A/N: Another chapter. Hope you enjoy it. Feel free to leave a review.

Disclaimer: Don't own anyone or anything, except Izzie, she's mine.

Chapter 5

There were looks, of course there were looks, and he had expected them. It's not like you're going to walk in, hand-in-hand, with the boss's daughter and not get looks. Chris didn't care, he was holding Stephanie's hand and she was leaning into him and they both let Izzie lead, content with just being in their own little bubble. They could look, but he was the one who got to touch and unlike his dream his hand did not pass through. He'd spent Friday and Saturday in Connecticut, flown home to Florida on Sunday and then flew out to the Staples Centre Monday morning where he met up with Stephanie at the hotel her family were staying at.

He'd talked to her on his cell that night, and when it finally reached just after one in the morning, he reluctantly hung up, promising to see her tomorrow.

The more they walked, the more he noticed people turn to each other and whisper. No doubt the gossip mill would be overflowing tonight, he could just imagine what they were saying to each other right now:

"When'd they become friends?"

"I have no clue, I didn't know she had any friends."

"He's with her?"

"What a waste."

"Nice way to climb up the ladder."

"He's already champion."

"This way, he's staying it."

He was glad Stephanie didn't have to see how vicious people could be, didn't they know that not everything had an ulterior motive? They were just jaded.

They arrived at her office, and he opened the door for her and watched as she made her way inside, letting go of Izzie's lead and making her way over to her desk. He had to smile at that, he loved the way she could just gravitate towards something she knew was there. She wasn't helpless and people needed to figure that out and get past it and then maybe they would realise how great Stephanie was. He watched her sit down at her desk before he went over to his bag he'd sat down when they'd came in. He picked up the flower wrapped in the paper sitting on top of it and made his way around the desk until he was sitting, facing her, on her desk.

"I got you something." he told her, sliding his free hand across the table till his met Stephanie's.

"You did?" she asked with wide smile, slipping her fingers between Chris's. "What?"

"It's a flower." Chris told her, waiting for her to bring up her free hand before letting it go. He watched as she brought it to her nose and breathed in. "It's called Ranunculus."

"Is it pretty?" she asked innocently and Chris grinned.

"It is, it's purple."

"I like purple." Stephanie told him with a grin.

"I know, that may be one of the reasons I picked it out." he admitted.

"What's it like?" she wondered, reaching up to gently touch the flower.

"Its round, the more it gets to the middle the higher the petals get and it has a lot of petals. They're spirally, and really close together."

"What's the other reason?"

"Huh?" Chris asked, having been too pre-occupied tracing the outline of Stephanie's hand with his thumb to pay attention to anything else.

"You said, that one of the reasons you bought it was because it was purple. What's the other?"

"The meaning of the flower."

"What does it mean?" she asked, tilting her head questioningly.

"Radiant."

"Does it take your breath away?"

"No," Chris commented. "But you do." He finished leaning in slowly so that Stephanie could sense him moving in and then he kissed her. He cupped her face with his free hand and then let it trail up to move some stray hair behind Stephanie's ear. He let his thumb draw a path down her jaw and then let his hand fall down and round to the back of her neck where his fingers brushed over it, causing Stephanie to shiver and gasp a little. He got caught up in the moment and took the gasp as an opportunity to deepen the kiss, Stephanie didn't protest or stop him, and she let the flower fall onto the desk and then slid her hand up, over his chest and onto his neck where she pulled him closer. He loved kissing her and never wanted to stop.

Then Izzie barked causing them both to break apart. When he looked down Izzie was nudging his knee and he smiled and reached into his pocket and pulled out a mini milk bone. She took it happily and then made her way back over to her bed in the corner.

"I should let you get back to work," Chris commented sorrowfully, frowning. "But just so you know, I would much rather be in here kissing you than wrestling."

Stephanie giggled and squeezed his hand. "I'd much rather you kiss me than work," she agreed. "But someone's got too answer the phones."

He laughed and leaned in to kiss her before standing. "I'm opening the show and then I have a match at the top of the second hour, but I'll come see you after okay?"

"I can't wait." Stephanie replied with a smile.

Just as he was about to open the door, it opened and Shane stepped in. "He sis," he greeted with a smile, which faltered when he saw Chris. "Chris."

"Hey Shane," Chris greeted back, he was friends with the man, but he wasn't sure how he felt about the fact that he was dating his sister and from the looks of it, it didn't look like he approved. "I was just heading out, I'll catch up with you later." Clasping him on the shoulder before heading to the door. "I'll catch you later blue-eyes."

