Disclaimer: Ironman and all related characters belong to Marvel. I just like to take them out and play with them occassionaly, like action figures. Also I'm a movie only fan so far.
Tony Stark, CEO, billionaire, industrialist, war profiteer and playboy was bored. Especially since he had scraped the labels war profiteer for 'hero' and playboy for 'veritable monk'. You'd think that the first one would have made his life a bit more exciting but apparently being a hero meant waiting for intel and listening to Fury. This resulted in long periods with nothing to do. Well, aside from working on his suit with Jarvis, talking to Pepper, or completing a task set by Pepper. The fact that he was now doing what Pepper ordered with minimum complaint is actually a testament to how bored Tony was.
The second label change is the one that has just about everyone else he knows worried. Rhodey is talking about a guys night out to some strip joint or a trip to Vegas, he thinks Tony is still busy with the hero gig and needs some time off. Jarvis is starting to sound like Dr Phil, citing his sudden lack of female companionship as a result of newly formed trust issues. Pepper has taken to sneaking more social events into his evening schedule, she thinks he might be obsessing over his newfound responsibilities and may just be a tiny bit insecure about his chest piece. Tony's response seemed to confuse and worry them more, wasn't it possible that a guy could face death thrice and figure out there's more to life than getting laid on a regular basis?
This was of course a complete lie. He was Tony Stark, of course he was horny! It was eighty percent of the problem. Their observations had however inspired a solution to his boredom. A distracting little project that would guarantee satisfactory results for everyone.
Rhodey has missed the point entirely. Besides a guys night out would only fuel speculations that he'd was now batting for the other team. The photos just after his return from Afghanistan holding Jim's hand for completely hetro support weren't exactly helpful.
Jarvis is the closer to the truth than Tony is comfortable with. He can't really trust anyone to get too close after Obie's betrayal. What if they tried to take his arc reactor? To have as many one night stands as before would require a hell of a lot of extensive background checks. This is where his plan is brilliant; it is far more efficient to seduce Pepper Potts.
Besides, although Tony will never admit it, Pepper is dead on about his chest piece. He knows its cool, super hero level cool, but he does wonder if the average woman might think it's a bit weird, scary or gross. At least he knows, no matter what she might say about the plasma discharge, Pepper thinks the glow is a little bit sexy.
Yep I'm not sure what I was thinking when I wrote this but here it is. The first story I've ever posted so I'm a bit paranoid about it but I do want to contribute something to the fandom. Help me improve and leave a review kay!
N.B. Edited to correct spelling errors