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Vanessa got in the back seat of her town car, and her driver pulled away from the mansion. She smiled. "He's coming along nicely," she muttered to herself as she watched out the window, the traffic ahead on the 101 coming quickly into view.
"Driver? Privacy?" she requested, and the privacy window instantly began to raise. As soon as it was up, she pulled her phone out of her purse and opened her contacts. She selected a recently dialed number and put the phone to her ear. Soon, a man answered.
"Vanessa, my girl. I'm assuming you're calling with good news?" he said.
She smiled. "I am. You'll be happy to know I've got our little birdie eating right out the palm of my hand," she cooed.
The man chuckled. "Good, good. Glad to hear it. And what about your time here in the states? Is L.A. treating you well?"
"Oh, very well. I shall like getting to know this city. So long as there is plenty for me to do while I'm here," she said, her voice thick with innuendo.
"Well, from what I gather," the man said. "There is a certain someone who will be happy to occupy your time. I have his assistant telling me the same thing."
"Ahhhh yes, the assistant," Vanessa purred. "She's a feisty one, isn't she? Typical ginger, I'd say. I do wish he'd find an excuse to send her away somewhere. Preferably on a long holiday, or something. I have the feeling she'll be the one to throw the wrench in the works if I'm not careful, and it would make my work a lot easier if she weren't even in the picture."
"Who? Pepper? You just leave her to me," the man said. "She gets too nosy, I'll just have her reassigned. As CEO I can do that, you know."
Vanessa frowned. "I thought Tony was the CEO," she said.
"He likes to think he is. But I've been CEO of this company since before Tony was in diapers. He might be the public persona, but I'm the puppet master. Believe me, I pull his strings. Not the other way around. Just a damned shame he's got such a large stake in this company, or we wouldn't have to go to all this trouble, now would we?" he replied.
"Well, I have a feeling we won't have to do this for long. He's been more than eager to take each breadcrumb I've laid out for him. I've already got him to agree to a dinner date tonight, in fact," she said, chuckling devilishly. "He's chomping at the bit about it, too, if I do say so myself. If only the walls of that mansion could talk."
"Well, good work my dear. We'll talk tonight, yeah?" the man said.
"Until then, Mr. Stane," Vanessa said with a syrupy sweet voice.
"Please. Vanessa. Call me Obie."
XxXxXxXxXx
Later that afternoon, Pepper blew her bangs out her eyes, and stretched her arms above her head. She needed a break from staring at her computer screen on the sofa at the mansion. "30 down, 120 to go," she muttered, with a bit of dread. This time every month was always stressful. There wasn't any way to make the process more efficient on account of Tony's actual signature needing to be on each and every shipping mandate for each order leaving the factory. So that relegated her to putting everything on hold for a few days while Tony signed his name to each document, and she scanned and emailed them to production. And that's what she'd been doing for the better part of the last few hours. It was monotonous and tedious work to say the least.
Just then, Tony came up the staris from the shop. He noticed her sitting there, stretching, and smiled an amused smile at her.
"And just what are you grinning at?" she asked him, half-teasing.
He shrugged. "Oh, nothing. Just the fact that, for once, it won't be a late one for you," he said.
Pepper quickly put her arms down and frowned. "What are you talking about?" she asked him.
"It just so happens that yours truly has a date tonight," Tony said cockily, smirking. "So it's an early off for you, Potts. Congratulations." He swiveled around and walked toward the kitchen. Pepper quickly got up of the couch and followed him.
"A date?" she asked. "But you don't date. You...you..." she stammered.
"What, Ms. Potts? I what?" Tony challenged.
Pepper huffed and folded her arms stubbornly. "You know what you do. I don't have to say it," she shot back.
Tony smirked knowingly before turning away from her and yanking open the refrigerator door. He pulled out a bottle of spring water, and tossed it in his hand. Pepper just watching him silently as he gingerly opened it, and took a long swig, purposefully keeping her in suspense as to who the mystery date was.
He swallowed hard, and smacked his lips, Pepper's eyes burning two holes in his head. He smirked at her again. "It's just killing you, isn't it?" he quipped.
Pepper caught herself staring, and her cheeks instantly when crimson red. "What? No. No. Why would I...I mean, it's your life. I just...I..." she stammered. Then she exhaled sharply. "I mean, why would I care who you're having dinner with," she said, trying to sound indifferent.
Tony gave her a curious look. "Yeah, Potts, why would you?" he said, mocking her.
"What? You think I do care?" Pepper argued. "Tony, don't flatter yourself. Believe me. I don't."
Tony squinted his eyes and studied her face for a moment. "So you're not the least bit curious as to who the lucky lady is, huh?"
Pepper didn't respond. She just narrowed her eyes, and pursed her lips.
"It's somebody you're at least aware of," Tony said, trying to coax her into asking him out right.
Pepper still didn't respond. She just maintained her poker face, unwilling to show Tony any bit of emotion that would give her away.
Tony realized that Pepper was just going to stubbornly continue to stone wall him. So he dismissed her with a smile. "Alright, alright, Potts," he said, relenting, his hands up in surrender. "You win. You obviously don't care."
