"Where to, Miss?" Happy asked politely, yet knowingly, to Vanessa once he'd climbed back into the driver's seat.
"The Four Seasons, please," she said.
"Of course," Happy said, flicking a knowing smile at Tony. Tony just shrugged and smirked back. It had been a while since he'd followed a girl back to her hotel room, especially in his own city, but it was no matter. He was willing to play along.
It was a quick drive from the bar to the hotel, so any time for foreplay in this instance was cut short. Happy soon pulled up to the lobby of the hotel, and opened Vanessa's door. She flashed Tony a smile. "Walk me up?" she asked him.
Tony grinned. "Of course," he purred. He followed Vanessa out of the car. "Don't wait around," he murmured to his driver, giving him an assuring pat on the shoulder.
"Gotcha', boss," Happy said back. "Have a great evening."
"Oh, I intend to," Tony replied, with a cocky smirk.
Vanessa smiled at him, and he offered her his arm. She took it, and together they entered the hotel.
They got on the elevator, and once the doors were closed, Tony figured this was the time to really heat things up. He slid his hand around Vanessa's waist and pulled her close. "You know, I...uh...never...expected to run into someone like you at the conference," he purred, giving her a smolder. "And I almost didn't even go, but..." He cupped her cheek and stroked her lips lightly with the pad of his thumb.
"But...what?" Vanessa purred back.
"But I'm glad I did," he replied, softly nipping her lips with a kiss.
Vanessa kissed him back and then smiled coyly, and bit her bottom lip. "So am I," she said. "It's really a shame, though."
Tony frowned. "What is?" he asked.
"That I have to end the evening here, darling. I've got an early meeting in the morning," she explained.
He continued to frown. "So...," he said. "I really am just..."
"Walking me up to my room? Yes, love. I'm sorry if I've made you think any different," Vanessa said, regretfully.
Tony smiled, and stepped back, trying to fake his embarrassment with his usual bravado. "Yeah, no, that's...you're fine. It's fine, I mean. I get it. You're..."
But Vanessa cut him off with a firm kiss. He whimpered, though he never intended for it to be heard. Vanessa ran her fingers through his hair, and Tony pulled her tightly to him again, his body aching with need. And regret.
Slowly, the kiss broke and they gazed at each other, silently. Just then, the elevator dinged and the doors opened. Vanessa gave him an impish smile, and Tony gestured for her to lead the way. He followed her out and down the hall to her door. "Well," she said, turning back around to face him once they'd reached it.
"Well," he said back.
They both chuckled awkwardly. Then, Vanessa reached for him, pulling him to her. Tony hungrily leaned in, kissing her hard, wanting to leave a lasting impression of what she'd be missing that night by turning him away. He leaned them both back against the door, pressing against her body. He ran a hand down her side, and around her behind, squeezing it. Then he brought her leg up around his hip, wrapping it around him. He heard her moan, and he smiled to himself, taking the cue to slowly break off the kiss, leaving her wanting more. As he did, he and Vanessa slowly opened their eyes, and grinned at each other.
"You're sure I can't persuade you to change your mind?" Tony asked her, his voice a low hoarse rumble.
Vanessa kissed him again, and then whined softly as she broke it off. She exhaled sharply. "No," she said resolutely. "No. I'm afraid not, love. I simple can't. It's a very important meeting with a very important client, and I need those early morning hours to prepare. I'm afraid I must say goodnight," she explained.
"As much as you don't want to," Tony finished for her.
She chuckled. "Right," she said. "And believe me, I don't want to," she cooed.
Tony kissed her deeply one more time, and then reluctantly pulled away, pecking her lips once more before ending the kiss. "Well, then, Ms. Matthews," he purred. He lifted the back of her hand to his lips, and kissed it tenderly, looking at her with his big,dark chocolate eyes. "This is goodnight."
"Goodnight, Mr. Stark," she said, smiling coyly.
Tony gave her a slight bow. He smiled regretfully at her, and then turned around, walking back down the hall to the elevator.
He jabbed the button, and then looked back down at Vanessa's door. She was still standing there, watching him, a sorrowful smile on her lips as well. He gave her a quick goodbye wave, and she waved weakly back, before he stepped inside and the door closed.
