CHAPTER TWELVE
Shane and Raine were both polite throughout breakfast, knowing Shawn was watching them with eagle eyes. When he asked her to ride with him to the next show location, she reluctantly agreed. "Thank you for breakfast, Shane." She murmured, rolling her eyes when she was ushered out the door.
The day was long and tedious, playing evade the noisy parent's million and one questions, deny and lie. By the time they reached the arena, she had just barely been able to get around, he'd kept asking questions through the bathroom door at the hotel. She'd somehow managed to coordinate her clothes, low riding denim capris and a baby blue corset top. Though she'd only run her fingers through her short hair, as Shawn followed her.
"Shawn, c'mon, gimme a break already!" She pleaded as they headed for Stephanie's office.
They both halted in the doorway when they found Mark and Kaleigh in there, wrestling on the floor. Stephanie was no where to be seen though Paul was standing in front of the desk grinning. Kaleigh had Mark in a cross arm bar, giggling as he groaned.
"Tap." She ordered sweetly.
"No."
Shawn snorted, seeing Mark getting his ass handed to him was always entertaining, especially when it was by a woman. "Mark, you like women beatin' ya, don't you?" He asked, tugging Raine into the room.
"Paul, please ask Shawn to leave me the hell alone." Raine snapped, shooting Paul a pleading look. She glanced back at Mark and Kaleigh, hearing another groan from Mark and tried not to laugh. "I like this. Can you get him to tap?"
"I'm tryin' honey, Mark, tap." Kaleigh ordered, smirking when he finally did, releasing him and gracefully got to her feet. "That's what I thought, darlin'." She drawled, winking down at him before linking an arm through Raine's. "Let's go to the cafeteria, shall we?"
Shaking his arm, Mark slowly stood up, grinning. "Damn woman." He grunted, hesitating when he seen Paul and Shawn whispering to each other. "What the hell is going on."
"Um…" Paul looked at Shawn hesitantly. "Raine is kind of doing-
Mark raised a slow eyebrow.
"Things with Shane that should not be happening."
If Paul said what he was guessing…
"We want you to… get her way from him?" Paul growled when Shawn smacked him upside the head. "What?"
"Raine don't want me." Mark said flatly. "She's made that clear time and time again and I think we ALL need to respect that. Besides, I got my own shit to worry about without addin' her back to the mix." He snorted, wondering just what the hell Stephanie had been thinking, marrying this moron.
Shawn nodded appreciatively at Mark, glaring at Paul. "Look, there's no PROOF, she's doin' anything with him. He's married for chrissakes! Not to mention before last night they couldn't stand the sight of each other!" He point blank refused to believe anything was going on between the two and chalked this up to Paul's tendency to blow things out of proportion.
By now Mark had left.
***
Raine was more then a little curious about why Kaleigh apparently needed company, having finally cottoned onto the fact that she was Mark's sister and not girlfriend. At first she felt a little foolish but that quickly waned, she had already reaffirmed to herself that Mark was just a friend. "I didn't know Mark had a sister." She said finally, not knowing what to say.
"I'm the better lookin' sibling." Kaleigh grinned, delicately peeling an orange as she watched Raine toy with a sandwich. "So, what's goin' on with you and my brother anyway?" At Raine's shocked expression, she rolled her eyes with a smile on her face. "Come on honey, I'm not blind. So spill."
It was like seeing a female version of Mark, the mannerisms, the commanding tone. It was a bit unnerving. "Nothin' really." She said quietly, sipping her green tea. "We did a storyline together -sort of-, he helped me through a really bad time professional wise…"
She didn't feel it was appropriate to tell his sister he had also presented himself as a birthday present but when Kaleigh arched an eyebrow as if to say 'and?', she sighed and spilled. "And he um… gave me himself as a present for my birthday, resultin' in a one nighter. That's what's goin' on, NOTHING."
"Damn… I guess I didn't need to know how kinky he is." Kaleigh murmured, trying not to grin, though when she seen the annoyed look on Raine's face, she sighed. "Look, I don't mean to pry, really. My brother just looked really upset when he saw ya this morning with Shane and-" She stopped when Raine's cheeks went crimson. "I'll let him know to back up offa ya, okay?" She smiled tentatively. "I think we're gonna be good friends."
