It was brought to my attention recently that I have not updated this fic in a month and 3 days... which is horrifyingly bad, since I promised weekend updates.

Also, Yoshipotts just told me to update :P

But all jokes aside, my sincere apologies for not updating for so long. Thank you if you are still reading this fic :P

One more chapter tomorrow.

The discussion had been a great success. The audience had been lively, coming up with interesting questions for the panel of experts. The flow of conversation had been brisk, engaging and often humorous as the experts tried to be as frank as possible.

Tony had thoroughly enjoyed himself and was pleased to see that Pepper had done so as well. He was also proud of the impressive way she had hidden her nervousness. After the discussion was over, he had introduced her to the group of nerds he had been hanging out with, including Park, Dev and Melvin.

True to form, they had acted like a bunch of schoolboys meeting their crush, blushing and gushing over Pepper. She was kind and charming to them and they were extremely reluctant to let her leave. Tony had to finally step in and remind them that Pepper had another Conference event to attend to and that they only had a ten-minute break.

Eight minutes into the break and he was waiting patiently for Pepper outside the ladies washroom. Tony absently fiddled with his tie, then pulled a lint bunny out of his lab coat and examined it curiously.

He felt a soft hand on his shoulder and turned towards Pepper. She tilted her head slightly and looked at him, her blue eyes shining with a curiously soft light.

"Why are you looking at me like that, Potts?"

The glint in her eyes deepened and she murmured, "Because your tie is askew, Mr. Stark. Here, let me."

She moved closer to him and tenderly undid his tie. Tony couldn't help but grin.

"Some things never change, do they, Potts?" He said on a whisper as she retied the knot in the tie and tightened it around his neck, her soft fingers moving on the cloth.

"No, they don't, Mr. Stark..." she whispered back, her lips curving into a soft smile as her fingers nimbly adjusted his collar over the tie. "They really don't. You still fiddle with your tie, forget to eat your meals and get so jealous when a man pays attention to me."

He scowled and she murmured, "And you still find inventive ways to get rid of this man or men and think that I do not notice."

Oh no! Evasive Action! Calm down, we got this! Lie!

Tony put on what he called his "Board meeting" face, extremely blank and neutral with no facial movements. He replied carefully, "I have no idea what you are talking about, Potts."

Pepper burst into riotous giggles. "Oh Tony! You always try to appear as innocent as possible!"

She tapped his nose lightly with one finger. "But I am onto you, Stark."

Tony shrugged, still holding on to his blank expression.

"I have no idea what you are talking about, Potts. I was the perfect gentleman the entire day."

Then he pointed at his watch.

"Break's nearly over. We should be getting to the next meeting room. Which one is it? Remind me again. Room 12 A? Or was it B?"

To his surprise, Pepper wound her arms around his neck and leaned completely against him, pressing every part of her soft body to his.

He gasped and then swallowed his whimper as her fingers began to move through his hair, lovingly stroking his scalp while she brought her face so close to his.

"Potts! What if someone sees us?"

"Hush, Tony."

She pressed her breasts against his nanobyte arc and he felt tiny jolts of electricity move through him at the contact. Her fingers drew soft circles on his head, moving through his hair and Tony sighed. He closed his eyes, savoring the way she was touching him.

Pepper's fingers gently drifted down to the nape of his neck and began to caress him there. He nearly started purring, his body and mind relaxed beyond measure.

"Now, Tony, it seems too much of a coincidence that both Demarcos and Dave had to leave urgently. Tell me the truth, honey... what did you do?"

"Naww..." he drawled out, blissfully drifting in the gloriously relaxing magic that her fingers were wreaking on his head and neck. "I didn't do nothing."

"Come on, Tony..." Pepper said softly, "I know you have been spying on me from afar. With Friday's help, I am sure."

He shook his head mutinously and she sighed, pressing her curves even harder against his chest. He opened his eyes and was hypnotized by the way her eyes gazed into his, shimmering sapphire blue pools with flecks of light, so deep and endless that he felt as if he was drowning in their blueness.

"Tony." Pepper whispered softly, her fingers now cupping his jaw. "Don't hide it. I know you have been watching me..."

He shook his head again and then held still as her fingers traced the outline of his beard tenderly. Then they touched his lips, lingered on his bottom lip, her thumb rubbing against it gently. He shuddered and they moved to his chin, playing with his beard, pulling and tugging on it lightly.

