Chapter 11

He was outside, studying the neighborhood. She had been taking forever in the bathroom, so… reluctantly, he admitted the view wasn't too bad, but wasn't overly pleased at the sight of another damn lizard on his truck either.

"Emery brought home a man? I am surprised…"

That was a high pitched, fake sugary voice and the very stereotype of dumb blond on the front walk. Mark had to fight the urge to roll his eyes at the sight of her walking a Chihuahua; those were not dogs, they were rats on a leash. "She sure did." He rumbled, letting his voice drop to a low, husky pitch, hooking his thumbs through his belt loops. Mark had foregone the belt and his jeans were hanging just a little low on his hips. He stood there, black hair down, bare chested and she was gawking.

"Oh my… I'm Cindy."

He bet. "Mark, darlin'." This could be amusing.

The front door opened just as he greeted Cindy and Emery immediately regretted coming outside, inwardly groaning. Why? Why did the gods have to punish her with the likes of Cindy Bakell? This woman was plastic all the way around, had so many surgeries to enhance her body it was pathetic.

Cindy practically floated over to where they stood, her dark blue eyes devouring the sex god in front of her whole. That's exactly what he was. "My – My, Emy, you didn't tell me you had a new hunk in your life…"

"That's because I don't flaunt my relationships in front of the world, unlike you, Cindy. And the name is Emery." She HATED being called Emy with a passion and didn't bother hiding her disdain.

"Now – now, no need to be snide, kiddo." How the HELL had Emery landed this man was beyond her! "I was just getting to know your new man…Mark, was it?"

"My – wait what?" Emery was now looking at Mark, confusion swirling in her sky-blue orbs.

"Yeah, Mark." He replied, flashing a very charming, predatory smile and slung his arm out, catching Emery and pulling her into his side. No wonder she had taken forever, her hair was braided. Mark bet it took her an hour in the shower, just on hair alone. "We only just started datin', honey." He drawled, keeping that low, husky voice, the one that tended to cause panties to drop. Mark could see hers falling, figuratively. He doubted she was wearing any, that skirt was too short and too tight; he didn't see any lines.

"Oh…" Cindy was eyeing them speculatively and Mark like he was a piece of meat she wanted to tear into. "So… not serious then?"

"She's into the sex, I'm hopin' we're going to get more serious, but…" He shrugged, pretty sure Emery was going to brain him. "You know how it is; try having a serious conversation when all you're doing is… you know…"

"I do?"

"Course you do." He watched as she approached them. The woman was confused and it showed. "Sex, honey, keep up. We're in a physical relationship."

She had never once in her life been jealous of her neighbor until just now.

Emery had to snap out of her shocked state if this was going to work, if she wanted to convince Cindy they were… "VERY physical." Good, her vocal cords still worked, so that was a plus.

"How come I haven't seen you around here then?"

"Because we just started dating, didn't you hear him?" Emery took a chance and slid her hand up his bare chest, snuggling into his side while eyeballing her nosey neighbor. "He came to pay me a visit while I'm on vacation."

How could a man of his stature, of his sex appeal, be interested in someone who looked like they should still be in high school? "Anything I can do to change your mind, handsome?" Her voice came out in a purr, ignoring Emery. "I'm sure you'd rather have a REAL woman in bed than…that."

Her face had turned red at that blatant insult, but Emery kept her temper in check. "Well, Calaway, what do you think about that?" She asked, looking up at him and wondered if he did find Cindy attractive. Probably. He seemed like the type who bed-hopped and had his fair share of women like the plastic Barbie doll in front of them.

Now, if it had been on his terms, maybe… but as it was, Cindy was acting like an outright slut and a bitch to boot. "No, darlin', I think I'm good with what I got right here." He blatantly dropped his hand down to her jean covered backside and squeezed himself a handful. "Besides," His gaze raked over Cindy sneeringly. "Judgin' from them fake tits and the obvious nose job, you're not that much of a real woman, honey."

"You son of a bitch!"

"Get lost, broad." He growled, a hand moving up Emery's back to grip her neck, forcing her to tilt her head back so he could meet her eyes. He winked at her before bending down to kiss the corner of her mouth.

"No, that's…" Cindy couldn't wrap her mind around this travesty and picked up her dog. "You slut!"

He was outright laughing now.

Emery would've laughed if her breath hadn't been stolen from her body from that slight brush of Mark's against hers. Granted, it was just a brush and on the corner, but…it was enough to light her body on fire and felt stomach form in the pit of her stomach. She had to keep reminding herself he was using her to scare Cindy off while his bone-chilling laughter flooded over her. His lips were still on the corner while laughing and all she could do was stand there, trying to force herself to add in the laughter since Cindy was still watching.

"No, that would be you, sweetheart."

