A/N: Ok, peoples…I know it's been a few days, so I tried my best to make this chapter extra special for you As always, thank you so much for your support…and I LOVE to hear back from you!!
BTW…In case you all are wondering…NO I don't think Shane is IRL the arrogant jerk everyone assumes he is. And NO, I don't think he sleeps with half the roster. I'm completely baffled by the "Shane as the other Randy man-hoe" phenomenon that seems to be sweeping across the community. I've seen Shane in person, several times, with and without his family, and he seems like a normal every day, hot blooded guy. That's not to say we can't dream…right, ladies? ;)
"Yup?" Mysteriously, Katharine's cell phone sprung into life. Over the last 24 hours, she answered more calls than she had done in her entire life. After about the third or forth customary "Welcome to the WWE" call, she half believed she was going to work in an asylum. Why did everyone feel it was their duty to teach her about the exalted career of Shawn Michaels in three minutes? She rubbed the back of her head. Katharine had a funny feeling that people were more interested in being nosy than saying hello.
"He finally got to you!" A familiar female voice snickered on the other end of the line.
Katharine groaned. "Don't you people have anything better to do?"
"Not really…well…actually?"
"Oh. No. Most definitely NOT a visual I need, Becky. Thank you very much." She had met Becky at a show in California a year or so ago. The two had kept in touch ever since. Becky, of course, was obsessed with the idea of setting Katharine up so that she could finally take her beloved Cody out on a double date. Becky had made it her life's mission to expose Cody to everything he had missed over the years training to become the WWE's next big thing.
Becky giggled. "Jealous much? Don't even think about—"
"Please. Please. You can have him. I don't WANT him, Becky…" Katharine sighed. Katharine was well aware of Becky's mantra—by the end of their first conversation. Cody Rhodes IS the greatest thing to happen to this world. As if things couldn't have gotten worse, when Cody and Becky finally hooked up, Becky somehow managed to work Cody into every conversation they had. It didn't matter what the topic was. Which color nailpolish should I wear? Oooooh. Cody loves it when I wear red. He says it's a major turn-on. Katharine shouldn't have been surprised when they were at the local Victoria's Secret and every other word out of Becky's mouth was "Cody".
"Just what the hell is that supposed to mean? You don't think my Cody is hot?"
Katharine rolled her eyes, throwing some clothes on her bed. "Why—exactly did you call me again? I'm kinda-sorta busy here—"Katharine tried to multitask, talking on the phone while gathering things so that she could neatly pack them in her suitcase.
Becky snickered. "Yeah, I heard all about how busy you are."
Katharine took the phone away from her ear briefly just to make sure it was the same thing she had been talking on the entire time. She wasn't quite sure what Becky was trying to—in her own subtle way, allude to—but for once, as long as it didn't involve Cody, she was more than happy. "You've been into the Cody Crack again, haven't you?" Katharine could sense the smirk on Becky's face. "Becky—you have to leave the man's clothes alone! Do you want him to run around butt necked or something?"
Becky gasped. Katharine knew she had made a mistake.
"Scratch that. Do you want everyone and their brother to see YOUR Cody running around butt necked?"
"I only took one of his shirts." Becky answered way too innocently.
"Uh-huh. What is that? This week?" Katharine knew better. Becky had bragged to her on numerous occasions about how she routinely pilfered things from Cody's luggage.
"Like you won't be "acquiring" any of Shane O'Mac's stuff." Becky sniffed. "I taught you your ways…remember?"
Shane O…what the HELL? "Excuse me?" Katharine laughed incredulously. "Did I just hear you say what I think I heard you say?"
Becky taunted. "Did you honestly think I wouldn't find out?"
"About?"
"Rumor has it that somebody was scene cuddling up with the boss' son last night…" Becky ribbed.
Katharine couldn't believe what she was hearing. How the hell did anyone know that she knew Shane McMahon existed—let alone trying to figure out who's twisted mind could have concocted—"BECKY!"
"Yes? Miss Katharine?" Becky knew that tone of voice irritated Katharine to no end.
Katharine growled slightly. "Look. I don't know what the hell kind of scheme you're trying to cook up—but just….DON'T."
"You're welcome!" Becky retorted, rather brightly.
Katharine groaned. This was the very last thing she needed. She hadn't even started her job yet, and apparently, half the company thought she was the Heir Aparrent's new play thing. "Think what you will, but he's SO not my type." Katharine went to the bathroom to gather some of her toiletries.
