Pepper had the house to herself and she kept thinking about how nice it felt to kiss Tony and how his lips felt on her neck. The skin on her neck felt electrified and she imagined what his lips and hands would feel like everywhere and she decided that enough was enough and she was going to have that consultation. No matter how curious or horny she was she wasn't going to sleep with Tony while she looked like this.
"FRIDAY can you tell me the name of the Doctor that I had a consultation with for a Mommy makeover?" she asked.
"It was Dr. Blaine in Manhattan. Would you like the phone number?" she asked.
"Yes please,"
Pepper typed it into her phone as FRIDAY said it aloud. Pepper was so nervous as she waited for someone to pick up and she wasn't sure why. Then a voice answered.
"Hello yes I'd like to book a consultation with Dr. Blaine for a mommy makeover," she said into the phone.
She hurried over to the calendar.
"Yes I've been there before for a previous consultation," she continued while she answered the receptionists questions.
"How about Friday?" Pepper asked as the calendar seemed empty.
"Ok thank you," she said as she hung up.
Her next call was to a salon.
"FRIDAY, is there a salon I visit frequently?"
"According to my records you visit Allure salon and day spa in Manhattan,"
Pepper quickly brought up the number and called the salon.
"Hello my name is Pepper Stark. I need to make an appointment but I'm not sure who I see, can you look it up?"
"Pepper it's me Renee. I heard about your accident on the news. Are you ok?" she asked.
"I'm ok. It's a long story. But I need an appointment with whoever I see for these things. I need a root touch up, a haircut, a Brazilian wax, a manicure, a pedicure, and I think I'd like to try eyelash extensions," she said.
"Ok thank you," she said as she hung up just as Tony walked through the door.
"Hi babe," he said kissing her on the cheek and placing his keys down on the table.
"I made some appointments in Manhattan on Friday. I hope that's ok,"
"Well I have to work, but I can have Happy watch the kids, and speaking of Friday it's my turn to host my men's monthly poker game. It'll be Happy and Will and a few other friends I have in town. I don't want to overwhelm you with so many people in the house. I can always reschedule it," he said taking her hands in his.
"No it's fine," Pepper said.
"I do have to warn you though that Will usually brings Janis and you guys usually hang out and have wine," he said.
"I think I can handle Janis for a few hours," she said.
"Do you mind if I ask you what appointments you have in the city?"
"My hair, nails, waxing, and other girl stuff," she said leaving out the part about her consultation with Dr. Blaine.
"That's great. You love doing all that stuff," she said.
Pepper followed Tony into the kitchen where he was putting away a few items he picked up at the store.
"Come here," she said in a come hither way from her place leaning against the wall in the kitchen entryway.
Tony had a look of surprise. He wasn't sure what Pepper wanted or if he was in trouble. He walked over slowly and stopped about a foot in front of her.
Pepper sighed.
"Come closer," she said waving him over.
He closed the distance between them and she made her move. She was still thinking about the way his lips could electrify her whole body. She pulled him close and pressed her lips to his. She could feel that he was thrown off balance and surprised but he didn't break the kiss. In fact he pushed himself closer to her until her back was against the wall and he kissed her deeper. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled at the hair on the back of his neck with her hands. He lifted her up and she instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist. He carried her to the couch and laid her down and climbed on top of her so they could continue kissing comfortably. Tony was kissing along her jawline and about to move to her neck and stopped to look to her for permission.
She nodded and he continued kissing her neck all over and then returned to her lips and Pepper couldn't stop herself. She was so horny and Tony had all the right moves. He gently brushed her bare skin that was exposed between the bottom of the t-shirt and her waistband and slowly slid his hands up and over her stomach.
Pepper squirmed to pull her shirt down and Tony stopped immediately.
"I'm sorry," he said.
"Over the clothes only," she said.
"Does that mean I can take liberties with my hands as long as it's over your clothes?" he clarified.
