"Tony?" Pepper hollered as she neared the top of the stairs. "Mr Stark, I really hope you are ready. We need to leave or we're going to be late."
She lingered at the slightly ajar door, before lightly rapping on the rich mahogany, she waited for a few seconds then pushed the door open. She noticed the just slept-in bed and thanked whatever higher power, probably Jarvis, that managed to get him out of bed this morning. As she peeked her head into his expansive ensuite bathroom, he appeared from his walk in wardrobe, revealing one of the best perks of her job.
There he stood. In all of his infuriating and utterly gorgeous glory. He had always been handsome, always exasperatingly charming and completely disarming at every chance. She had managed to keep a straight, utterly emotionless face when he was at his most charming, most of the time. This was not one of those moments.
So there he stood, completely unaware of her presence as he slipped his watch onto his wrist. He wore absolutely nothing but a pair of very well fitting black boxer briefs, so well fitting in fact it only enhanced the crimson spreading across her face.
She couldn't stop staring, her eyes dancing over every muscle, every slight flex, the way those delightful pieces of material clung to his hips. Virginia, please stop staring. Her conscience begged. Please Virginia, this is getting out of hand. The voice pleaded again.
She had seen him naked many times and had managed to keep some air of professionalism, but this was different. He was different. Since Afghanistan she hadn't encountered this specific perk very often.
He was always a fit person, but the use of the Iron Man suit coupled with no more alcohol and partying, he was just...yummy. Their recent trip to the Caribbean on what Tony considered 'work' left him with an impressive tan, which made it all the more difficult to stop staring. She realized there had been complete silence now for about three minutes, she broke out in the worst case of embarrassment that she, or anyone for that matter had ever seen.
"Uh...Potts?" He chuckled. "You okay there?"
"Yes you're fine, I mean I'm fine!" She blushed even more. "W-we need to leave, Happy is outside with the car. I'll see you down there." She spluttered.
"I'll be down in 5." He smiled. "Oh and Pepper?" He called.
"Yes, Mr Stark?"
"If you'd prefer I would happily stay in this all day. I would hate to disappoint you by covering...all of this up." He purred, looking down at his impressive physique, eyeing her suggestively.
He received nothing but a flustered huff in reply. She shuffled out of the room as quickly as possible leaving Tony to get dressed with an extremely cocky grin plastered across his face.
When they arrived at Stark Industries that morning Pepper was relieved that Tony had a full schedule, including countless meetings that would keep their exchanges to a minimum. This however didn't hinder him from teasing her mercilessly whenever he saw the opportunity. From leaving crudely drawn doodles in her clipboard to brushing his hand ever so slightly along the small of her back, just to test his theory on her reaction. The shiver he felt on the back on his hand was all the data he needed.
After lunchtime, the pair sat in the expansive main boardroom of SI surrounded by the Board of Directors. As the meeting entered its twentieth minute, Pepper noticed Tony had completely switched off and was fiddling with what she hoped was his phone in his lap. After a few minutes his head perked up, revealing that Stark smirk that she knew all too well. Her Blackberry buzzed quietly on the table, flashing bright white and displaying Tony's name in a message box. Considering that smirk he was wearing she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to read that text. However she slowly reached for the PDA and clasped it in her lap, she peeked down at the small screen and opened his text.
Tony Stark: Hey Potts, you look bored. I'm bored too, how about we get outta here and I show you the good stuff again?
Pepper couldn't believe the audacity of this man, embarrassing her like this and during a board meeting no less. She doubted he even knew the definition of professionalism. Unfortunately after that morning she couldn't exactly lecture him on being professional.
Pepper Potts: Mr. Stark please pay attention.
Tony Stark: You can't side step my question that easily Potts, you know you want to. He texted and tossed a non-discreet wink her way.
Pepper Potts: I most certainly do not. This is a meeting pertaining to your company I suggest you pay attention.