Raine considered that. "If you can make him tap out, sure." She agreed, laughing with Kaleigh. "I'm glad to know I'm not the only woman who's knocked him on his ass, makes him seem less intimidatin'."
"Raine, we need to talk, darlin'."
"Aw hell, Shawn, I done told ya-"
"No, not about that. You've gotten a new storyline, you need to go see Steph."
Reluctantly pushing away from the table, she flashed Kaleigh a smile. "I guess I'll see ya later." She said, following Shawn out of the caf.
"See ya darlin'." Kaleigh muttered, deciding she and Mark were going to have to have a little chat.
***
"She did huh?" Mark sighed, shaking his head before hurling a boot into the locker, denting the door. "She'd rather be with a married man then me, unbelievable."
Kaleigh winced when he threw the second boot. "Mark, I-"
"Not in the mood, okay?"
Sighing, she walked out of the room.
***
Stephanie looked up when she seen Raine and smiled, handing her a script. "Look it over and let me know."
Raine reread it twice, rubbing the back of her neck. "Lemme get this straight… you're fixin' to set Kane and 'Taker back to fueding and you want me with Kane cause it adds fuel to the fire because on-screen 'Taker and I aren't the best of friends? Ya'all can't seem to stop mixin' me and Mark together, can you?"
"You two have great on-screen chemistry." Shawn said, peering over her shoulder. "Though you'll probably kill Glenn in a week, he thinks he's a damn comedian."
"It's not Glenn I'm goin' to kill." She said evenly, spotting Paul coming in the room, a guilty idea on his face and wondered if by chance he had put this idea into his wife's already evil mind.
"Raine…" Paul grunted when her fist connected with his gut. "I deserve that." He wheezed, hunching over. For such a sweet looking thing, she packed one hell of a punch.
"Sweetheart, whether you like it or not, your dad is right. You and Mark have unbelievable chemistry together and this will make for a great line. Glenn said he's excited to be working with you." Stephanie coaxed, trying to lighten the mood and grinned when Glenn walked in. "Right on time."
"Hey honey, miss me?" He sauntered directly to Raine, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, his toothy smile firmly in place. "Come on now, it won't be so bad with the Big Red Man."
"Good God." Paul slapped his forehead.
Raine genuinely liked Glenn so she just smiled up at him, wrapping an arm around him and smirked when he blinked. "I can flirt too." She cautioned sweetly.
"Hey there Shane-O-Mac, how's Marissa?" Paul asked when he seen his brother-in-law walk in.
Shawn just shook his head, this time slapping his face.
Raine kept her expression neutral, wondering just what the hell he was trying to pull.
"She's fine, busy. Hey Steph, you got the new scripts?" Shane asked, grinning when she flourished one at him, taking it. "You are the master." He bowed mockingly to her, smirking when she giggled and turned around, eying the now red faced Raine. "You alright?"
"She's fine, BRO, just fine." Paul practically shoved him out the door.
Glenn scratched his head. "Okay, did I miss something?"
"Besides Paul jumpin' on the 'let's not mind our own fucken business' bandwagon? Nope." Raine stormed out of the room, ignoring Shawn when he tried to stop her.
Frustrated, Shawn whirled on Paul. "For the last damn time, you're wrong! Now know it off!"
"Fine. It's not my life being ruined."
"No, but it's gonna be your damn face."
"What is going on?" Stephanie demanded, not appreciating being left out of the loop.
"Raine is fucking yer brother." Mark snapped, walking in next, ignoring Stephanie's now pale face. "You best be keeping her in check cause I'm not gonna have her fuckin' up ANOTHER line." His livid green eyes whirled on Shawn. "Make sure she knows our relationship is STRICTLY professional from now on, got it?" He stalked back out, leaving Paul standing there with a sense of righteousness while Stephanie and Shawn were both gaping like fish out of water.
***
When Raine learned what had been said, she instantly knew several things. First, she wasn't going to have a problem doing this storyline because she WANTED to knock the shit out of Mark. Second, Kaleigh was a bitch who best be minding her own damn business. Third, she was back in the frying pan.