Stay strong! Don't succumb to whatever the hell she's doing! Don't!

He opened his mouth with great effort, especially since her fingers were now caressing his jaw, leaving trails of tingling sensation in their path.

"I... wasn't. I was here with the guys. That's... it..."

Pepper lowered her eyes to his mouth and he felt his stomach tighten. Then she murmured sultrily, "So you truly didn't know where I was, when you told me about the panel event? You didn't see me come back to the hall, after Dave left?"

Her hands were back in his hair, gently pulling it this way and that and he closed his eyes again, lost in the soothing touch of her fingers.

"Erm... no... I... I just messaged you when you were in the garden... walking among the daisies... you looked so pretty there, the flowers and the green grass and you... that idiot Demarcos was staring at you and I just wanted you to join the panel because you know a lot but you weren't confident enough and I wanted you to see that-"

Then he felt her press her lips to his, kissing him gently. Before he could respond, the lips moved away and so did her hands from his head.

He opened his eyes to see Pepper grinning widely at him.

"It is interesting that you weren't spying on me, but yet you knew that I was walking along a flower bed of daisies..."

He widened his eyes in horror.

Oh no! Why did I tell her that!

"Potts!"

Pepper pulled out her Stark phone and spoke into it, "Friday, what was Mr. Stark doing the whole day?"

"Friday! Don't you dare!"

His AI beeped once and then announced dryly, "Miss Potts, there is a grid of security cameras monitoring the inside and outside of the Center. Mr. Stark asked me to break into the Center's network and from there, hack the security camera control system, which was easy enough. Once I was in, he used the cameras to see exactly where you were and whom you were with. There was no audio however."

Tony exclaimed, "Friday, you tattle-tail! Pepper, I wasn't spying on you, I just wanted to find out where you were!"

Pepper just quirked an eyebrow at him. Then she asked, "Thank you, Friday. Could you also tell me how Mr. Stark got rid of Lieutenant Ordal and Mr. Demarcos?"

"I am afraid I cannot, Miss Potts. Mr. Stark did not use me for that operation."

"Hey!" He objected. "I did not perform any operation! Okay Potts, you think I got rid of them. Where's your proof?"

She smirked at him.

"Tony, Tony, Tony... do you remember Javier Fernando? The architect from Fernando, Oak and Simon?"

"No..." he was confused. "I don't but what does that have to do with-"

"Let me refresh your memory. It was 2010, a week after the Hammer drones had destroyed Stark Expo. Clean up operations were in place and I had contacted Mr. Fernando to help rebuild the Expo building."

Tony opened his mouth and then shut it.

Oh Holy Hell...

Pepper lowered her gaze, smiling softly as she spoke.

"Mr. Fernando was a very attractive man with deep-set hazel eyes and the lean but strong build of an athlete. He also had the face of a Byronic hero-"

"Chiseled and angelic, something straight out of a romance novel." Tony completed, his mood darkening as he suddenly remembered the darkly handsome Latino architect. "And a voice as smooth as chocolate."

She giggled cutely.

"See! You still remember the words I had used, when I had described him to you! Javier and I had got along very well from the start and we started spending a lot of time together. Then one day, you had suddenly shown up at the construction site, asking to see what was going on. And I had observed the look on your face as you saw me and Javier together, his easy camaraderie with me, the way we would joke around and how much we knew each other. Now you and I had just started our relationship but because of my busy schedule, we hadn't had a first proper date. And funnily enough, you were very nervous around me."

"I remember..." murmured Tony. "Hey, Pep, you know that I didn't date and didn't know how, so I was very unsure how to proceed... I didn't want to screw us up!"

"I know, Tony..." Pepper whispered. "I had my own insecurities as well."

"Really? Like what, Potts?"

She shrugged. "At the time, I had doubted that you would actually commit to a relationship with me. I had thought that maybe you would regret our passionate kiss on the roof. And saying that you cared for me. Maybe you didn't really want a relationship but had just kissed me in the heat of the moment. And was scared of hurting my feelings but wanted to break things off before I went too far."

Tony couldn't help but snort and she smiled.

