Affairs of the Heart

Tony & Pepper, Ironman

June 13th 2018

Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with Ironman and/or Marvel. I just enjoy playing with them.

Chapter Two


It wasn't as strange as she might've thought it would be, 'hanging out' as he had put it. It was easy to fall into a comfortable, companionable routine because they had been doing it already for years, just maybe with slightly less flirtation. She said as much to him and he shrugged in response.

"This isn't anything new... We've done things together plenty of times, non-work-related things too. You're the only one overthinking things," he said. "Why don't we go grab something to eat? I'm starving."

"I'm not sure I'm ready for that kind of publicity."

"I am perfectly capable of keeping my hands to myself. Even if I don't want to," he grinned at her. "It'll be just like always, except we'll be hiding a dirty little secret."

She rolled her eyes at him and fixed him with a put-upon expression, but he seemed unbothered. Clearly he wasn't about to change his mind and she'd be lying if she said she wasn't hungry. She stood up and moved towards her bedroom with a sigh, thinking about what she was going to wear. She felt a nervous excitement suddenly that she hadn't felt for a long time. What am I, sixteen? Am I overthinking things?

She came out ten minutes later dressed in dark wash jeans, a fitted long sleeve shirt and some kitten heels. She heard his low whistle and tried to stop the smile forming on her face but couldn't. I guess I can start getting used to his attention.

"I'm going to have to fight them off of you now, aren't I?" He moved to stand in front of her and put his hands on her waist lightly, testing the waters. She felt like her heart was in her throat but she didn't step away. The next thing she knew his lips were on hers and she instintively grasped his arms, pulling herself closer to him. One of his hands moved up to cup her cheek as he deepened the kiss for a moment before he broke away. "Maybe we should just stay here," he breathed and she backed up a little, smirking.

"You wish. We're going out, come on. That was your treat for the road."

She led him down to the parking garage of her apartment building, listening to him drone on about the lack of security and soon they were speeding off into the night. He was driving – he had insisted – and while she did feel safe in a car with him, at his usual speed he was more likely to attract the attention of the papparazzi that she so desparately wanted to avoid for as long as possible.

"Where are we going?" She broke the silence, watching the landscape fly by through the window.

He glanced at her and moved to put one hand on her thigh, giving it a squeeze. "What are you up for? Fancy? Casual? Fast?"

"Hmmm... Burger King?" She said it as nonchalantly as possible, keeping her eyes glued to her window to hide her grin. She never indulged in fast food around him, not once in the many years they had known each other, which was surprising considering it made up most of his diet. She had eaten it before, of course, just very rarely.

He snorted and let out a small laugh. "I actually want you to enjoy the food," he glanced at her again. "I thought you said you were hungry."

"I don't hate fast food... I just eat it sparingly. I'm serious," she finally looked over at him. "Burger King."

"Can we sit in the car and make out like teenagers after we've finished eating it?"

"Sure." She thought his jaw was going to break off of his face when he realized what she had agreed to and she couldn't help but to burst into a fit of laughter.

"I feel like I don't even know you!" He exclaimed jokingly and she watched as his expression suddenly shuttered into something slightly painful. "I guess that's not that far off from the truth, though, is it?" He muttered after a second.

"Good thing we're dating then. Usually when you date someone you get to know them pretty well. Besides," she continued, raising an eyebrow at him, "you do know me. It's just not all of the little things, but you don't seriously think you know nothing about me, right? We've worked in close quarters together for almost a decade."

"The little things are the important things. Like strawberries." He shot back. She rolled her eyes. Mercurial moods.

"You'll be okay," she said as dryly as possible, "once you set your mind to something you're usually obsessively thorough."

His face lit up at that. "I am definitely obsessed."

He ended up going through the drive thru to order their food, for her peace of mind. They really did sit in the parking lot to eat it, laughing about the fact that he was a billionnaire and the look on the drive thru worker's face all the while. She couldn't remember the last time she had had such a good time and marvelled at how relaxed and right it felt that they were doing this. Dating.

"This was a really great first date, you know," she remarked after they'd sat in silence together for a bit after finishing off their food. "I didn't know you had it in you."

