Chapter 2

As John made his way backstage after taking on Randy Orton in a non title match, he called out to his friend while wiping the sweat from his finely chiseled body.

"Yo, Randy."

Randy turned with his signature eyebrow lift.

"Hey man, nice match. Thanks for the elbow. I owe you one." Randy regarded as he rotated his already sore shoulder to try and keep it loose.

Although just about everyone who watched wrestling knew it was fake, there were those few occasions when wrestlers actually connected while trying to pull off a elbow drop or clothesline.

"Anytime bro." John replied laughing.

As the two continued toward the men's locker room to shower, John looked toward the clock on the wall. In about an hour, Maria would be sitting with Shane McMahon in some expensive, upscale club listening to Shane try and smooth talk his way into her pants.

"You and Maria joining us for drinks?" Randy asked.

Randy always included Maria when asking John what his plans were after the show. She had practically become one of the boys.

"I am. Maria's got plans though." John replied.

Randy raised an eyebrow. He could tell by John's tone that he wasn't entirely happy about it. There were many occasions where Randy just wanted to tell his buddy to fuck her and just get it over with. It was obvious to everyone that the two had more than just a friendship kind of attraction toward each other.

"Then it's just the boys." Randy said smiling as he wrapped his arm around John's neck and gave him a strangle hold for fun.

As John pushed Randy away, he thought about what had been on his mind earlier.

"Apparently she has a date." John said, again with a tone that would indicate his jealousy.

"On yeah, with who? She's not seeing Johnny again is she?" Randy asked.

"Oh hell no. Johnny is history. Besides, if that asshole gets within two feet of her I think I'll break his neck." John replied, recalling the many times Johnny took advantage of Maria with absolutely no guilt at all.

Who knows, after all Maria went through with Johnny, maybe seeing Shane McMahon would be a good thing for her. John strongly doubted it though. Even if Shane turned out to be an okay guy, it simply would never work out. Shane lived a completely different lifestyle than Maria. He was spoiled and almost too confident. Maria on the other hand was a down to earth kind of girl. You wouldn't know it by looking at her, but it was also one of the reasons she and John got along so well.

"Can't tell you bro, but I do have a question for you." John replied. "What do you know about Trish Stratus and the reason she stopped wrestling."

"Well, I can tell you what I heard from Torrie." Randy said as he continued trying to loosen his shoulder.

"Okay, I'm waiting." John said growing impatient.

"Speaking of Torrie, we need to hook up again. Talk about a wild night of..."

"Randy, focus. I want to know about Trish." John replied with his voice raised.

"Okay, okay." Randy said smirking with his hands raised in innocence. "What I heard was that she and Shane McMahon were, you know, doing the two step boogie between the sheets. Apparently things went sour. So bad that Trish decided to leave. That's really all I know. But if you want to find out what really happened, why don't you just give her a call." Randy suggested as he grabbed his gym bag and pulled out his cell phone.

Thumbing through the directory he came across Trish's name.

"You have her number?" John asked surprised.

Randy smirked once again.

"I've got all the divas numbers. You never know when you might need to use them." He replied devilishly, but in a cute way.

Although Randy liked to come off as a ladies man, in reality he was mostly talk. That's not to say he didn't get around, but there was a method to his madness. He never disrespected a woman who he respected. If the girl was a total bitch and completely full of themselves, well then, things were different.

As John took down the number, he patted Randy on the back and then headed off in the other direction.

"Thanks bro."

Randy watched as his friend left.

"Wait, why do you care about Trish?" Randy called out, but to no avail. John was long gone.

xxxxxxx

Maria waited at the bar for Shane to arrive. She was excited and nervous at the same time. She wondered why she was even there and what she was doing. It wasn't like starting an affair with your boss was exactly a good idea. Surely if anyone found out they would start accusing her of sleeping with the man just to get ahead. But that could not have been further from the truth. The truth was, she was smitten with Shane. Maybe it was his power or his charm, but whatever it was, she was flattered that he even asked her out. Her intention tonight was not to sleep with him at all and she hoped his was the same.