Pepper nodded and smiled at him. He kissed her and placed his hands on her waist again and slowly moved them up until he was caressing her breasts. Tony was never more thankful that Pepper liked to wear sheer fabrics and soft lace bralettes that allowed him access to her nipples even through the fabrics. He got one in between his fingers and began to twirl it in between her fingers while he placed kisses on her neck. He could feel the rise and fall of her chest due to her labored breathing. She let out tiny whimpers of pleasure and he was getting really excited.
"Are you horny?" he asked as his voice seemed to deepen to a more seductive octave suddenly.
"Are you?" she asked as she locked eyes with his chocolate ones.
"Pep I'm always horny. I would never pressure you to do anything, however I'm prepared to make a case on why we should have sex right now," he said.
Pepper smiled at him again in that way; she only smiled at Tony.
"We won't be having sex right now, but feel free to bring your case before the judge," she said, this time causing Tony to laugh.
"Ok the doctor said you need to stay relaxed and not stressed and that will help your memory and what better way to relax. We kissed and you remembered something right away so if we were to have sex you could remember a lot of things not to mention that you're my wife so who else are you going to have sex with? Also you're horny and you know I'm horny. And there is no perfect time than when the kids are in school,"
"That was a very well thought out and convincing argument, but I'm nowhere near sex with you," she explained.
"I know and I would never ever pressure you but you know I had to try. Can we go back to making out some more?"
"Only for a few more minutes and then I have things to do," she said, poking him in the chest.
"Do I need to remind you that you started this whole thing," he said.
"You're wasting precious minutes," she reminded him with a smirk on her face.
Tony went back to pressing his lips to hers and settling nicely on the couch. She was on top of him this time and they were in a great rhythm when the doorbell rang. Tony was so defeated when she pulled away.
Pepper got up to answer the door and it was her parents. This put an even bigger damper on Tony's mood. She hugged them and smiled.
"Hey guys what are you doing here?" she asked happily as she hugged them.
"We came to see how you're doing and to see my grandbabies. I hope you don't mind if we stay for a while," she said lifting up her luggage.
"You guys picked a great time to visit. The spare room is all finished," Pepper said pointing to the room.
Tony grabbed Geraldine and Howard's bags and brought them into the spare room. He didn't want to give Geraldine a reason to berate him.
"You'll never guess who I ran into this morning," Geraldine said to Pepper.
"Who?" she asked.
"Brad," her mother said.
"Brad who?" Pepper said not even thinking about her ex boyfriend.
"Your Brad. He was asking about you and I invited him for dinner tonight. I hope you don't mind," her mother said.
"Brad is coming here? Oh my GOD what time? I'm a mess. I need to get ready," Pepper said, thinking of her ex-boyfriend. He was her college sweetheart and he wanted to marry her and they would have to had moved to Tokyo for his job so she said no, but the truth was she didn't want to leave her job working as Tony's assistant because she cared for him deeply and secretly hoped that one day they'd address the unresolved thing between them.
"He will be here at 7. He's driving all the way from New Haven to see you," Geraldine said.
"How nice," Tony said with resentment in his voice.
"We're going to need more food so why don't I go back to the store since we now have three unexpected dinner guests," Tony offered. He needed to get some air. He and Pepper were having a great morning and then her mom showed up and invited her ex boyfriend to dinner and she was clearly excited about it.
Pepper didn't answer as Tony walked out unnoticed.
"What did Brad say?" Pepper asked.
"He said he would love to see you and that he's thought about you often through the years," her mother said. Pepper felt a flutter. She could still remember how similar her and Brad were. They liked the same things, they had the same standards, and they wanted the same things in life. They were on a path to start their life together and everything became so regimented. She loved him because he was good for her. After a few years in Tokyo they could have lived a high society life in Connecticut and been members in all the elite clubs. Not that she couldn't have those things with Tony but he never cared about money. It was different. He was self obsessed but didn't care what others thought. Tony was an eccentric , self obsessed, arrogant, brilliant, reckless, playboy but he was exciting. Being around him wasn't routine. He was always able to surprise her.
"How did he look?" she asked.
"He looks very handsome," her mother said.
