think about it.
"Tylenol in the dashboard." Randy grunted around his cigarette, eyes fastened on the road. No doubt she thought he was going to drive her far out into the country, beat her till she couldn't stand any longer, cut her into tiny pieces and then bury them all about in six different counties.
"I'm fine." She grabbed his hand in hers, giving it a gentle squeeze to let him know she didn't think any worse of him. So what if he had an anger problem? He never hurt her and gave her no reason not to trust him. So until he did one or both, Jade wasn't going to judge him as she smiled over at him. "How about that food?" She suggested, changing the subject, seeing how tense he was and wanted to relax him somehow. She reached up and began rubbing the back of his neck, releasing his hand, concern in her green eyes.
That felt really good and soon Randy was relaxing somewhat under her touch, finally reaching back to take her hand in his, holding them between them. "You need to tell me what you want." He said softly, eyes now scanning the streets, the different fast food places. He himself could eat just about anything so...as long as it came in a large quantity, he was good to go.
Her gaze left him reluctantly, having focused on his face, knowing she had calmed him down and smiled. "How about...Taco Bell?" Jade suggested, watching as he switched lanes and pulled into the drive-thru.
She was happy to be with Randy, away from all the chaos and his goons, even though Ted and Cody weren't as bad as she originally thought. They were instigators though and disrespectful. As long as she was with Randy, Jade didn't care what those two morons did as they waited their turn to get their food.
"What do you want?" Randy asked, eyeing the menu thoughtfully, his head turning to look at her. He arched an eyebrow when she told him, shrugging and pulled forward. She didn't eat a lot, well...actually, he pretty much thought that way when it came to anyone who ordered less then half a horse.
Jade sipped her strawberry lemonade Frutista happily, her food resting in her lap along with part of Randy's. She couldn't believe he had ordered ten tacos, but then again he wasn't the average small man. He also paid for it, which didn't surprise her, especially when he declined her offer to pay for her own. Jade didn't mind as she took out her burrito, something that wasn't as messy as tacos and took a bite out of it, nodding when she seen they'd gotten her order right.
"Thank you Randy." She softly said after swallowing the first bite, reaching over and kissed his cheek.
Randy's head turned just as she was pulling away, his lips brushing against hers for a brief moment. "You're welcome." He whispered, unable to suppress the electricity that was now coursing throughout his entire body. Deciding to risk Mark and Paul somehow catching up and finding them, he pulled over into a parking lot. Not wanting to eat and drive, mainly because he wasn't keen on wearing his food in front of Jade.
Her cheeks turned a deep crimson red as she stared down at her food, biting her bottom lip, and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear while taking another sip of her beverage. His lips felt so soft and wonderful, Jade couldn't stop smiling for the life of her and was glad he had pulled over. She didn't want him getting into an accident, somehow knowing Cody and Ted were keeping Paul and Mark occupied long enough for them to get far enough away. No matter how hard she tried, Jade couldn't get the feeling of his lips off of hers and it was slowly lighting her sex depraved body on fire.
Randy ate in silence, his mind bouncing between Jade and how much he'd like to explore an actual kiss with her and his friends. They were either leading Dumb and Dead on a wild goose chase or getting their asses knocked to hell and back. He frowned at the idea, knowing he would have to injure Paul and Mark if they so much as laid one hand on his partners in crime for supposedly kidnapping Jade.
