"I...oops - sorry."

"No, I'm sorry," the blond Canadian said.  He reached down for her hand, and although they'd just kissed and revealed their true feelings for one another, the redhead seemed surprised by the gesture.  "What were you going to say?"

"Oh..."  Lita glanced down at their clasped hands for a second or two, noting how the sensation of her hand in his warm and much larger one was not at all unpleasant.  "I was just going to say that we probably shouldn't keep standing here for much longer."

"Oh."  The blond man nodded, clearly getting her meaning.  Anyone could just walk over here and see them - and, at the very least, would wonder why the Team Xtreme diva and one-half of the most photogenic tag team in WWF history were being so chummy when they were supposed to be deadly enemies.

"I have an idea," Edge said, moving his face closer to hers as he lowered his voice to a near whisper.  "Why don't I meet you in your hotel room later?  We can talk some more there - it'd be a lot more private than this."

The Women's champion bit her lip as she gazed into his brilliant green eyes.  She wondered about his statement - about what he'd said about talking some more - as thoughts of the two of them doing a lot more - none of it as innocent as mere talking - ran through her mind.  She smiled.

"Okay...I'm in room 233 at the new hotel.  Maybe you should get yourself a spare keycard from the desk clerk," she suggested.

The tall Canadian arched an eyebrow at the thought of that, and he gave her a winning smile.  "Great...I'll meet you there around midnight - unless Christian decides to be an asshole again.  If that happens, I'll be there a bit earlier..."

*

After he and Lita went their separate ways after their little run-in in the hall, Edge returned to his locker room.  He was surprised to discover that Christian had not locked him out like he assumed he would have, and even more so that Stephanie was no longer in the room with him.

"Edge!"  The shorter man stood up and gestured to him.  "I'm sorry about before, man.  After you ran off, I had a serious talk with Stephanie, and we decided to start using her room."

Edge stared at Christian in surprise, suddenly not all that concerned about the prospect of being kicked out of his hotel room anymore.  If his instincts proved correct, he would be sharing a room with Lita more nights than not very soon.  The way she'd looked at him out there - her hazel eyes had been burning with desire.  He licked his lips at the thought, recollections of the previous night, of their lovemaking, coming back to him.

"Are you listening?" Christian asked, a puzzled look on his face.  Edge was acting damned weird.  One minute, he'd seemed annoyed, the next, blase, and now... Weird - his tag team partner seemed distracted and was definitely not listening to him.  And the only times he'd ever noticed the expression that was currently on his face was when he was checking out a hot babe.

"Edge?"

"Huh?"  The taller man came back from his reverie.  He looked his friend in the eye but didn't say any more.

"Where were you all this time?" Christian asked curiously.

"Oh, I went to T&A's locker room."  Edge raked a hand through his hair as he nervously wondered if his tag team partner would be able to see right through him.  Although he was being truthful, he hadn't told him the entire truth.

"I guess you saw what happened during Trish's match then, huh?" the shorter man said, a smirk on his face.  "Good scheme, huh?"

Although being reminded of what had happened and of how Lita had been ambushed, Edge held his tongue against what he really wanted to say.  Keeping his temper in check, not letting the other man see exactly how pissed he was getting at his sheer joy over the redhead being attacked, he said, "Yeah."  He decided that, for good measure, he had to play along.  "Too bad those two gambling lushes had to come out and spoil it."

"I know!" the other man exclaimed.  "But maybe that guttersnipe won't be quite so lucky at No Mercy."  He grinned, then turned toward the door.  "I'm gonna go see Stephanie for awhile."

Christian didn't see the furious glare Edge shot his way as he left.