"Uh huh. You know…this whole lying thing isn't working out for you girl, even over the phone." Becky snickered into the other end of the line. "I know you too well, remember?"
Katharine rolled her eyes. "And you should know me well enough to know that I don't do married guys…"
"You don't do anyone. That's your problem." Becky retorted into the phone, matter-of-factly.
Katharine gasped. Even though the two girls had been friends for quite a while, Becky's frank manner of speaking still managed to amaze her. Unable to think of a witty comeback, she stood agape, staring at her reflection in the mirror.
"That's what I thought." Becky shook her head on the other end of the phone. She'd been out partying with Katharine—on several occasions, and knew enough about her friend to know that she was no innocent. At least, when she wasn't attached to her Uncle's hip. That wasn't to say that Katharine was a wild child—not by any stretch of the imagination, it only meant that Katharine knew how to have a good time. Even if she had to be coaxed out of her shell in order to do so.
"You—you—" Katharine stammered. "I'm NOT like that Becky, and you of all people should know that!"
"Oh please. Would you just take a damn chill pill? No one's accusing you of being the next locker room slut. You just…need to let your hair down once in a while. So Shane is paying attention to you…and by the way….in case you haven't heard "Miss He's Not My Type"….can I ask you a question?"
"I have a feeling you're going to anyways…"
Becky giggled. "How right you are. Did you do what I taught you-- last night?"
Katharine snickered herself. Becky told her to do a—lot of things. Some things she remembered, others she preferred NOT to. "How could I shave my legs? I didn't know they were coming over!" Katharine quipped sarcastically.
Becky made a disgruntled noise. "Not THAT! The first rule! Remember the FIRST rule!"
"No, Becky. He wasn't wearing a ring. But so what? Like a guy couldn't take it off his finger?"
Becky growled into the receiver, causing Katharine to jump. "You don't listen to a damn word I say, do you, Katie?"
Katharine, feeling a playful mood coming on, decided to screw with Becky—just for the fun of it. "I don't need a damn sleigh. It's like 100 degrees here…"
"You're right…what you really need is to get—"
"Don't go there, Becky." Katharine warned. Somehow, someway, Becky was going to learn that even the closest of girlfriends had boundaries.
"You know you love me."
"No, I don't."
"Ohhhhhh come on." Becky pouted. "I know something that will make you feel lots better!"
"Fine." Katharine relented, lapsing into the customary speech. "I love you, Becky. Cody loves you. Cody worships the ground you walk on."
Peals of giggles filled the line. "I know! Isn't he just…great!! You should see him when he wakes up in the morning…he has the cutest little…"
"EWWWWWWWW!" Katharine half-yelled, holding the phone away from her ear.
"Speaking of which—hey, babe!"
Katharine didn't even have to ask who just walked in the door. "Becky?" She grimaced when she heard kissy noises on the other end of the line. "BECKY. STOP IT!"
"Sorry about that…Cody just came in…" Becky panted, trying not to giggle. "I'll be off the phone in a minute! Don't do that!" Becky squealed. "You know I'm ticklish!"
Katharine wanted to puke. It's not like this hadn't happened before—but every time it did, it just seemed to get worse and worse and worse.
"One—thing." Becky was trying to hold off Cody's advances (temporarily), so that she could give her friend the wisdom (yet again) that would make all of the troubles in her life disappear. "Shane…not married…divorced."
Katharine's eyebrow shot straight up. Ok…so perhaps she had lied, just a little bit. "Are you kidding me?"
"Nope, he's divorced." Cody had commandeered the phone. "And we're a bit busy, so she'll call you back later." Click. Just like that, the phone was dead as a doorknob.
Katharine splashed her face with some cool water. Tall, dark, handsome, rich and most important….single? She splashed her face again before reaching for a towel. She'd heard stories about the infamous, young, McMahon. Some of the tales were so completely off the charts that she knew they were crap from the start. On the other hand, there seemed to be a common message in all of the stories—that Shane McMahon always got what he wanted. To those he truly loved—his family, his friends…there was no one more loyal. But to those who dared to cross him—he would see them destroyed without blinking an eye.