Taking the reins of this situation, since Mark wanted to use her, Emery figured she'd take advantage and slid her hand through his silky black tresses before planting a full lip lock on him, tightening her fingers in his hair. Damn, he was a better kisser than she imagined and this did nothing to quell the raging fire inside of her. Cindy's dumb ass was a glutton for punishment. She had stopped out on the sidewalk to glare at them some more so… Mark lifted Emery up, guiding her legs around his waist and returned that kiss, making her melt visibly into him. One hand moved to her braid and he tugged her head back, hearing her moan. She was… he had been right. Woman was a masochist and that was something any other time he'd exploit, but right now… they had an audience.

"Shut up, Taco!" She shrieked when the dog began screeching in pain, she was off again, not even bothering to look back this time.

"She named that poor damn rat taco?"

Cindy threw her hands up, shrieking in outrage and stormed away with her dog, practically choking the poor thing.

"I – what?"

Emery was dazed from that kiss, not expecting him to lift her off the ground or to return the passion. Pulling her hair had done something to her, the desire swirling in her now slightly darker blues. It took a few seconds to register what he asked her and Emery nodded, stumbling a little when he set her down on the ground. Her fingers instantly went to her swollen lips, not remembering the last time a man kissed her quite like that, if ever.

"I didn't mean to kiss you, but she was pissing me off and…" What if he didn't want to be kissed? Then the harsh realization dawned on her, crashed over her like a tidal wave…she just kissed the Undertaker! "Sorry…"

Emery did not sound sorry at all.

"No, you're not." He chuckled, stepping away from her and ran his fingers through his loose hair, smirking as he watched Cindy disappear with her rat around the corner. "That was fun, Queenie." 'Mark looked down at her, still grinning. "So, want to finish that movie?" His shirt would be done by then he imagined and then he'd leave, before he pulled her hair again.

"Yeah it was."

She grinned back at him, the crimson in her cheeks dwindling and lead him back inside the house, shutting the door. The dryer was still going, but by the time the movie, which was paused, ended it would be finished. Emery didn't want him to leave, but it seemed like he was restless and ready to get the hell out of dodge. While the movie resumed, she cleaned up the living room to get her mind off the kiss, her lips still burning and tingling from it. What the hell had she been thinking kissing this man? Shaking her head, Emery shoved all the leftover pizza in a Ziploc bag and put in the fridge and finally sat back down on the couch.

He was sound asleep when she returned to the living room. Mark had driven straight on through from the house show and then been up all day just hanging out with the former Dork Chick. She had surprised him and it seemed like Mark had surprised her too. But when she had started cleaning, he had stopped pretending he cared about the movie and began dozing instead.

Finding him asleep on the couch made her heart warm at the sight, so Emery didn't disturb him and finished the movie. He wouldn't be leaving, at least not tonight. It was too late for him to leave anyway and she did have a spare bedroom with a queen-sized bed. At the same time, however, she didn't want to wake him up. He looked so peaceful when he slept as she watched him for a little while, burning every bit of this to memory. Once he left, she would never see him again since Vince had practically fired her and that made her sigh sadly. Hanging out with him was a lot of fun, even scaring Cindy off and the kiss…Emery wondered if he enjoyed it as much as she did or if he was acting. Eventually, she too fell asleep leaning against him.


"For the record, you can't be fired because Matthew has lost his mind." Paul said first thing the next morning. He had found her spare key and let himself in, Randy right behind him. "We brought bagels, doughnuts, and lots of coffee… and extra controllers- WHAT THE FUCK?"

Randy stared over Paul's head, cocking an eyebrow. "That was… unexpected." He said finally, sidestepping Paul.

Not even bothering to open his eyes, Mark reached underneath Emery. She had shifted and woken him up sometime during the night, so he had turned her back to where she wouldn't fall off of him. She made a great blanket. However, she was laying on her stomach, on him, and his balls needed adjusting. He used one arm to leverage her up just a little and the other to do said adjusting.

"What – where?!" Emery popped her head up, hearing someone shouting behind her and quickly took inventory of where she was at and WHO she was on. "Umm…"

How the HELL was she supposed to explain this one?

Her glasses were off, lying on the coffee table, but she knew exactly what rock-hard body she was lying on top of and felt her cheeks burn bright red. When she moved her knee and heard Mark hiss out, Emery mumbled an incoherent apology and carefully pushed herself up on him. She wasn't very graceful though and landed on her backside on the carpeted floor, hearing laughter behind her.

"I'm going to kill you both." Emery knew who was here and rolled over to sit up on her knees, sliding her glasses on her face. "What in god's name are you two doing here?"

First Mark and now them…was the WWE in her part of the country?

"We came to see you and bring you presents. Namely, breakfast and our hot bods. What the fuck is he doing here?" Randy wasn't overly pleased at the sight of Emery sleeping with/on the Undertaker. He flexed beneath his t-shirt, prepared to toss the old man out on his dead backside.

"Yeah, why are you two sleeping together?"

Mark had rolled onto his side to stare down at Emery, amusement on his face as he blinked his hazy green eyes at her. "Because the sex is good." He rumbled, his voice thick with sleep.