"I wish I didn't look so terrible. Did I age worse than him?" Pepper asked, feeling extremely insecure.
"Oh don't be silly Ginny. You know you're beautiful,"
A few hours later Pepper was in the bedroom trying on her third outfit when Tony came out of the bathroom.
"Everything looks horrible," she said nearly in tears.
Tony couldn't bear to see Pepper this upset.
"You could wear anything and make it look gorgeous. I think you're being too critical,"
"Can you just help me pick one of these out?" she said out of frustration.
"I like the purple one," he said referring to the sheer silk tunic she wanted to wear over her black leggings. She grabbed her heels and she was going through her jewelry.
"You know you don't have to do any of these things to be absolutely gorgeous,"
"Red lipstick? Or this berry one?" she asked.
Tony was jealous and he didn't want to upset her so he tried to hold it in as much as he could. She was getting all fancied up for her ex boyfriend.
"Red would be pretty with your necklace," he said, bringing over the one she lost her memory over. The necklace that was too important to her that she went out in a gale storm to find it.
"Thanks," she said as she lifted her hair for him to put it on for her.
"You look gorgeous. But you always do. You don't need to do all this to get his attention," Tony said not being able to hold back anymore.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Pepper asked.
"You're not doing it for my attention," he said as he walked out of the room with the stupid shirt And tie Pepper picked out for him. He looked at the kids who were also dressed to impress and little Anthony's hair was slicked back.
Tony just closed his eyes in disbelief. Pepper has never acted this way before.
The doorbell rang and Tony opened the door and there he was. Brad was wearing a purple collared shirt and a pair of dress pants and shiny black dress shoes. He was holding a bouquet of flowers and a bottle of port. Tony sized him up and he had dirty blonde hair with some grey and green eyes. He looked about Pepper's age and he was in very good shape.
"You must be the famous Tony Stark," he said, extending his hand.
Tony took it begrudgingly.
"Yes I'm Pepper's husband," he said in a very unfriendly tone.
"Pepper that's cute. Ginny always was a spicy one. I got this from a recent trip to Portugal," he said handing the bottle to Tony who stepped aside to let him in.
"So let me get this straight you brought recycled wine from your house and you brought flowers for my wife," Tony said.
"Oh Tony don't be so rude," Geraldine said as she gave Brad a hug.
Harold greeted him as well and they all piled into the living room. Geraldine was introducing him to the kids and Tony decided it was time to find Pepper. He opened the bedroom door and Pepper's hair was full of volume and soft curls and she had cleavage she never had before. It reached new heights. He had so much to say but didn't know what to say at the same time. He just wanted this dinner to be over.
"He's here," was all he said as he walked out of the room.
Pepper took one last glance in the mirror and hurried into the living room. Brad stood up immediately to hug her.
"Oh Ginny you're a vision. It's so good to see you," he said as he hugged her.
"What about you? You look great," she said not being able to take her eyes off of him.
Tony got a glimpse of Geraldine who was smiling ear to ear and he glared at her. Pepper went totally cold on him. He was once again at the starting line.
"So what about you? Are you married? You have kids?" Pepper asked.
"I'm divorced. I have a twelve year old son," he said.
"I'm sure you met my husband Tony. And my kids. Morgan, and Anthony and Maria," she said nervously.
"I brought these for you," he said, handing her a bouquet of lilies. They were Pepper's favorite flowers.
"Lillies are my favorite. You still remember," she said smiling at him in a way Tony didn't like. It wasn't the way she smiled at him thankfully but he still didn't like it.
"Ginny we were together for five years of course I remember your favorite flowers. I only sent them to you every Friday," he said smugly.
Tony was gritting his teeth and trying not to bite his tongue. He felt far away from Pepper. For every step they took forward they took two steps behind.
Pepper brought out the food and they all sat down to dinner.
"Tony did you know Brad is an investment banker and was offered a job in Tokyo? He can speak fluent Japanese," Geraldine said.