Picking her makeup bag off the counter, Katharine walked back into her bedroom. Depositing the items on her bed, she went to her dresser to retrieve some of her lingerie. She bit her lip as she looked at the picture in the small, elegant silver picture frame. Andrew. She sighed. At one time, Katharine fancied herself very in love with her ex-boyfriend. He had been her night in shining armor the entire time she was taking care of her Father. She couldn't count how many times Andrew had shown up unexpectedly with her favorite meal, sshing her off to her room so that she could have a night to herself while he sat with her Father. Katie turned the picture over. Her heart ached the memory of overhearing Andrew and her Father bantering like a Father and Son—while her Father lay in his bed dying.
Andrew sure as hell didn't waste any time making his move. Katharine hadn't had a chance to make the funeral arrangements before Andrew started talking about eloping to Vegas. At the time, Katharine hadn't thought anything about it—her head was in too many places to focus on him. But when Andrew tried to force himself on her the day of her Father's funeral? Katharine grinned at herself. I wonder if he's able to use that part of himself again? It had been several years, but Katharine had given that lousy SOB a ball busting that would have Ol' Trips peeing in his pants.
"You know—I'd go with the red one. Definitely. All though—I wouldn't mind seeing that little blue one on you."
Katharine couldn't believe what she was hearing. Slowly, she turned her head to the doorway of her room. How long had he been standing there? Both disgusted and surprised at the same time, all she could do was stare at him—incredulously. Shane was leaning against the doorjamb, arms folded across his chest and generally looking like the cat who had just swallowed the canary.
"What? You're not going to show me?" Shane pouted.
Quickly snapping back into reality, Katharine slammed her lingerie drawer shut. "Do you mind?"
Shane looked around innocently before shrugging. "Not at all. By all means, continue what you were doing…" Shane smirked.
Katharine stood there for a few moments, expecting him to leave. Much to her dismay, he didn't move a muscle in his big, strong—Katharine bit her lip. She had a feeling that she might not ever want to speak to Becky—ever again. "Do you just walk into any woman's bedroom that you want?"
No shit. Shane was genuinely wounded. He had a reputation of being quite the ladies' man—not that he minded it one bit. In truth, he loved it that way. Shane had dated a fair amount of women in his time. However, contrary to popular knowledge, he was far more selective with regards to who he gave his attention to, and even pickier when it came to who he spent the night with. He couldn't put his finger on it—but this particular woman…this…Katie Grace was different. Even her name brought a smile to his face. Shane got the message loud and clear that she wasn't going to put up with any of his bullshit. And, as a result, she had managed capture his undivided attention.
Shane knew exactly what Katharine was thinking—and he loved it. Honestly, he had come to talk to her about business. When he first arrived, he was somewhat alarmed to find the front door wide open. She needs to be more careful, dammit. Perhaps he would have to teach her a lesson. Shane smiled to himself. He had come up with the idea of making it a habit to lock doors behind him, and tonight, it was going to pay off.
Katharine snapped in front of his face. "My eyes are up here, thank you very much."
Shane shook his head. "Sorry about that. Something…caught my eye…."
"Yeah…I know." Katharine snickered, closing her suitcase. "Is there something I can help you with? Because…as you can see—" She motioned to her suitcase and overnight bags.
Shane froze. His mind went completely blank. Her snicker, coupled with that smirk on her lips did things to him that he had never felt before.
"Ugh!" Katharine growled, wrestling her suitcase to the floor. "If you're going to stay…would you please just put this by the front door, instead of staring at my ass all night long?"
Holy Shit. Katie sure had guts to call him out on the carpet. Shane gave her a long once over. Once, just once, HE was going to have someone completely to himself—without having to compete with any of the backstage losers. In his heart of hearts, he had grown weary of the never-ending parade of bimbos. After a while, they became one and the same. And after all that shit he went through with Marissa? Coming home to surprise her on their anniversary, and finding her in bed with the fuckin milk man? The actual fucking milk man? He was more than ready to find himself a good woman. Someone who could dish his own shit right back to him and keep him coming back for more. In short, Shane wanted a woman he couldn't stand being apart from. Someone he could think of while he was on the road, and KNOW…just KNOW that she was waiting for he and he alone to come home to her. Shane however, wasn't an idiot. He KNEW that this task would be nearly impossible. It went without saying that he'd have to reform some of his ways. Now, he was sure he'd finally found the right incentive.