"No – NO it's not!" Emery shook her head fervidly, eyes wide and held her hand up to Randy before he could put his foot in his mouth. "Chill out. Oh my god, it's too damn early for this. I need coffee." Stumbling over to Paul, she took the one that looked the sweetest and took a long sip of it, giving him a thumbs up. "Okay, I can think a little more clearly now. Mark paid me a visit to talk to me about my job…and informed me someone has been sabotaging me. Because ever since I was suspended, fired, whatever you wanna call it, the pranks and bullshit that happened to him, that he thought we did, have stopped." She had to take another long swig of her coffee. "We made a truce. He's not a bad guy…" Mostly, she added in thought, shooting a playful glare over her shoulder at him before looking back at her friends. "We're not at war anymore and we're NOT sleeping together…not sexually anyway." Her cheeks flamed, not believing she'd been caught sleeping on the Undertaker and plucked a donut out of the container. "Now, we can all be friendly with each other, yeah? Please?"

Randy stared down into her face suspiciously. "Not bumping uglies?"

"That's not what you told Cindy, darlin'."

"You shut up or I'll piss in your gas tank."

Yawning even more, Mark stood up and looked down when both men's eyes dropped to his crotch. His fly was undone and he was a commando guy, so everyone got to see what happy trail hairline he did have and the top of his unmentionables. Emery looked ready to burst a vein she was so red.

"That's gross… Em!?"

"I – I swear – I SWEAR to you both we didn't do anything except talk!" Did Mark enjoy humiliating her like this? "Okay we…uh…we need to get on a different topic." She stuffed a donut in Randy's mouth and then Paul's, shaking her head when both eyeballed her. "Do you really think he'd go for someone like me anyway?"

"Yeah."

"Yup."

"You both suck. Just eat your donuts and shut up." There was no way in hell she was telling them about the kiss her and Mark shared. It was none of their business and it'd been to scare Cindy off. "Mark, I'll get your shirt for you." She practically dashed past him to the laundry room, trying to get her face to stop being a cherry.

"Swallow boys, show me your talent." His comment was rewarded with them both spitting out chunks of donuts all over her floor. He began laughing, the booming sound echoing throughout the house. Mark made quite the show of zipping his pants up.

"Oh you son of a-" Randy halted when Paul held out a hand, frowning. "What?"

"You really want her to get mad at you?"

When Randy gave him a dark look, he didn't miss the ice in those blue eyes and his upper lip curled.

After taking a few extra minutes to calm her racing heart as well as let the redness in her cheeks disappear, Emery walked out tossing Mark the t-shirt with a smile. "Stain free, just as promised." The tension was so thick in the room, it couldn't be cut with a knife. "Do you want some…" She blinked when he took her coffee and promptly took a long swig of it, seeing his face contort in both disgust and relief. "I probably should've warned you it's loaded with sugar." It was actually a caramel frappe, but… "Want me to make a pot of coffee so you can fix it how you want?" Emery really wished Paul and Randy would stop gaping at her, rolling her eyes at them.

As soon as Mark and Emery disappeared into the kitchen, Paul groaned. "Son of a bitch, you think…"

"Hell if I know…" This was just weird and they followed the pair, still clutching the coffee and breakfast goodies.

She was making coffee and he was unbraiding her hair because that braid was crazy. "You need a trim, darlin'." Mark pointed out, crouching behind her to finish unplaiting it, throwing Randy a wink. "Got some split ends." Not too many though, considering the length and the weight.

"Fart on him, Em."

"I know – I know. I'll do it eventually. You should know better than anyone what it's like being attached to your hair." Emery remarked softly, not minding him redoing her braid and finished with the coffee pot, reaching up in the cabinet to grab a huge mug. It had the DC logo on it and could fit at least 4 cups of coffee in it easily. "Cream is in the fridge, though…hold on." Making a face, she moved to the side to pop it open and checked the expiration date, nodding. "Yeah it's still good. It's French vanilla. Sugar is in this container. And help yourself to the donuts and whatever else they brought. We won't be able to eat all of it." Finally turning to face him, Emery turned red again because his face was directly facing her… "That's not a good position to be in, Deadman…"

Laughing, Mark moved away from her and ignored the creamer and sugar, preferring his coffee like he liked his women. Strong and able to jolt his mind and body with energy. Smirking, he leaned back against the counter and sipped it.

"You leaving soon, Deadman?"

He shrugged one massive shoulder, still not having put on his shirt. Mark had draped it around his neck instead. "Darlin', mind if I borrow your shower?"

"Nope, go for it. And you can stay as long as you want." Emery smacked his arm lightly when his tongue snaked out to wet his lips, turning red again. "Stop it." His deep rumbling chuckle echoed behind him as he headed across the living room down the hallway toward her bathroom. "Use the Pantene Pro-V, not the Dove, please!" She called over her shoulder, smirking when he growled and heard the door close, laughing softly.