"Hey sexy." Shane said as he greeted her from behind and planted a kiss on her cheek.

Maria looked up at her 'date'. His cologne practically drove her insane. He wore a white button down shirt and blue jeans. As he called the bartender down to order a drink, Maria watched noticing how smooth and confident he was. She supposed it came with being a McMahon and being raised in wealth. It was almost too intimidating for someone who had only been exposed to fine dining and fancy places in the last year or so.

"You look nervous." Shane observed. "Don't be."

Don't be. Maria thought to herself. How could she not?

Maria tried to act calm, but the few seconds of silence between them was killing her.

"So, this is a nice place." Maria said shyly, trying desperately to make small talk.

Shane looked around. It was a nice place, but he was used to it. He found it amusing how nervous Maria was and knew he needed to calm her down.

"Listen, I know this is awkward for you, but please just try to think of me as any other guy. Not your boss okay?" He asked her, taking her hand and gently holding it as his thumb rubbed tenderly across the top.

Maria found it hard to ignore is big brown puppy dog eyes. His innocent looking face and wide smile almost melted her on the spot. She could feel herself falling for this man as if it was her first crush. There was also the fact that he was practically ten years older than her. In a sense, she felt safe being with a mature, more experienced man like Shane as opposed to some of the immature manwhores like Johnny that always seemed to hit on her.

"You're right, it is a bit awkward. It's just I don't really know you." Maria admitted.

Shane smiled.

"That's why we're here." Shane replied. "Besides, what can I say, everything you're heard about me is true." He finished, flirtatiously winking at her.

This didn't necessarily sit well with Maria. What she had heard was that he had been sleeping with Melina. Not exactly the kind of girl you take home to mom. If that was what he was looking for, a cheap fuck, then he wasn't going to get it from her.

"Even the part about Melina?" Maria asked. She had too.

Shane held Maria's hand even tighter as a serious look came over his face.

"Yes. Melina and I got together a few times. But that's over. It didn't mean anything to me."

Maria looked away. In a way she wished it had. It would at least have meant that Shane was above just fucking someone because he could.

"Maria." Shane said as he took her chin and guided her face to his. He could tell she now had her doubts about him. "That's not why you're here. We don't have to do anything tonight. Let's just take it one step at a time. Is it my fault my father knows how to hire beautiful diva's like yourself?"

Shane's words and sincere facial expression once again gave Maria ease. As Shane let go of her hand and ordered her another Cosmopolitan, any sense of doubt Maria had only moments ago, had now been completely erased.

Xxxxxxx

At the end of the night, just outside of Maria's hotel room door, Shane took Maria into his arms and gave her a tender hug. What she didn't see though was the fact that he took a quick glance to check the time on his watch. 12:30 am. Still early. After a few seconds, Shane pulled away and smiled at Maria.

"I hope you're okay with just a hug, I don't kiss on the first date." He told her jokingly.

Maria appreciated the fact that he wasn't trying to move too fast. Maybe he was about more than just using his last name to sleep with whatever diva looked in his direction.

"I had a great time. I insist we do it again." He said finally and then planted a quick kiss on her cheek. "Good night."

As Maria watched him walk down the hallway, she opened the door to her hotel room and could literally feel the butterflies rumbling in her stomach. It would be hard for her to sleep tonight and she couldn't wait to tell John all about it.

When Shane heard Maria close the door, he too a quick glance behind him to make sure she was inside. A smirk stretched across his face. He was proud of the way he had played the entire evening. There was still one thing left to do though. He'd be damned if the night would end without him getting a piece, and he didn't care from who.

So as soon as he turned the corner he took out his cell phone. Dialing the number he waited for an answer.

"You're still up, good." He said to the woman on the other end. "Meet me in my room in thirty minutes, and don't keep me waiting."

A/N: Well that's chapter two. Please review if you have any time and thank you to those of you who reviewed the first chapter.