DISCLAIMER:
I do not own, nor do I profit from, the Iron Man Trilogy, the Marvel Cinematic Universe or any of the characters therein. They are simply used in the following story for my own entertainment. No copyright infringement intended.
Hello again! So this idea popped into my head a few days back (it was sweltering hot outside) and I have not been able to shake it. So, getting this out of my system so I can go back to writing Longing. This should be fun and flirty, so I hope you all enjoy!
Please excuse any typos and/or grammatical errors as I do not write with a beta.
xXxXxXx
-FRIDAY-
"Okay, so…" Pepper sighed as she scrolled through her blackberry one final time for the evening, following her suit-clad boss down the hall and away from his office. It was finally Friday night and they were leaving the building; him for the weekend and her for the entire week, as she was beginning her week of paid time off starting the moment they reach the front door.
"I was able to push most of the meetings and press conferences to next week after I get back but there is one Board of Directors meeting on Tuesday in New York that I couldn't get you out of so I scheduled the jet to take you Monday night." She looked up at him as they came to a stop in front of the elevator doors, waiting for his reaction.
He didn't react at all.
The elevator doors opened and they both stepped in, Pepper blindly pressing the button for the main lobby as she continued to scroll through her phone, making sure she hadn't forgotten anything.
"I've already set up reminders on your phone and arranged for Happy to take you to the air strip. The penthouse at the Mandarin is booked Monday night through Wednesday morning for you and the jet will bring you back whenever you're ready. Aside from that you are pretty much free to do what you want for the week." The doors closed behind them and the elevator began its decent.
Still no reaction.
She locked her phone and stuck it in the designer tote bag she carried on her shoulder. "I packed you a bag and a suit and left both by your wardrobe in your bedroom," she said as she folded her hands in front of her and bounced slightly on her toes.
"Going through my underwear drawer again, Pep?" Tony tsk'd as he gave her a mock-disapproving look.
She merely rolled her eyes at him. Of course that would get a reaction.
Feeling satisfied that she had relayed all necessary information to him, she let the stress of work melt away. "If I didn't then you would no doubt forget to pack them at all."
Tony let her have that one, knowing she was probably right, and quickly went back to sulking and feeling bad for himself. "It's going to be a record-gorgeous week here in Malibu and you're sending me to New York for three days where it's been raining all week. Your vacation is starting to feel like my punishment for something."
Pepper chuckled and shook her head. "It's a day and a half – tops – and I literally cleared your entire schedule for the rest of the week so you wouldn't have to do anything until I get back. What more do you want from me?"
Tony quirked a brow at her and smirked. "Do you really want me to answer that?"
Pepper glared at him and was about to chastise him for his energizer-bunny libido when they reached the ground floor and the elevator sounded their arrival. The doors opened and she cleared her throat, but didn't drop the smile. "Saved by the ding."
The pair disembarked the elevator into the main lobby of Stark Industries, Peppers heels clicking as they walked toward where Happy was waiting by the front door. Tony unfastened the top button of his dress shirt and pulled his sunglasses out of his jacket pocket, slipping them on as they approached their friend.
"Alright then," Pepper started as she gleefully took the set of keys Happy had been holding up for her, thanking him with her eyes and a smile and turned back to her boss. "This is where I get off."
Tony smirked and bit back the naughty remark he was dying to make. She was lucky Happy was standing there.
"Will that be all, Mr. Stark?" she asked with a beaming smile.
Tony loved the way she always said that to him with a slight smirk on her face. Looking at her for a long moment he was full of all sorts of mixed emotions about this vacation of hers. She deserved it, there was absolutely no doubt about that. She deserved more than just the week she was taking - but he was fairly certain he hadn't been without her by his side for more than a day since the start of her employment with him several years ago.
If you don't count that time he was kidnapped and held captive for three months, that is.
He digressed. She worked even harder to maintain everything in his absence. He doubted she even got to enjoy a weekend during that time. Despite all of this, he was feeling pretty down about not being able to see her for seven whole days. Reluctantly, he had to let her go.
"That will be all, Miss Potts. Enjoy your vacation."
"I will see you both next week," she said as she tossed her tote bag in the passenger seat of Tony's white Audi and slipped gracefully into the driver's seat of the luxurious car, grateful he'd offered it to her for the week since she didn't actually own a car of her own.
What was the point when Happy was always around?
"Until next Monday, miss Potts," Tony smiled, waving her off with a flick of his wrist and watching her with astonishing attraction as she started up the engine of his car with a dramatic purr. He wasn't sure if it was the sight in front of him or the sweltering heat outside but he had to loosen his tie as he watched her pull her long slender legs inside the vehicle before closing the door behind her.
Was that a sense of… pride?