"I know, I know. Looking back, those insecurities seem so silly. Anyways two days later, on the weekend, I was at the site, waiting for Javier to show up. He was late, which was unusual because usually he was punctual. Then you had driven up in your sports car, completely out of the blue. You wanted to go out... I had refused at first because I had had a long week and I had to approve a lot of the construction work done, look at the cost so far and so on. But you kept insisting, so I gave in. Do you remember?"

He said with annoyance, "You had run yourself ragged, Potts! Working 12 hours during the week and four hours on the weekend! You needed to relax and I was determined to make sure that you did!"

Pepper smiled softly. "So you took me to a Thai spa and waited for an hour, while I was pampered with aromatherapy and a relaxing, full body massage. Then we drove to Rodeo Drive, where you had insisted that I buy some new clothes. Casual non-work clothes. And then you had followed me from shop to shop, holding my bags and being so attentive as I shopped my heart out.

Tony shuddered involuntarily. "Yes, I remember. I hate shopping! But I thought it would help you unwind."

She patted his hair softly. "And when it was time for lunch, you took me to this cute Italian mom-and-pop cafe at the edge of Malibu, secluded and hidden away in a quiet street. We were the only customers there and all they had were spaghetti and meatballs."

"Why did they close down?" said Tony mournfully. "I loved their food."

"Yes, it is a pity."

Pepper bit her lip and whispered, "After the wonderful meal, you drove me home and walked me to my door, carrying all my bags. I thought you would want to come in and fool around but you didn't. You insisted that I have a nap and then just kissed me goodbye on the cheek. It was a perfect first date and I was so happy. I fell even deeper in love with you that day."

He grinned stupidly as she nuzzled his face with hers, sighing softly.

"And then the next day, Fernando had called me and apologized at length about missing our appointment. Apparently, his office wanted him to meet a new mysterious client who demanded to see him as soon as possible on the outskirts of Paso Robles. The drive was very long but he couldn't reach me by phone or email for some odd reason. On reaching the meeting place, he had waited but the client never showed up and thanks to the traffic, he had reached Malibu late in the evening, too late for our appointment."

Tony swallowed hard and Pepper noticed, looking at him with a small smile playing around her lips.

"I hadn't thought much about it until a couple of days later when Happy was driving me to work. He was so smug and pleased that we had gone out on a date. And all because Javier had been stuck in Pasa Lobles. That had struck me as suspicious. How had he known that exact location and that Javier had been stuck there for hours?"

Tony shrugged, trying to look as innocent as possible. Pepper threw her head back and laughed.

"It is no use denying it, Stark! I confronted Happy and he immediately confessed that you and him had plotted to get Javier away from me, for a day."

He said slowly, "I do not know what Happy told you under duress but I... I deny it all."

"Mr. Stark," she said wryly, "Happy told me how Jarvis had jammed the network signal of Javier's phone, using a little device that you had planted on his car. So I know the lengths that you will go to. And earlier in the panel hall, I saw you and Park exchanging significant looks, right before Demarcos left."

Pepper tapped her foot lightly. "So what did you do this time? Firstly, you used Friday to spy on me, just as I had suspected."

"Not spy. Just find." He countered quickly but she ignored him and began to talk to herself.

"But you couldn't hear me, so you do not know what Chad said..."

"What did Chad say?"

"Nothing, Chad is an asshole. And you didn't hear Dave and me talk during lunch but then... wait a minute!"

She looked at him triumphantly. "James! Lieutenant Ordal received a call from James, telling him to come back to the military base immediately! Did you put Rhodey up to this, Tony?"

Uh oh...

Out loud, he hemmed and hawed, "Eh... ah... erm... no... I ... I have no idea what you are talking about, Pep! Do you actually think that Platypus, being a stickler for rules and all that rot, would actually go along if I asked him to do something like this?"

"Yes." She said simply with a soft smile. "James is a very self-disciplined man but I know his biggest weakness is you and he will go along with any of your hare-brained schemes, just because he loves you dearly. Especially since he came so close to losing you."

Tony scowled and she giggled.

"Pepper, he doesn't love me! We are two cool bros, who have a lot of common interests and wear cool suits and fight bad guys."

"Alright, Mr. Macho. So it is settled. James helped you send Dave away."

"You can't prove it, Potts." He said boldly.

"I can, Stark. I can just call James and ask him directly and believe me..." she narrowed her eyes at him. "He will tell me all that I want to know."