Once inside, he sighed heavily, and looked up at the ceiling. He worked his jaw, and shook his head in disbelief at what had just happened. It had been a long time since he'd been turned down by a woman. And, while he knew it was for reasons involving extenuating circumstances, and nothing that had to do with him, per se, it still was a blow to his ego that he couldn't close the deal with her regardless.
He dug his phone out of his pocket and dialed Happy.
"Yeah, boss?" the driver said, a faint air of surprise in his voice.
"Hi, Hap. No dice, tonight. So back home I go," Tony said, the words tasting bitter in his mouth.
"Wow. Sorry to hear that, boss. Thought that one was a sure thing," Happy said.
"Yeah, me too," Tony replied, squinting his eyes closed and rubbing the bridge of his nose.
"Be there in a jiff, boss," his driver said. They said goodbye, and Tony took a deep breath.
"Damn," he said to himself, still in shock about what had, or rather hadn't, transpired.
XxXxXxXxXx
I know. Weird, right? I couldn't believe it, either. Neither could Happy. And neither could Pepper, for that matter, when she came in the next morning.
I'd gone home that night, and tried to drown my disappointment in a couple of glasses of Scotch. And then I went to bed. But I couldn't get to sleep. I just laid there, staring at the ceiling for an hour, the taste of Vanessa's kiss still on my mind despite trying to wash it away with alcohol. So I decided to get up and go down to the shop. If I wasn't going to sleep, then the least I could do was work.
And this is where she found me the next day. I remember she'd look at me like I was a creature from another planet. And I kinda looked like one, too, I suppose. I was in my black sweats, and a black tank top, my face covered in day-old stubble, and my hair all disheveled.
"Are...are you alone?" she asked, in a whisper, when she'd found me downstairs, her eyes wide with caution.
I smiled sheepishly. "Uh, yeah. Yep, I am," I said. Ouch. That hurt. I glanced at her only briefly, not wanting to make eye contact after my admission.
Pepper frowned. "She...I mean you...you didn't," she stammered.
I shook my head, trying to save her from having to complete the sentence. "Nope. She...uh...had some business matters to attend to this morning that prevented us from finishing our evening," I explained. "That should make you happy, though, huh?" I said jokingly. "Not having to pick up after me, so to speak?"
"Oh, I...it doesn't...it doesn't matter what I...," she stuttered.
I patted her on the shoulder. "I know that's not your favorite part of the job, Pep," I replied.
Pepper just looked at me blankly. I turned away from her, and detected a barely audible sigh of relief escape her lips.
"Well," she said. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry your evening didn't go as planned."
I smiled. "Thanks, Pep," I said, even though I knew better. She was just trying to be polite. Good old Pepper. Always the epitome of social grace.
"In that case, I suppose I'm safe to bring those shipping mandates over this morning, then?" she asked me, and I gave her the okay. She gave me a polite smile, and left for the office, and I headed up to the bathroom. A shower and a shave was exactly what I needed to forget everything and move on. And I always feel better once I've had a chance to preen.
I turned on the shower, as hot as it would go, and jumped in, scrubbing away the night before. And when I was finished, I climbed out, and grabbed a towel off the warming rack, feeling like a new man. But as I dried off, something caught my eye. It was the square corner of a business card sticking out of my slacks I wore the day before, which I'd hung on the hook on the back of the bathroom door. I scoffed, and frowned, shaking my head, as I wrapped the towel around my waist. "What are you doing? Keep it together," I muttered to myself. But I couldn't help it. I reached in and pulled that card out of my pants pocket. I turned it over in my fingers, working my jaw in thought. I brought it to my nose, catching a whiff of Vanessa's perfume on it, which made the corners of my mouth quirk up. I hated having that kind of rejection on my record. And it wasn't like she was out of the country, and out of my life forever. She was only at a client meeting, here in town. And she did say she was sorry she had to cut the evening short. So, as far as I was concerned, that still meant game on.