Shane shook his head, playfully. "Actually, I'd rather just stand here all night and stare at your ass…" Katharine shot him a warning look. God, she's so sexy with that look on her face. I bet she doesn't even know it, either. She now stood face to face with him.
"You just won't take the hint, will you?" Katharine folded her own arms across her chest, leaning back on the opposite edge of the doorjamb. Unfortunately for her, this little move provided her opponent with a much better view of her cleavage.
"The hint?" Shane asked innocently, changing his position so that he was standing in front of Katharine.
Katharine shook her head. "I know what your little game is. I'm not an idiot."
Shane watched, fascinated by the skin on her smooth neck as she swallowed—hard. Shane was now supporting himself by the hand he had placed on the wall, just to the side of her head. "I really think you're underestimating me, Miss Michaels."
Katharine's heart was in her throat. This was bad, bad baaaaaaaaaad. This was NOT her. But somehow, someway—it was just—so damn fun. No way in hell would she have even considered—if he was married—but he was single—and if she was smart about it—it was all good, right? Didn't Becky say something about…letting her hair down? She could feel Shane's breath on her skin. As much as she didn't want to admit it, it did things to her.
"Honestly?" He breathed into the crook of her neck, causing her to sigh blissfully and rest her head against the wall. (Unintentionally leaving him more room, of course.) He cupped her cheek with his free hand. Damn, she's perfect. Katharine fit his hand like a hand-made, Italian leather glove. She looked up at him, with the most beautiful—and the most innocent eyes he had ever seen before. "I didn't…"
"Shut up." Katharine swiveled her head ever so slightly to kiss the palm of his hand. She was just as guilty—if not more guilty than he was. Katharine blushed. She knew what she was doing when she crossed her arms over her chest. And of course, she had every opportunity to put some space between them.
She kissed his hand. Katharine had actually just kissed HIS hand. No one had ever kissed Shane McMahon's hand. The gesture blew him away. How could something so sweet and so loving be such a turn on? As slowly as he could possibly manage to, Shane leaned in to kiss her. He had overheard her, the night before, saying she was ticklish. He had the devilish inclination to test the theory for himself. All in the cause of angling his head so that he was in the perfect position to kiss her, he accidentally allowed the newly formed jaw line stubble to scrape across her cheek. She squirmed, letting out a throaty giggle.
"You are such an evil son of a--." Katharine stopped herself, mid sentence, only to stare at Shane like a child who had just gotten caught with her hand in the cookie jar.
Shane groaned, plopping his head down on Katharine's shoulder. How—in the hell—had he managed to turn his phone to vibrate—instead of shutting it off, completely?
"Awwww….my poor baby…." Katharine ended up in a peel of giggles despite her best efforts to console him.
Shane, upon feeling Katharine's arm around his shoulder—decided to wrap both of his arms around her. He whimpered like a sad, little boy. At least I'm having fun on my way to hell… He smirked to himself as he snuggled into her chest.
Katharine laughed at Shane's childish antics. He wasn't at all like any man she had ever dated. The overtures themselves were obvious, but the way he presented them wasn't perverted or nasty or demanding at all. In a sense, anyway. She smiled, trying to pry Shane's head away from her. "You Sir…should probably answer your phone. Besides…I don't sleep with guys who haven't taken me to dinner…" The second half of her statement was said in a very playful, joking manner.
Shane pouted. "I knew it! I knew it! I KNEW IT! I come all the way over here, to discuss business with you…and you…try to seduce me!"
Katharine rolled her eyes, laughing at Shane while she wiggled out of his embrace. "Keep on telling yourself that, buddy."
"Although—" He smirked. "I can't say that I could blame you…even if you did…want to use me for my body…" Shane winked at her.
Katharine gasped.
"I know. Shocking isn't it?" Shane was having way too much fun to stop now. He shook his head. "I felt so dirty last night--the way you keep on eyeing my like a piece of meat…" He shuddered, melodramatically.
Katharine was agog. "You know what I think?" There was no doubt in Katharine's mind that her entire face was fire engine red by now. "I think you're a cocky, egotistic—no….egomaniacal, arrogant…jackass…" Shane beamed. Apparently, he thought that was a compliment. "…who is utterly….and absolutely completely full of 100 hot air without a move in his repertoire to back up his words." Katharine smiled sweetly at the completely shocked expression on his face before waving and retreating to the sanctuary of her bathroom. Katharine had won round one. Now began the war.