Distract, Tony, distract!

"Hey, that next session must have started already! Let's go!"

"No way, Stark." Pepper smirked. "I am much more interested in this discussion. Now, confess, how did you get rid of Demarcos?"

"I didn't, Potts!"

"Friday," she said. "Can you please tell me what Mr. Stark has googled today?"

Oh no! Stay calm, Tony!

"With pleasure, Miss Potts." said his AI primly, no doubt enjoying itself. "Mr. Stark first searched for Lieutenant Ordal's military history. Then he searched for 'handsome European rich dude new Dellon CEO'."

Pepper giggled and Tony grumbled, "I couldn't remember his name. I was just curious and wanted to find out exactly who he was. It doesn't mean anything."

"After that, Mr. Stark tried 'Demarcos assets' and then 'Demarcos yacht'".

"Aha!" she exclaimed. "So you knew where Demarcos had docked his yacht."

"Yeah...So? That doesn't-"

"Lastly," interrupted Friday smoothly, "Mr. Stark searched for 'EPA hotline number.'"

Tony tugged on his fake beard in agitation, nearly pulling it off.

Crap on a cracker!

Pepper looked at him coolly. "I knew it, I knew it... I can't believe you set the EPA on Demarcos. Just because you wanted him to leave... really, Tony..."

She sighed with exasperation.

"Look, Pepper, it wasn't my idea alright." He said quickly. "Park and Dev and Melvin, the nerds from Dellon, they wanted him gone too. Their original plan was to tip off Homeland Security! I stopped them, I felt that was going a bit too far. So I persuaded them to use the EPA instead. And nothing is going to happen to Demarcos, he's just going to spend some time travelling to Laguna. The EPA are going to examine his boat and let him go."

"Why did your friends want him gone?"

"Because the man is an arrogant thieving show-off! He came here and was going to steal the attention from them! When they've been working so hard for this Conference!"

Pepper looked confused. "I do not understand."

Tony said firmly, "Park, Melvin and Dev and the entire Dellon team have been preparing for this Conference for a month. They have a couple of stalls and an upcoming debate. They were told they could handle the whole thing on their own, that they were representing Dellon Tech. But today morning, just when they arrived, they were told that Mr. Demarcos would be there and he would do all the speaking and the talking and they were supposed to write a speech for him and hand over all their material!"

"That's not fair."

"Exactly! That's why I helped them out! They worked so hard, they deserve a chance in the spotlight!"

Pepper smirked. "So you only got rid of Demarcos to help your friends? Why do I doubt that, Tony?"

"Because Demarcos came here because of you!"

" What! That's nonsense?!" She exclaimed, eyes wide and he continued quickly, "Demarcos went to your 8:30 am breakfast meeting just because he happened to be in the area. Did he tell you that?"

"Yes... he did just drop in... somehow out of nowhere. And he didn't seem like he knew what he was talking about..."

"That's because he wasn't going to come! He went to your breakfast meeting out of curiosity! Because he wanted to see the infamous Pepper Potts of Stark Industries!"

She snorted with derision but he pressed on, "It is true! Dev told me that Demarcos had always been curious of Stark Industries, well... firstly due to me... he has this superhero fascination but also due to you! Apparently he has heard a lot about you since coming to the States and being a man who thinks with his di-"

Tony stopped here because he remembered just in time, that Pepper did not like such strong language.

"Let me get this straight." She said irritably. "You are telling me that Demarcos, the head of Dellon Tech, came to this Conference only because he wanted to meet me, the CEO of Stark Industries."

"Yup." said Tony. "He is a notorious playboy, famous for his antics in the bedroom and was curious to see what the woman who snagged Iron Man was like."

"Yes," said Pepper dryly, "because supposedly I am very attractive to notorious playboys... I seem to be their type."

He ignored her sarcasm and said without thinking, "So I had to help the boys get rid of him because this is all your fault!"

Pepper narrowed her eyes dangerously and Tony gulped, realizing he had gone too far.

"Well, it is not completely your fault. Demarcos also-"

"Mr. Johnson, I would like to talk to you in private." She said, firming her lips.

Tony moved his jaw and pointed back at the hallway. "Don't you want to attend the-"

"Now, Mr. Johnson."

"Yes, ma'am. At once, ma'am."