Now, I know this all sounds foreign. You know I never chase after the girl the next day. But this situation was different. The symposium was still going on for the next few days, she was still in town, and...and... I sighed to myself. I couldn't get her off my mind. She wasn't my usual type of conquest. Sure, she was gorgeous, a blond blond bombshell if ever there was one, and God knows I'd had plenty of those in the past. But there was something else. It was like she was...my intellectual equal, you know? And I guess that was what I'd found most intriguing. It was hard to find a girl who could match wits with me in conversation, I mean as far as following along with all the shop talk and jargon of our industry. There had been a few ladies that had come close in the past, yes. But never someone who was in my own line of work. It was, in a word? Refreshing. And I guess I was having a hard time letting that go.
I wiggled the card back and forth in my fingers before slapping it down on the vanity. Then, I flicked my eyes up to my reflection in the mirror and scrubbed a hand over my face and through my hair. "Well, she's definitely not going to want to see you if you're looking this raggedy, ole' boy. I can tell you that," I said to myself, and I began to attend to my goatee and hair.
XxXxXxXxXx
A while later, I emerged from the bathroom, dressed, shaved, and a damn sight better than presentable, if I do say so myself. I also had Vanessa's card in my finger tips. I looked around as I jogged down the stairs, sure that Pepper would have returned by now, but there was no sign of her. But just as I hit the bottom step of the staircase, the door bell rang. Odd, I thought, frowning, wondering why Pepper would ring the bell when she always just showed herself in.
I walked briskly to the door, and opened it to find not Pepper, but Vanessa. I looked at her in shock. "Vanessa?" I said. "This is a..."
"A surprise, I know," she said, smiling bashfully. "And I hope you don't think I'm being too forward, darling. But I was in Malibu after my meeting, and...," her eyes flicked to my hand, still holding her card. She pointed at it. "Is...is that my..." she began.
I stammered, my eyes glanced guiltily back and forth between her card in my finger tips, and her suddenly very amused smile. "Uh...what? This? It's...it's," I stuttered.
She stepped inside the door and smiled slyly at me. "Looks like last night made an impression on both of us," she purred. She flicked the card from my fingers, and tossed it over her shoulder, before her lips met mine and she kissed me with unmistakable desire. I whimpered, suddenly no longer caring that she'd some how found where I live, and had shown up on my door step out of the blue (that was a first, believe it or not). All I cared about was finally getting the chance to finish what we'd started.
We kept our lips locked, and I walked us backward so that I could shut the door behind her. I shut it, and leaned us against the back of it, pressed her against it like I had at the hotel. She moaned into my mouth, and I cupped her cheek, my need for her rapidly growing more and more urgent.
The pace quickly increased, and we were becoming breathless. "Tony," she moaned, breaking the kiss, and pulling my mouth to her neck. The sound of my name on her lips ignited me, and I obliged, gently sucking and kissing her sweet smelling skin. I felt her fingers running through my hair, and it felt spectacular.
We were panting heavily by this time, and I broke away to gaze wantonly into her eyes. "Let's take this somewhere more private, shall we?" I murmured.
She searched my eyes silently for a moment, which felt like an eternity. Then she gave me a sympathetic smile. "Wow, this just...never quite works out, does it, love?" she says. "Despite my wanting to see you in person again, and us clearly not being able to keep our hands off each other..." she cooed. She giggled slyly, and so did I. "I have a different reason for my visit."
I frowned and pulled back. "What?" I said in disbelief. "Are you telling me we're not going to..."
She shook her head. "I'm afraid not," she said. And I let out a very disappointed, albeit frustrated sigh.
She must have sensed what I was feeling, because she began running a hand up and down my chest to soothe me. "The main reason why I wanted to come by was to ask you to dinner," she said. "What do you say, darling? Tonight? 8 o'clock?"
"A date?" I said, my attention once again peaked. I smirked at her and cocked my eyebrow.
She nodded, and began running both hands up and down my chestnow, looking deeply into my eyes. "Yes. Just you and I, and no distractions," she purred, as she leaned in and began nibbling my ear lobe. And that was it. I was quickly becoming putty in her hands again, coming dangerously close to succumbing to her advances before forcing myself to exhibit some control and break away. I stepped back, and put both hands on her upper arms. I had to, or there would be no telling what Pepper would probably have walked in on if things had progressed any further.
"Okay. Yes. 8 o'clock. It's a date," I said quickly. "I'll be there with bells on."