Pepper buckled herself in and waved back at them as she pulled away and Tony found himself staring, longer than what could be deemed as appropriate for a boss to stare at his PA, especially with an audience, but he couldn't tear his eyes away. He waited until she rounded the corner and was out of sight before turning back to Happy.
"Shall we?" his longtime friend asked as he motioned to the Rolls Royce.
Tony spared one last glance back to where he had last laid eyes on her and sighed as the realization of defeat set in. "Yeah, get me out of here. I'm parched. Got any scotch?"
xXxXxXx
It was almost ten o'clock when Tony's cell phone rang. He was waist deep in titanium alloy parts for his new and improved Iron Man suit and while he would normally just ignore the thing, he knew only one person in his contacts list with that particular ringtone ad he was immediately distracted by the possibilities of the nature of her call.
Tapping one of the many screens that surrounded him he didn't even bother to say hello.
"You know," he started. "One might refer to someone who calls their boss…" he checked his watch before wrenching on one of his thruster boots again, "three hours into their vacation- a workaholic."
"Tony," she whined a little. "Don't start with me. I need a huge favor, but I need to know if you have company over."
"Well that depends on what you need," he said, the smirk evident in his voice.
Pepper didn't have time for games. "Are you even home? Are you with a girl, do you have a girl over?" she asked again.
Tony was taken aback by the utter urgency and annoyance in her voice. "Come on, Potts. When was the last time I brought anyone home with me? It's been at least six or seven months, you should know that."
"Well, I don't know every detail of your life, Tony, you never know..."
Tony smiled and shook his head to himself. "Uh, actually I think you do know every detail of my life. I wouldn't last two weeks without you, remember?"
Pepper chuckled a little on the other end but he could tell she was still tense.
"What's going on?"
She let out a deep sigh. "There was a fire in the basement of my apartment building. Everyone is fine but they shut everything off after they doused the place. My unit is unharmed except I have no central air, no running water, no electricity-"
Tony sat up straight and set down the wrench. "So what are you doing calling me? Get here," he smiled.
Pepper smiled to herself on her end, relieved at his invitation as well as the fact that he was apparently sitting at home alone on a Friday night. That thought was oddly comforting.
"Are you sure it's alright? It should only be for a day or two but I couldn't think of anywhere else to go other than a hotel but I've already got some clothes in the spare room at your place and-"
"Potts," he interrupted. "What are you rambling on for? I said get here."
"Thank you Tony. I owe you."
He sat back in his chair and rubbed his chest. "I can think of one or two creative ways you can pay me…"
"Tony…" she warned.
Tony smiled and wiped his hands on a grease towel, abandoning his project for the night and preparing to spend some time upstairs for once. Playful banter with his off-the-clock PA sounded much more fun anyway.
"I'll tell you what," he said as he switched from the speakerphone to his hand set and bounded up the stairs two at a time. "Pick up some Pad Thai on your way over and we'll call it even. I'm starved."
Pepper bit her lip and nodded to herself. This whole situation already felt more intimate than she had intended it to be. "Deal. I'll be there in a few."
She didn't wait for him to say goodbye before she hung up the phone and made her way through the mass of people standing outside and back into the building to grab her things.
As she dashed around her apartment she worked up a sweat. Last she checked it was over ninety degrees out with high humidity and she was extremely uncomfortable. It certainly didn't help that she was in the middle of an at-home body pump session in her living room when the fire alarm had sounded earlier.
She was a hot sticky mess and she was eager to get over to Tony's and either jump in the pool or take a cold shower.
Maybe both depending how thick Tony planned to lay on the innuendo later on.
She had gotten pretty good at giving it right back to him but that didn't mean that what he said every now and then didn't have an effect on her. There was so much imagery that she had a hard time not getting worked up.
She just couldn't let him know what effect it had on her.
She dialed in her order for Pad Thai for two as she gathered her phone charger, her makeup bag an the book she was currently reading. Quickly she grabbed her tote bag from work and along with the other items she shoved in a couple pairs of shorts, a couple of tank tops, a tee shirt, a bra, and her swim suit. That would be enough to get her through tonight and tomorrow. Hopefully by then her apartment would be back to normal and she could continue on with her vacation away from SI.
She scanned the apartment one last time before shutting and locking the door behind her, keys in hand and ramping up for a night over at Tony Starks place.
xXxXxXx
"Miss Potts is approaching with her arms full, sir."
"Thanks Jarvis," Tony said as he jumped up from the couch and hurried over to the front door. He opened it just in time to find Pepper standing there with her overnight bag as well as two paper bags full of what he assumed was their dinner.