"Did you know I graduated high school at age 15 and went to MIT and graduated when I was 18 and I built an iron man suit, fought in battles to protect the world and I nearly sacrificed my life by snapping my fingers to defeat Thanos and save the universe just three years ago," Tony said.
Pepper looked around the table awkwardly.
"You've done amazing work Tony. Not just with the Avengers but also your philanthropy work. Who could compete with that?" Brad said.
"Yeah my dad kicks butt," Anthony jr blurred out. And the other kids giggled.
Tony smiled at him and stuck his hand out below the table for a high five and Anthony jr slapped his hand. The kids never ceased to amaze him. The dinner dragged on with stories and the kids were getting restless.
"Did my mom dump you?" Morgan asked.
Pepper could feel the heat coming off her face.
"MORGAN STARK," she said.
Tony had to hold back a smile.
"Uhh yeah she did. I asked her to marry me and she said she didn't want to move to Tokyo and I had to move so we split up," he explained.
"You're not so bad I guess but I like my dad better," Morgan said.
"Morgan that's enough. What did we talk about?" Tony reminded her.
She just made a face at him.
"I'm sorry she's very eccentric like her father," Pepper said.
The rest of the dinner was pretty quiet and Tony was not pleased. Geraldine got up and began to clear the dishes.
"I thought maybe tonight that you would want to do bath time with the kids. I can clear the table," Tony suggested. He wanted to be within earshot of Pepper and Brad.
"Oh I'd be delighted," she said.
"The twins are first and they go together. Morgan can help me in the kitchen until it's her turn. She can shower by herself but needs a double check that she rinsed her hair properly," he said.
Geraldine brought the twins upstairs and Morgan was bringing dishes into the kitchen to help her dad.
"Daddy are you sad?" she asked as she handed him a plate.
"What? No. Dads not sad," he said. He didn't want her to worry about adult problems.
"Why is that guy here if mommy is with you now?" she asked.
"Well they haven't seen each other in thirty years so sometimes it's nice to see people from our pasts. That's all,"
"But she's laughing with him. What if she likes him more than you because she can't remember?" Morgan asked. She was very smart and she knew what was in jeopardy.
Tony looked into the dining room and he saw Brad putting his number into Pepper's phone.
"Don't you worry about that. They're just laughing but I'm the one mommy was kissing this morning," he said to her with a wink and she was back to his innocent little girl with a smile.
Brad finally left and Tony and Pepper were in their bathroom at their respective sinks not really speaking and Tony couldn't stand it anymore.
"Are you going to see him again?" he said, addressing the elephant in the room.
"What? No. Tony I haven't seen him in thirty years. My mother invited him here. It was a nice unexpected surprise and that's it,"
"Well I saw him put his number in your phone so I'm wondering how that's relevant," he said as he rinsed his face with water.
"It's not a big deal. It's just to say hi once in a while and holidays and stuff," she said wiping away her eye makeup with a cotton pad.
"I can't believe you don't see anything wrong with this Pepper. This morning you were hot for me and the minute his name was mentioned you've been running around all day and fixing up the house and getting all dolled up for this guy. You put on a push up bra and curled your hair. You can't stand push up bras. You wanted his approval. Why? Do you have feelings for him still? Because I know you can't remember the feelings you have for me so I need to know what I'm up against. You went completely cold on me,"
"No, I don't have feelings for him. It was just nice to see him after all these years. And I was getting dolled up because we had company. I would get dolled up no matter who was coming for dinner," she said as she dried her face with a towel and reached for her night cream.
"Is that so?" he said.
"Yes Tony that's so. Can I have some privacy please so I can get undressed?"
"Fine," he said defeatedly and he got into bed to wait for Pepper. He wasn't going to push the issue anymore. He was too afraid of scaring Pepper away.
Pepper came out of the bathroom and got under the covers with her back to Tony and he was devastated. He liked to wait for her to fall asleep and count her freckles.
"Hey Pep I just want you to know that I love you and I'm scared of losing you," he said as he kissed her on the head and caressed her back gently.
He knew she was mad but she still slept in the bed with him so he took that as a good sign. He rolled over and hoped that sleep would come.