"Despite all the... flashiness of my life," he replied, gesturing widely with his hands, "these are the kinds of things I enjoy. That's why you can find me in the shop getting my hands dirty at almost anytime of the day."

"I know." She locked eyes with him, feeling her heart speed up again and her hands get a little clammy.

"Do you?" He murmured, inching closer to her. His hand found its way to her thigh again and she felt it like a burn, the heat of his hand making her hyperaware of how close they really were and how much closer she wanted to be. It scared her just how fast everything was moving between them. It scared her even more that she was letting it.

A bright flash made her jump back from him and she whipped her head around to look out the windshield, directly into the lens of a camera. Even though she wanted to screech in disappointment at the moment the man in front of her had a ruined, years of PR conditioning kicked in and she stayed calm, face neutral. She saw Tony scowl out of the corner of her eyes.

"I can't take you anywhere," she said sweetly, smiling at Tony as he turned the car on.

"You should snap a picture of him so I can find him later and show him just how poorly timed that was." He looked over at her with a little bit of concern and what only a few people would recognize as worry. "Are you..."

She sighed, touched that he cared at all. Tony wasn't one for keeping things private. "I'm fine. I guess it's going to get out eventually. We can't hide inside forever. I just wanted more time."

"We have tons of time to make out back at your place!" He supplied innocently, batting his eyelashes at her exaggeratedly. He just grinned in response to her pointed glare.

"Don't you ever wish you could keep things to yourself? To enjoy without the world looking in on you?" She wasn't angry, just curious.

"Sometimes I just think it's not worth trying when everyone is breaking my balls to find everything about me out. If I let them have it, they leave me alone a little bit. We could always explain it away somehow," he offered, waving his hand back in the direction of Burger King. "I'm sure we could think of something."

"Nobody would believe it." She quickly grabbed his one hand from the steering wheel and laced her fingers with his before she lost her nerve. As much as she had ridiculed Tony's way with women over the years, she was probably just as bad at romantic relationships if she was being really honest. Being a workaholic didn't leave a lot of time to spend on love. She didn't want him to think she was embarrassed of him or anything either. Judging by the tipped up corner of his lip that she could see, it was a good move.

It didn't take them long to get back to her place and she wasn't surprised to see a small herd of reporters standing around her place. News travelled unbelievably fast in these parts, especially about Tony Stark. Nevertheless, she couldn't stop herself from letting out a pained groan at the thought of reporters following her more than they already did. They barely squeezed past them into the safety of the parking garage, bright flashes going off all around them and only when the door closed behind them did she let out a breath of relief. It was then that she noticed a look of giddy happiness on Tony's face. "What?"

"Increased security time!"

"That would bring you a strange amount of happiness," she rolled her eyes, taking care not to slam her car door in barely contained frustration at how quickly the night had gone from wonderful to... work. Because that was what this was now: work. Public relations. No doubt something they would label an inter-office scandal.

"Hey, don't worry about them," he said, referring to the papparazzi as they made it into the building. "I haven't cared about what they've had to say my entire life and look how well I'm doing."

"I've never been crucified before by the media quite like what I'm expecting to happen after this," she reminded him.

He grabbed her hand in the elevator. "They won't." He said it with such seriousness that the knot in her stomach loosened. "I won't let them tarnish your name just because you've finally given in to my devilish charms."

"I don't think you can control the media..."

"I thought you said if I just put my mind to it I could do anything?"

"Well, putting your mind to the media doesn't really do anything."

They walked into her apartment and she was suddenly against the closed door, his arms caging her in as he kissed her. "I could stay here-" he started and she stopped him, pulling apart and keeping her hands on his shoulders for distance.

"That's not first date material." She was breathless and found herself embarrassed that it was so obvious as he flashed his trademark smirk at her. "Go home, Tony."

He held his hands up in surrender and took a step back. "Only because you asked. And I'm a gentleman," he added, crossing the room in a flash and stepping into his suit. He popped open the facemask to give her one last look before he shoved the window open that he'd arrived from. "Just let me know when you're done with the gentleman, 'cause I'm ready to go at anytime."

"Bye Tony," she quipped, giving him one last kiss before shoving him out the window and pulling it closed. She watched him fly off before she felt herself really relax.

He was a little too tempting.


AN: Cute? Not in character? Horrible? Let me know peeps!