He stood there for a moment and took in her appearance. Her strawberry blonde hair was up in a messy bun on top of her head, she was wearing tight black capris and hot pink running sneakers with a tight pink workout tank that hugged every curve of her chest and torso. She was visibly hot with flushed cheeks and a sheen of sweat glistening over her ivory skin. Tony watched as one small bead of sweat trickled down from her neck and disappeared in between her breasts.
"Delicious," he stated as he stared at her body.
She quirked a brow at him and shoved the food into his hands, unable to hide the smile from forming on her lips. "That's enough out of you already. Let me in, I'm dying."
Tony smiled at her feistiness and stepped aside, closing the door behind her, stealing a glance at her ass as she moved past him. "I was talking about the food, of course."
Pepper set her bag down on the floor by the stairs and moved into the kitchen, immediately grabbing a bottle of water from the refrigerator. She cracked the cap and took a long swig before re-capping it and rolling it over her chest and forehead. "Of course you were," she breathed, giving him a stern look. "God, of all the weekends for this to happen… this has got to be record heat, even for So-Cal."
"The highest recorded temperature for Malibu is ninety-seven degrees Fahrenheit, ma'am. Today's high reached ninety-one and we are currently holding at about eighty-eight degrees."
Pepper nodded and took another swig of her water. "Thanks Jarvis."
"You are welcome, Miss Potts."
"Well the obvious solution is to strip down to nothing so your skin can breathe," Tony said as he walked up to her, invading her personal bubble on purpose to put the food down on the counter beside her. "You start," he said, looking at her chest again.
Pepper tried to hide the smile that formed again and shoved him away from her, not missing that he was shirtless and in only a pair of jogging pants. "Looks like you're one step ahead of me, you might as well keep going."
Tony's eyes grew big and so did his smile. She was playful tonight. "If you say so," he said as he hooked his thumbs into the waistband of his pants.
"No, no!" she laughed and she held a hand out. "Don't you dare…"
"Just ask and you shall receive, Miss Potts. Ask and you shall receive."
Tony stopped his teasing and moved to grab a couple of forks from the drawer instead. He really was famished and couldn't wait to eat. When she wasn't around to remind him, he sometimes forgot to all together.
Sitting on the opposite side of the island he unpacked their food and laid it all out between them, waiting as she took her seat across from him.
"So," he said scooping some noodles onto his fork and stuffing them into his mouth. "Tell me what happened."
Pepper took a bite of a spring roll and covered her mouth as she chewed. "I honestly don't know the whole story yet. All I know is I was in the middle of my workout when the fire alarm went off. Nearly gave me a heart attack from how loud it was."
Tony continued to shovel chicken and noodles into his mouth as she took another bite then another sip of water.
"We all evacuated while the fire department pinpointed the problem and then they told us we were safe to go back in, but that it would be at least day or so before we had power and water again."
"Hmm," Tony hummed as he stole her water bottle and took a long draw from it. "Tell me more about this workout. Was there a lot of bouncing? Grunting?"
Pepper threw the butt of her spring roll at him and shook her head.
"Hey! No throwing food. That's how we get ants," he said as he caught the piece food and tossed it in his mouth.
"You're ridiculous," she said as she took the fork from his hand and scooped up some noodles for herself.
"I like this look on you," he said, leaning his forearms against the counter. "I may have to change the company dress code."
Pepper smiled but refused to meet his eyes. He was extra flirty tonight and she didn't know why, but she didn't really want him to stop. She had been here five minutes and she was already enjoying herself so much.
Nights like this with him were rare, but that was why they were her favorite. They were friends rather than boss and assistant. They didn't have to be careful about what they said to one another as there were no other office ears to listen in on their conversations. Many people would consider this type of banter to be harassment, but with them it was just innocent… or not so innocent fun with one another. They both understood it and it was okay.
"So what's the plan," he asked. "Just hang out here in your room until the landlord calls or what?"
"The guest room," she corrected him.
"You're the only person who's used that room in years. It's your room."
"Only because all your house guests seem to spend more time in your bed than you do," she quipped.
Tony winced and feigned offense. "Ouch, Pep. That was the old me."
He wasn't wrong, she knew that. While he was still called a playboy by most, he hadn't been with a single woman for months; not since he returned from his ordeal in the Middle East. Something there had changed him. What- she was not sure, and she had always been afraid to ask. But, in a way, she was grateful for this new version of Tony; mostly because his attentions were all funneled on her now, and she would be lying if she said that didn't make her feel very good inside.
She set her fork down and mirrored his position leaning forward on her forearms and looked at him, smile intact. "And the new you?"
Tony looked back at her for a long moment, gaze shifting from one of her eyes to the other, then back. He had to choose his words carefully.
"I promise you'll be the first person to know once I figure that out."
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