Soooo sorry about delay - you would not believe my life at the moment! To make up for it...double posting! Enjoy and leave a review.

Chapter 3

He'd found about Josh by accident. Or at least he thought it was. He'd frowned when Obi had walked into the office that particular afternoon and suggested going for dinner with him and two female acquaintances of his.

Tony hadn't felt much like any kind of socialising but he didn't want Obi sniffing around as to the reason why so he agreed, forcing himself to act with some semblance of enthusiasm.

His eyes had widened in the restaraunt when he walked in to find Pepper's long legs taunting him from a seat at the bar. His eyes had narrowed again when he spotted the male hand resting lightly on her knee. He swallowed and looked around, wondering if he could run before she spotted him but he was out of luck.

"Obadiah? Tony? This is a...surprise," she said standing up but Tony noted the tone of her voice. She was surprised, yes. But there was something else too. Something he couldn't put his finger on. So instead he smiled and shook her boyfriend's hand, made small talk and tried, for the most part, to keep his eyes off of her.

He didn't entirely succeed and at one point she caught him watching the expressions flutter over her face and she blushed, looking away from him.

She'd quickly excused them after that and headed to opposite ends of the restaurant to enjoy dinner.

Tony had stumbled his way through a main course before feigning illness and leaving.

IM * IM * IM * IM * IM *

In work, he maintained a decorum of professionalism but the flirtatious remarks he'd once lavished on his personal assistant became almost extinct. They spoke, they argued (as always) and they still had a strong working relationship. But the colour was gone. They were strictly professional now and he knew that there were rumours flying around the corridors.

Pepper Potts was surprised when her boyfriend started arriving to her office. They'd only been going out a few months when he began to bring lunch to her, remarking that she worked so hard he felt like he had to feed her. She'd quickly got him off site under the pretense of visiting a nearby park to enjoy their sandwich.

But, that one moment had set a standard and soon Pepper started finding Josh sitting at her desk while he waited for her to return from a meeting. The first time that had happened, she'd been shocked to see him there. Tony hadn't said anything but simply breezed past her into his office, shutting the door with a little more force than usual.

"Bad meeting?" Josh had asked jokingly and she raised her eyebrows and nodded her head. Again, she'd quickly extricated him from the area.

She'd tried, nicely, to explain to him that her workplace was off limits for him – mainly because it was full of things that could kill him but he'd simply laughed and said he was just looking out for her wellbeing. She sighed because she knew that was true. He was a caring guy and if she was working in a real estate office or anywhere where she hadn't slept with her boss and seemingly broken his heart, she would be delighted to have her own personal lunch delivery man.

It was when she and Tony had come back from a particularly hellish meeting to find Josh sitting again at her desk with a huge vase of flowers alongside him that Tony lost his cool. He disappeared into his office, again saying nothing but re-emerged a few minutes later to see Pepper trying to convince her boyfriend to bring the flowers to her place and she'd be home later.

"Pepper, you got some time? These spreadsheets are...weird." It was the only word he could think of. He heard Josh saying he would wait and he found himself remarking "They're really weird. This is going to take a while." His tone of voice was clear – get out of my building now. Josh nodded and bid farewell to Pepper, grabbing the flowers and promising to see her later.

Tony held the door as Pepper walked in past him, planner in hand though she knew damn well that there was nothing wrong with any of the spreadsheets. Mainly because there were no spreadsheets in the file.

He pushed the door closed behind her and turned after her. He stood for a moment until finally she turned around.

"Pepper, this isn't fair. As much as I don't like it, I get that you've moved on – it doesn't mean you've got to parade the new guy around under my damn nose."

She held a hand up at that and shook her head.

"I'm not parading anything Tony, you think I'm asking him to come in here? It's just as awkward for me, you know!"

"Well then what the hell is he doing in here? You can't be making too much of an effort to keep him away..."

She looked away at that, infuriated by him, disgusted that he thought she would be so cruel as to do that to him. He was still talking however and she just had to let him sail through his tirade.

"This is already hard enough without seeing your douchebag boyfriend circling your desk like a damn bloodhound. It's pathetic!"

She stopped him with a hand on his arm. She looked him in the eye for a moment until he took a deep breath and looked away from her.

"Tony. Do you honestly think that I would be so cruel as to do that? Really? Because if you do then we have a problem here..."

He shook his head – he didn't think that was the case at all. He knew it wasn't. But he couldn't confront Josh about it which left the only person left for the firing line was her. He shook his head and apologised to her.

"I know it's not deliberate, I do. I just..."

"If it helps, it's annoying me that he keeps turning up here too," she said quickly and he sensed some slight trepidation. He slyly suggested some security upgrades to which she responded that she thought it was a great idea. He grinned and nodded his head.

"I'm sorry I had a go at you. I just...I hate seeing you with him. Or anyone for that matter. I know you don't believe me and think I'm just wanting what I can't have but...that's not the case. I..."

Her hand on his jaw stopped him. She shook her head sadly at him.

"Stop Tony, please."

He grasped her hand, the one on his face and turned his head towards it, kissing her palm. She pulled her hand away from him, biting her lip.

"Pepper, if you would just listen to me..."

"No, Tony. We've been over this. Please don't do this."

He growled as he stepped away from her but his anger was rising dramatically.

"Tell me it meant nothing. Hmm? Go on, tell me what happened between us meant absolutely nothing and you've been able to forget all about it and move on."

She looked at him with a look of fury on her face and he knew he'd got her. He didn't know what good that would be but at least it felt like some sort of small victory to him.

"Tony. What happened was..."

"I know. A moment that happened at just the right time for just the right reasons. Well, you know what, I call bullshit on that. What happened between us happened because everything about it and everything leading up to it was right. And it was right because it was you, and it was me. It wasn't because you were on a rebound and I was depressed over my parents – it was because you were you and I was me, and we are right together."

She looked away from him. He'd struck a chord and she could feel her resolve starting to wane, the butterflies in her stomach starting to flutter like the night they'd spent together. She didn't speak because she couldn't. She didn't know what to say anyway.

"Some day maybe you'll realise that," she heard him say softly as he turned away towards his desk.

She moved to exit the office when he called her back.

"I think key cards for everywhere after our main reception – employees only. Sound good?"

She smiled and nodded her head, telling him she'd get in touch with their security sector immediately.

He smiled in response as she left the office. He sat down with a sigh.