"Perfect," she cooed, smiling coyly. "I'll be looking forward to it." She leaned in once again, and captured my lips with hers, kissing me deeply, sensually. Then she broke the kiss, and it took me a minute to right myself and open my eyes. She smiled at me with slight amusement. "Until tonight," she murmured.
"Until tonight," I murmured back. She turned to go, and I opened the door for her. She gave me a wink and a smile, and I smiled back, waving her goodbye. She got into the back seat of her town car, and I hung there in the doorway for a minute, trying to get my bearings as I watched her car pull away and out onto the highway. I was still unable to fathom what had just happened. This all felt very strange. You have to admit, this was uncharted territory for me in the dating realm. As I'd said, it had been years since I'd been on a legitimate date, and why I was suddenly so willing to go on one now was beyond me. All I knew was this girl was addicting. And I knew I'd need another fix. Soon. 8 o'clock couldn't come fast enough.
Just then, Pepper pulled up to the front door, and I realized how odd I must have looked standing there, with the door wide open. She grabbed a pile of file folders out of her back seat and walked up to meet me, looking at me with a curious grin. "Are we implementing curbside service, now?" she teased.
I chuckled impishly. "Heh, good one. Yeah, let's um...let's go inside, shall we?" I said, trying to distract her from the situation.
Pepper followed me through the door. She sniffed the air suspiciously. "Was...someone just here?" she asked.
Shit! Vanessa's perfume!, my mind yelled at me. "Uh...no, well, yeah, sort of...it's...not important," I stammered awkwardly. I'm still not really sure why I didn't just tell her the truth.
Pepper just looked at me oddly. "Uh-huh," she said skeptically. She and I stared at each other with an agonizing gaze for a long moment, she pursing her lips and squinting at me suspiciously, while I was trying to look nonchalant and natural, and not guilty (which never seems to fool her, yet I always somehow think it will). I turned away, unable to take the stare down anymore. "Let's do this in the shop, Potts, hmmm?" I said, desperate to change the subject.
And apparently, it worked. "Be right there," I heard Pepper reply.
Safe, I thought, and I smiled to myself as I jogged down to the shop.
XxXxXxXxXx
I pulled up to the house and Tony was standing in the doorway of the front door, as if he'd just waved someone off. I know he wasn't expecting any visitors that day, so instantly my mind started to whirl with who could have possibly been there. Rhodey? Obi? Oh, God, I think. Surely it wasn't...
I quickly put the thought out of my mind, dismissing it as ridiculous, and climbed out of the car. She wouldn't have come here, would she? That would have been a bold move. Even for her. And besides, it's not like Tony's address is well publicized. How would she have come across it anyway?
He knew he was caught, as he was looking at me like a deer in the headlights. "Are we implementing curb side service, now?" I joked as I approached him, trying to lighten the moment.
He laughed half-heartedly at my joke as he lead me inside, and instantly, I was hit in the face with a strong whiff of very flowery, very expensive and familiar perfume as soon as I crossed the threshold. My stomach suddenly went into a knot. I swallowed hard, and tried to keep my objectivity. Surely, she wasn't the only person on the planet who wore that perfume, I told myself. It could have been anyone, though the prospect of it being some other woman didn't much make me feel better. "Was...someone just here?" I asked curiously, trying to sound inquisitive, not accusatory. But I'm not that convinced I succeeded because Tony suddenly got even more awkward and uncomfortable, and fought to put two words together for an answer. He mumbled something like, "Yes, but not really, and it's not important."
I looked at him suspiciously. "Uh-huh," I said in reply. And we stared at each other, neither of us knowing what to do next. But then he spun around, muttered something about going down to the shop, and I numbly said, "I'll be right there." I felt confused as to why he was dodging the question, and I guess I just needed a minute to think this strange situation through. Did he think I cared who came over? I'm mean, really. Did he?
I frowned and glanced at the floor as he disappeared around the corner, when something suddenly caught my eye. It was a white business card, face down. I shifted the load of files in my arms, and bent down to pick it up. I flipped it over, and swallowed hard. It was Vanessa's card. I frowned with disappointment, and I guess a little hurt, realizing my worst suspicions had been confirmed. And, worse yet, that he had tried to cover it up.