Stephanie smiled at the pet name Chris had just called her, they'd been talking Friday night and somehow they had ended up discussing her eyes. Chris had told her he loved how vibrant they were and it didn't matter if they were a little broken, they were still a blue that surpassed his own and that he liked to get lost in them. He'd jokingly called her his blue-eyed girl and she'd laughed and said she liked it and it'd stuck.

"Blue-eyes?" Shane questioned, his tone accusing.

"I have blue eyes don't I?"

"He's mocking you!" Shane raged.

"No he's not Shane, I know when someone is mocking me," Stephanie told him, it's not like she didn't hear the comments people whispered when she walked by. It was her eyes that were defective, not her ears. "Chris has been nothing but kind."

"He wants something."

"Like what?"

"Power."

Stephanie laughed, her brother could be so over the top sometimes it was unbelievable. Don't get her wrong, it was nice to have a brother who protected her, but shockingly enough, she could make decisions for herself and she had about Chris. He was a keeper. "Shane, I mean this in the nicest way possible," Stephanie started with a barely contained laugh. "But please, just shut up."

"Baby girl, I just don't want to see you hurt."

"Chris isn't hurting me Shane," Stephanie explained, a smile coming over her face. "He makes me feel free."

"How do you know he isn't just messing with you?" Shane probed. "When did he come up to talk to you? How did he start the conversation? Were you alone at the time?"

"I talked to him first Shane," Stephanie told him, which caused a surprised look to cross over his face. Stephanie rarely started a conversation with anyone she didn't know. "The first thing I ever said to him was 'Hi' and then he said his name, and now here we are."

"It's awful fast don't you think?" Shane continued. "He asks you out that night, and then you're on a date Thursday and you see him the rest of the weekend?" he pointed out. "He'd planning something."

"He is," Stephanie agreed. "To take me to dinner after the show tonight."

"I don't like it!"

"What? Me eating?" Stephanie joked.

"This isn't funny."

"Yes, it is." She laughed. "Relax Shane, I can look after myself."

"I just," Shane started with a sigh. "I just want to make sure you're okay."

"I'm happy." She told him with a small smile, her hand searching the desk until her hand found Chris's flower. "Radiant even."

It was a while later, after his match, when Chris found himself in his locker room in a stare down with Shane. The other man was burning a hole into him and Chris was in no way used to this attitude from Shane. Shane and he always had guy's nights out, a beer in one hand and sports talk on the other. But he was dating his sister and Chris thinks if he had a younger sister, he would probably be just as protective. But still, it was unnerving and Chris was getting uncomfortable.

"Are you just going to stand there and hope I combust, or are you actual going to speak?" Chris wondered.

"Why Stephanie, why not any of the other Diva's on the roster?" Shane barked.

"Well, firstly, I'd rather know I'm not dating a walking STD," Chris joked. "And secondly, I've liked your sister for a long time Shane. A real long time."

"You've never talked to her, how can you like her? You need to have had a conversation with someone to know that you enjoy their company," Shane bit out. "And correct me if I'm wrong, but up until last week, you'd never uttered a word to my sister."

"I watched her." Chris told him. "Do you know that after you left her at lunch, she'd put up about fifty walls just so the things people would whisper about her wouldn't bother her. Of course they did, but she'd act like they didn't. You could see her shrink into herself, mechanically eat her food, if she had work with her, she'd run her fingers across the page and when she was done, she'd get up and let Izzie guide her. She'd never talk to anyone Shane. I'd always watch her, make sure she was safe. Cause you never know what Paul would do or say." He continued. "When she talked to me, I think I was the happiest I've ever been since I've entered this company. See, I never knew how to approach her, and it turns out she was better at it than me, and I'm not letting that go Shane, you can't make me."

He heard Shane let out a sigh and looked up at him. "If you ever hurt her, I will kick your ass."

"I don't plan on it."

"That's the thing Chris, people don't plan these things and sometimes they just happen." Shane pointed out.

"Then I give you permission to kick my ass."

"You're not with her to get power within the company are you?"

"I'm the Heavyweight champion Shane, I have power."

"Money?"

"Have you looked at my pay check? Do you see what you pay me?"

"You're not married are you?"

"You've been to my house, did you see any kids or wife around?"

"No." Shane relented.

"I'm crazy about your sister man," Chris told him with a grin. "You're going to have to deal with it."

"Just keep her safe okay?"

"Wouldn't have it any other way."

It was a little later that night when he and Stephanie and Izzie were walking down the same corridor that they had walked into earlier this evening, but there were still looks and whispers, but he saw the odd smile and nod and he liked those more.

He didn't have to worry about the whispers and the looks, he knew what was real, and he knew that he was in it for the long haul.

Stephanie's hand in his, let him know she was too.