Chapter 4
"Umm...well..." Grace frowned and chewed her thumbnail, glancing over at Steve and smiled at him reassuringly. "I sort of already got a ride." When her father demanded who, Grace couldn't wipe the smile from her face. "Steve Austin. I'm sorry dad. I didn't know what was going on. I was going to call you, but..." She took a deep breath, deciding she had to come clean about last night. "Daddy, your co-worker paid me a visit last night." She trembled, clenching her fists on her lap. "H-He tried forcing himself on me and...I applied a pressure point. I paralyzed his arm..." She couldn't believe she was saying this, but she couldn't keep it from her father, not even realizing Steve's expression. "He thought you were lying to him about me being your daughter since we don't look alike..."
Paul spluttered audibly into the phone. "He did WHAT?" How DARE he put his hands on Grace? Paul was going to… "Are you alright, Gracie?" He demanded anxiously. "Did he...did he do anything?" He knew from what she said he'd tried forcing her, but what did that entail?
Steve already had it in mind to show 'Taker the true meaning of 'pure evil.'
Grace could hear the anger in her father's voice and swallowed hard, tears filling her eyes, and took a few deep breaths to calm down. "He...kissed me...tried seducing me...until I applied the pressure point to make him let me go..." Her voice was barely above a whisper, though she knew her father and Steve could hear her clearly. "I'm sorry daddy..." She gripped the top of her hair in her hand, trying to calm down again, having had a good morning up until having to relive the nightmare the night before. "I'm fine, daddy. I think he was trying to scare me or something. I don't know...he said you have a tendency to lie to him...whatever that means..." She sighed heavily, blinking her tears away.
Paul wondered just what sort of mind game 'Taker was playing now. "Sweetheart, I'll get this fixed, alright?" He promised, not about to let the Undertaker ruin his time with his daughter. It had been years since he had seen her, he wasn't about to see her running off because a jackass decided to torment her to insanity's edge then push.
"Alright dad." She sighed gently, feeling Steve take her hand and blinked, having forgotten she was with him momentarily and knew he had heard every word. She cracked a shaky smile at him and felt him squeeze her hand before returning to her conversation. "I'll see you when I get to the arena. Drive safe dad. I love you." She nodded and rolled her eyes, his fatherly instincts kicking into high gear, especially after what she just told him. "I will be careful. You too. Bye." She closed the lid of her cell phone and slid it back in her pocket, staring out the window, wiping a stray tear away that had slipped down her cheek. She didn't let go of Steve's hand, feeling comfort and reassurance in it.
That was a new low even for 'Taker, slipping into a woman's room uninvited and then forcing himself on her. Somehow though, Steve wasn't all that surprised by it. Just another thing to chalk up to 'Taker's obvious dementia. He was still having a hard time believing this was Paul Bearer's daughter. Fortunately for her, she hadn't gotten her daddy's figure.
"Sorry about that." Grace said once she had regained her composure, smiling over at him, and slowly slid her hand out of his, watching as he took it back. She didn't mind holding his hand. In fact, it was shooting electricity up her arm at the mere touch. "So is your name really Steve Austin or is that just a wrestling name?" She asked, trying to strike up conversation, wanting to get what happened the previous night off of her mind.
"Nah, it's my wrestlin' name." He chuckled, blue eyes darting over to her for a moment before returning to the road. "My real name is Steve Williams, but I like Austin better. Maybe I should change it." There was an idea; he stored that one away for later. "So how come I ain't seen you around before? I've known Paul for years, somewhat, and never knew he had a kid."
"He actually has three." She said, causing Steve's blue eyes to widen, which erupted a giggle from her. "Dad never took us on the road; he didn't want us getting involved in the business. He likes keeping his personal life separate from his professional and I don't blame him." She now knew why, especially with the type of men her father was forced to work with. Grace shivered involuntarily and smiled when Steve squeezed her hand, his eyes telling her everything was going to be fine. "I finally took the bull by the horns so to speak and called Vince McMahon and he sent me a plane ticket to come see my dad." She explained, feeling one hundred percent comfortable with this man. "I take it your wrestling name is Stone Cold?" She asked softly, remembering him saying that the previous day when she suckered him into giving her a ride back to the hotel, not able to drive at the time.
