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Stephanie's eyes were drawn to the scene over at the bar. She didn't know who the brunette woman was, but she sure seemed to have captured the attention of quite a few men. Shane's eyes were wide as saucers, Albert gaped at her from his post at the front door, and even Batista was staring at her. But this didn't strike her as all that surprising when the woman's already seriously short skirt had ridden up to expose her butt.
"Chris," the co-manager called as she approached her boyfriend near the stage. She turned to face him, a confused look on her face. "Who is that?"
Jericho came over to put his arm around his girlfriend's shoulders, holding her closely against him. He followed her line of vision, and his expression quickly grew to a smirk.
"You got me, babe... but I think this might be fun."
Stephanie turned sharply back at him, her hand swatting him in the chest.
The blond man coughed.
"Hey, what was that for?" he whined.
The brunette gave him a very pointed look.
"Ah, I see," Chris said, now clearly getting her meaning. "I didn't mean it that way, Steph... I just meant that Torrie will probably get exactly what she deserves - a dose of her own medicine."
"Oh." Recognition, followed by regret, crossed Stephanie's face. She felt badly about smacking him in the chest now. She reached up to gently stroke him in that area. "I'm sorry, honey."
Jericho's face brightened with a small smile. He studied her pretty face, looking into her blue eyes.
"It's okay." He pulled her closer for a sweet kiss. After it ended, he still held her against him, a not so pleasant thought coming. "Steph?"
"Yeah?" She held tightly to him and didn't want to let go.
"Levesque hasn't been bothering you again, has he?"
The brunette stiffened, wondering why she hadn't suspected he was about to ask that. She peered up into Chris' handsome face and shook her head.
"No, not since your fight with Dave," she told him truthfully. "I think he backed off after you proved you could hold your own."
Jericho grinned and gave her a thumbs up.
*
As subtly as he could manage, Sean kept watch over the scene by the bar. All the guys were staring at Dawn Marie. But Torrie, on the other hand, seemed completely oblivious.
Come on, look over there! he thought furiously. This whole plan was going to be useless if that damned blonde bimbo didn't notice the curvy brunette, and most especially the way her own boyfriend was ogling her!
As he continued to watch, Torrie finally turned toward the other woman. Dawn Marie was no longer bending over, as she had retrieved her money from the floor. However, that didn't mean Batista's eyes were no longer trained on her.
The platinum blonde gaped at her boyfriend, shocked by his wandering eyes. She let out an audible gasp and grabbed hold of his bulging bicep, instantly snagging his attention. As he faced her abruptly, the look of surprise and of something else - maybe embarrassment - was clearly etched on Dave's face.
Sean could hear them starting to argue a moment later, as Torrie began to complain and chastise the big man. He moved his gaze to Dawn Marie, who merely sipped her drink as she stood aside innocently. Her brown eyes shifted in his direction, and their gazes locked.
He could pretty much read the woman's thoughts by her face. She arched a brow and widened her eyes just a tad, and for a second. She seemed to be saying, "Oh, well!" O'Haire had to fight against the urge to laugh. And that proved to be somewhat difficult, as Dawn Marie seemed to have a knack for making him laugh, or at least smile.
His attention was suddenly drawn back to Torrie and Batista as the blonde yelled and gave the big man a shove in the chest.
"Don't you dare lie to me! I saw you with my own two eyes!" With that, many people's attention was drawn by her verbal outburst, and the blonde turned on her heel, running away.
Dave dumbly stared after his girlfriend, his mouth hanging open. He glanced around for a beat before going after her.
"Oh, come on... Torrie!" he shouted. He chased after the blonde woman.
Dawn stood there, batting her eyes at O'Haire as he focused on her again. She gave him a smirk of satisfaction, and he nodded.
So far, so good.