Tony Stark: The blush creeping around your cheeks, neck and chest say differently Potts. Admit it, you were checking me out. It's cool, I'd check me out too. I'm a handsome devil if I do say so myself.
Pepper Potts: Mr. Stark, please.
She begged this time, unable to control the blanket of heat rushing across her pale skin. She peeked through her lashes to see Tony staring at her intently. She tore herself away from his gaze, she looked down at her phone once more before shutting it off completely, she placed it back on the table and turned her attention back to the speaker on the other side of the room.
Tony knew he was being a little mean. But in all fairness whenever he was gawking at her, which was often, she always told him off! He was just giving her a taste of her own medicine and besides, he had never witnessed her looking at him like before and frankly, he liked it.
He was pulled from his reverie by the faint sound of his name being called, he looked up and said something non-committal and although he had no idea what he had been asked the room seemed to be pleased with his answer. As the room emptied he looked across the table to Pepper, her head was bowed and her hand fast at work writing furiously on a piece of paper. As she finished, her clicked the pen shut and hooked it onto her clipboard. She shook her bangs out of her eyes and looked up at him. He couldn't decipher the look on her face, its was partially embarrassment but there was something else hidden in that icy exterior.
"You have an appointment with Rhodey at the base in an hour, Happy is waiting for you." She said quietly, rising from her seat, hugging her clipboard as if her life depended on it.
"Pepper, are you okay?" He winced, realizing her may have hurt her feelings.
"Yes, I'm fine. Will that be all Mr. Stark?"
"That will be all Ms. Potts."
And they left it at that as they had so many times before, she spun on her sky high heels and headed for her desk, welcoming the prospect of a few hours without him.
Around five that evening, Tony returned to his office, to the surprise of Pepper who assumed he was finished for the day. She glanced up from her laptop, acknowledged his presence and went back to her work, unwilling to hold any kind of conversation with him.
As she began to rapidly type up her notes from earlier, as she typed her mind wandered to the events of the day. Yes, she was ogling him. Yes, it was wrong. Yes, he's the boss. But it's not like he hadn't done it himself everyday for the last ten years. It wasn't as simple for her as it was for him. He was admiring the female form, pure and simple, a man acting on his carnal instinct. For Pepper it was a little more complicated, she hadn't experienced a momentary lapse in judgment and decided to leer at her half naked boss. She was on the lonely end of an work place crush. Oh please Virginia, you are 35 years old, this IS NOT a crush. Her sub-conscious growled at her naivety. She shook away the voice in her head judging her and tried to focus on her notes.
Tony swivelled in his chair, fingers tracing the edges of his goatee, watching the fascinating red head in front of him. Was she mad? He'd seen her mad plenty of times and this certainly wasn't it. It was just an innocent look wasn't it? He shrugged, the psyche of women was definitely not his strong point, especially one as reserved as Virginia Potts. He stole a look in her direction, her face buried in her laptop. He wondered what was going through that closed off mind of hers, he knew he'd teased her a little, but all in good fun of course. From his over-the-top flirting to his lewdly drawn picture of himself, he wondered when he took it too far.
He slowly pushed himself away from his desk and circled round his desk, smoothing out his suit jacket, he walked over to Pepper. He wasn't entirely sure if she heard him get up, he thought about announcing himself but something stopped him. He reached his hand out into the silence and lightly brushed her shoulder, nothing prepared him for the shriek that came from that usually reticent mouth.
"Tony, what the hell?!" She yelled, slamming her laptop down on the table.
"I'm sorry-I'm sorry, I just wanted to see if you were okay!" He apologized, remaining a safe distance away.
"I am fine! You know what would make me more fine?" She shouted.
"If I took off my shirt?" He interjected sarcastically.
"Oh for goodness sake Tony." She huffed, snatching her laptop from the table and escaping as quickly as she could.
He winced as she slammed the door behind her. Looking around his now empty office he couldn't help but smirk. "Okay now that was too far."