"Yep. Stone Cold, idea I got from my ex-wife." He confessed, remembering that and snorted. "She said somethin' about my tea gettin' 'stone cold' and it kinda stuck." Three kids, go Paul. He blinked. "So are you the oldest then?" Steve genuinely liked Grace and the added bonus of keeping her away from 'Taker -which would drive the man up a wall-, was a perk.
"Actually I'm the youngest." She giggled when his blue eyes widened, tucking a strand of a hair behind her hair. "My oldest sister is thirty-two and the middle is thirty. I'm twenty-eight." She smiled when he blinked. "I know I look younger than that. I get it a lot. Anyway there's me, Autumn and Justine. Justine is the oldest." She hadn't spoken to her sisters in what seemed like years, just like her dad, and sighed as a tinge of remorse flowed through her. "What about you? Any siblings?"
"Three brothers and a sister, and they're all older than me." He admitted, grimacing. That had been fun. "I see them from time to time, kinda hard though, being on the road so much. Scott, Kevin, Jeff and Jennifer." He rattled them off, smiling slightly. "And several nieces and nephews that think it's cool to beat my ass."
Grace laughed softly upon hearing that, seeing he was indeed a family man and wondered if he was married. She hadn't seen a ring, and then remembered him saying his ex-wife gave him his wrestling name. So he was single. Grace grinned as she turned to stare out the window again. "Well we both know what it's like being the youngest then." She commented with a smirk, hearing him grunt and giggled before grabbing bottled water out of her bag, suddenly thirsty.
"Getting your ass whipped, picked on, yeah, life was fun." He joked, though he also could remember many times when his siblings had stood up for him when he'd been picked on or in trouble. That was of course before he started picking back, a smirk on his face. "So...you just visiting or going to try getting a job with the company?"
"Visiting, though if an offer would happen to drop in my lap I would probably take it in a heartbeat." Grace replied, meaning every word, even after what the Undertaker did to her. She didn't have anything planned and needed to start her medical career somehow. She decided to ask her father when they arrived and see if maybe there were any openings in the medical department of the WWF. There would have to be, considering what the people there did for a living. "Why do you ask, Mr. Williams?" Her amber eyes sparkled impishly back at him, raising an eyebrow and seen he was taking an exit.
"Honey, my dad answers to Mr. Williams, not me. I go by Steve. Or Austin if ya don't like me." He added as an afterthought, pulling a bottle of water from between his thighs and twisted the cap off, draining half of it in one swallow. "What kind of job you lookin' for?" Steve asked curiously, looking her over. She could definitely work in the eye candy department.
"Well seeing as how I like you, I'll call you Steve. And something in the medical field. I have training in almost every department." She shrugged nonchalantly, that's what eight plus years of medical school did, though she rarely had a social life and only one boyfriend. That didn't even last a month with how much time she devoted to her career instead of him. "That's why I'm here. I just graduated from medical school and wanted to see my father before making a decision on where to do my internship." Though the WWF was looking pretty damn good considering the man sitting next to her at the moment.
"I'd imagine there'd be an openin', considering someone is always getting hurt." Or fired in the medical department. He knew there was one female EMT and she was pretty much eye candy for the fans when someone got hurt ringside and she was 'needed'. She was currently on her way out the door for sexual harassment that she did on one of the boys. Now THAT was funny.
"I'll ask my dad, if he's up for it." Grace was afraid she'd pushed her father over the line in the span of the past twenty-four hours what with Undertaker breaking into her hotel room and riding to the next arena with Steve, who was a total stranger to her. Though she was slowly getting to know him. She didn't regret taking him up on his offer, it was nice having the company instead of being alone all the time. "You never answered my question." She said, causing Steve to raise an eyebrow. "What city are we going to next?"