Though she managed to avoid getting burnt by playing duck and dodge with everyone, wondering just how they knew. Though given her and Shane's flirting at breakfast it probably wasn't that hard to figure out. She finally came out of hiding to join Glenn at the gorilla position, standing next to her, tapping her foot anxiously.
Glenn smiled down at her, not a judgmental person. Her life was her own business, not his. Though he knew Mark was judging right now and he knew exactly why too.
The love bug had finally bitten his ass and bitten him good. Mark could deny it until the sun came up but he had fallen for a woman who didn't want him. He grinned when he seen Mark coming, think of the devil and he shall appear. "Ready for another round with Kane?"
"Born ready." He smiled when his sister came to kiss his cheek for luck. "Get to work and quit slackin', woman." He ordered with a smirk.
"If ya get busted up, don't expect me to fix you." She shot back, walking away.
Glenn's head tilted to the side, admiring the view.
"GLENN!"
"Damn, sorry, what?"
Mark growled threateningly.
Raine stifled a laugh, shrugging when Glenn looked down at her. "Sorry, it was funny." She apologized, seeing the look Mark shot her and frowned. "You can go right to hell." She snapped, returning his evil stare with one of her own.
"Be seein' ya there, I'm sure. Married men… honestly."
"It's none of yer damn business what goes on in my life, married men included."
He wasn't given the chance to reply because Glenn's music cued them. Raine followed him out onto the stage, wondering if Paul had suggested this idea just for the sole purpose of getting her injured. Yeah, they had great chemistry, when they were either making out or making war in the ring. She snorted, slipping her hand in Glenn's, mentally making a note to beat the shit out of Paul later.
If the woman wanted to ruin her life, that was her prerogative but he wasn't letting her fuck with his career by ruining another line. If she jumped script, he was chokeslamming her ass and maybe even a tombstone for good measure. When the bells tolled, Mark rolled his eyes into the back of his head, slipping into character.
Once he was in the ring and the match was on, he realized Raine wasn't even a part of this, just eye candy. Good, she wasn't needed anyway. "Don't even ask." He grunted as he and Glenn locked up.
"Wasn't planning on it." Glenn muttered back.
Raine had spoken to only one person since she'd went into hiding and that was Stephanie. Steph had told her what was and what wasn't acceptable. Whether Mark knew that or not wasn't her problem. As the match progressed and he got more and more moves in, overpowering Glenn, she decided to make her presence known.
Grabbing Mark by his ankle, she held him back. Only letting go when he reached for her hair, backing off with her hands in the air innocently and laughed when he got clobbered from behind. Storylines could definitely be fun without the need to jump.
Mark wound up getting choke slammed thanks to Raine's interference, hitting the canvas hard. He felt Glenn covering him and kicked out at two and a half, sitting up angrily. His head snapped to the side, glaring at Raine.
He still couldn't believe she was with Shane McMahon, a married man. She looked too innocent, he mused, taking in her large green eyes and short spiked black hair as she clapped, staring up at Glenn, her mouth curved in a smile. He loved her, didn't she realize that?
Mark was in such deep thought he didn't feel Glenn pulling him up until he was being turned midair for a tombstone. Damn it! She was STILL distracting him and she wasn't even doing anything! Slinging his weight, Mark toppled Glenn and landed on his feet, reversing the tombstone.
"Jesus Christ!" Raine cursed, not believing this shit when Mark got the pin. The man was like a fucking cat! When he had gotten to his feet, she slid into the ring cautiously, kneeling besides Glenn. Playing her role, she pressed her hands on his chest protectively as she stared up at Mark, green eyes narrowed. She tensed when he took one step forward, slowly getting to her feet, standing over Glenn, knowing he would be sitting up any second like he always did. Until then, she refused to back down, engaging in a staring contest with Mark.
He pointed at her did the cut throat motion as lightening flashed throughout the arena, eyes rolling into the back of his head. The lights went out and a few seconds later when they came back on, he was gone.
When Raine made it backstage, she instantly stopped Paul and Shawn from jumping her. "Uh uh, Stephanie said as long as I didn't go out of my way to give Mark brain damage, little things like trippin' him up were fine. I didn't jump the damn script."
Shawn shook his head as she walked away. "You and your big mouth."
"I didn't even say anything!"
"You don't have too! Ya already said it!"
Paul groaned when he got slapped upside his head, again.