"Oh hell, I'm sorry honey." He apologized. "You don't mind me callin' ya honey do you? I didn't even stop to think if you would, just- Oh, we're going to Houston." Steve rubbed his bald head with a grin. "I'm ramblin', sorry, Grace. I do that sometimes." Like right now or when he was comfortable with someone.
He was so adorable. Grace unbuckled her belt and scooted over, leaning her head against his shoulder. He had tinted windows and hadn't buckled his. She just wanted to be close to him and smiled when he patted her thigh gently. "You're cute when you ramble." She commented, looking up at him, and smiled when those blue eyes glittered happily back at her. Grace was definitely going to talk to her father about an opening, wanting to get to know Steve better. "So here's what I usually do when I'm trying to find out information about another person." She sat up, still sitting next to him, seeing the curiosity burn in his eyes and smiled. "For every question I ask you, you can ask me. That way we can find out information about each other. Sound good?"
"Uh, sure." Steve said, his blue eyes crinkling at the corners as he smiled. "Anyone ever tell you yer a bit on the strange side?" He asked playfully, wondering just how in the hell she could be so affectionate to a person she barely knew, especially given the reception she'd gotten from the Undertaker the night before. "Does that count as my question?"
Grace giggled softly and shrugged nonchalantly. "Yes and yes. Has anyone ever told you how adorable you are when you ramble?" She smirked when he actually blushed and laughed, patting his shoulder gently. Grace didn't understand it, she just felt like she could trust this man. He was completely different from Undertaker in every way. Maybe that's why she liked him and felt drawn to him so much. Though his blue eyes melted her every time they looked at her. "Does that count as a question from me?"
"Yes and yes." He shot back teasingly, smirking when she rolled her eyes. "Okay, lemme think." What could he ask her that wasn't way too personal? Thongs or French cuts were out. So was lace or leather. "Got a boyfriend?" He asked finally, trying not to mentally call himself 'typical male'.
"Nope." Grace grinned when his eyes lit up at the answer, her heart fluttering knowing he liked her as much as she liked him. "Do you have a girlfriend?" She asked promptly, taking a sip of her water, ignoring her phone when it went off since she'd put it on vibrate. It was probably her dad checking up on her and she was into this twenty questions game too much with Steve to let it be interrupted.
"Not at the moment, but I'm sure that'll change eventually." Steve joked, smiling when her cheeks flushed a beautiful shade of pink, reaching over to squeeze her hand before going back to his bottle of water. Finishing it and tossing it behind him, where he kept the rest of them until he cleaned the truck out. It wasn't a rental, but his truck. "Hmmm..." He stroked his goatee thoughtfully. "Where's your favorite place to eat?"
"Hmm...I have to think about that one." Grace had several places she liked to eat, tapping her chin in thought, smiling when he just glanced at her curiously" I'll say Fridays." She answered finally. "What about you?" Grace wondered how long it was going to take to get to the next location and hoped it was all day. She enjoyed being with Steve and loved to hear him talk. He had one of the sexist accents she'd ever heard, though she always thought Texan accents were sexy.
"Depends on what I'm hungry for." Steve replied honestly, having several favorite places. "You happen to be in luck because by the time we stop for lunch, we'll be passing through a city that has a Fridays." He grinned, loving it when she just laughed. "That was a question with a purpose honey. And did you answer me when I asked if ya minded me calling you that?"
"I don't believe I did. I'm sorry. No I don't mind it." She loved how it rolled off his tongue, though preferred her name. Any woman would though, but the nickname had a nice ring to it, especially from him. His voice could probably melt butter in a heartbeat and she sighed gently. "Are you saying you want to take me out to Fridays, Steve?" She asked with a grin and took his hand when he nodded, squeezing it gently. "I'd love to." Not to mention she didn't exactly get to eat her breakfast so Grace knew she would be starved by the time they arrived.
He hadn't actually asked her. He was GOING to take her since he'd interrupted her breakfast. That and he already knew he'd have to stop for something because he was getting hungry again. "That didn't count as your question by the way, Grace." He added as an afterthought, flashing another smile.