Pepper sighed with relief. "Thank you. And no, I don't. Just...go and have a good time," she muttered, waving a hand at him in dismissal and refusing to make eye contact.
Tony smirked at her again. "Why thank you, Ms. Potts. And I will," he said, before chugging the last of his water. He tossed the empty bottle in the trash can, and ran a hand over his goatee. "Well, I guess I'd better go get beautiful before my uh...date arrives, wouldn't you say?" he cooed.
Pepper gave him a wry smile. "You just aren't going to let this go, are you?" she replied. "My God, it's like your a hormonal sixteen year old girl, and the captain of the football team just asked you to prom or something."
Tony chuckled at her trying to jab him. "Well, I'm not a hormonal sixteen year old girl, thank you very much. But you could say I'm taking out the head cheerleader," he jabbed back. He inhaled sharply through his teeth, and briefly closed his eyes. "Mmmm mmmm, thanks for the visual, actually, Pep. I bet she'd look great in a short little shirt, a tight sweater, shaking her pom-poms..." he said, his voice trailing off as he pantomimed shaking pom poms, and biting his lower lip, his eyes glazed over with his daydream. "2-4-6-8. Guess who Tony gets to..." he chanted in a hoarse whisper.
Pepper scoffed, cutting him off. "Oh please. Get out of here before you make me gag," she said, rolling her eyes, and scowling.
Tony grinned triumphantly. "You bet, Potts. And, uh, I'll let Vanessa know you send her your regards," he retorted, leaving the room before she could get the last work in.
Pepper huffed, and sank down heavily onto one of the kitchen stools, watching him as he jogging up the stairs, disappearing into the bedroom, her heart stung by his words.
"Damn him," she muttered to herself, closing her eyes to block the threat of angry tears. "And damn that Vanessa."
XxXxXxXxXx
"More wine?" Tony asked his date that evening in a quiet booth at a five-star restaurant in Santa Monica. She'd come dressed in a bright red, floor length, strapless number, with a slit high up her thigh, and her ample cleavage cinched practically to her chin. She wore red stiletto peep-toe heels that revealed a perfect red pedicure, which matched her fingernails. And her lips, for that matter. She looked very fetching, and Tony found it hard to concentrate on their conversation with so much visual stimulation. But he did his best to play it cool in the midst of the bombshell's presence.
He'd worn a black Armani suit, with a red necktie, and matching pocket square, which he'd picked out completely in coincidence and they'd both chuckled when they'd realized how closely they'd matched their outfits for the evening, unawares. "Great minds think alike," he'd joked.
"You mean brilliant minds," Vanessa had corrected, and Tony had smiled in complete amusement of her taking the opportunity to flaunt their collective intellects once again.
"Yes, darling. Of course," she cooed, lifting her glass to him. He took it from her, and poured her a refill, then handed it back to her in a grand, playful gesture. She smiled, and accepted it graciously. Then she took a long pull from the glass, keeping her eyes trained on Tony's across the table. They gazed at each other, Vanessa being sure to make her moment in his eyes particularly tantalizing. She bit her lip, and flipped her long blond curls to the side, smiling coyly. Tony gave her a smolder, and then smirked at her cockily.
"You know, love," she said, scooting closer to him, and leaning slightly forward. She noticed Tony's eyes flick down from hers to her chest, and quickly back up again. He cleared his throat, and leaned forward as well. "I wasn't at all sure you'd accept my invitation tonight. Everyone knows the Great Tony Stark doesn't necessarily do dinner dates, does he?"
Tony chuckled. "Well," he said bashfully. "I had it in mind to make an exception. You know. Just this once. With you." he replied.
Vanessa cooed in approval, and they both chuckled coyly. "And, has your decision been one of...satisfaction?" she purred.
Tony smiled slyly and rested his arm along the back of the booth behind her, sliding closer to her still. "Well, the evening isn't over yet, is it?" he replied in a soft murmur.
Vanessa bit her lip and chuckled coyly again. "No, darling. It certainly is not," she said. "But, um..." she began, running a couple of finger tips over the top of her breasts suggestively. Tony's eyes flicked back down to watch her, and a slight whimper escaped his lips. "Would you say that, so far, we are...enjoying ourselves?" she asked in a smoky, sultry murmur.
Tony smiled to himself, and then smirked at her. "I would say we are definitely definitely enjoying ourselves," he purred back. "And there is plenty more to come. If you're game, that is?"
Vanessa smiled at him wantonly. "Oh darling," she cooed. "You have no idea just how game I am."
Tony's eyes brightened. "Really?" he purred, in surprise. "To this point, I thought you weren't that interested in..." he cleared his throat and flicked his eyes to her cleavage and back up again to her face. "Dessert," he finished.
"I am always interested in dessert, Mr. Stark," she purred, toying with his tie between her fingers. "It just takes a me a moment to decide what I want."
Tony stared at her wantonly for a moment before breaking the gaze. "Well, I hear the Tiramisu here is to die for," he said, matter-of-fact, with a joking smirk.
Vanesssa chuckled with a high-pitched tinkling laugh, and playfully smacked his shoulder.
Tony faked confusion. "What? You don't like Tiramisu? Well, then, I'm sure we can find something you'll..."
Just then, his words were cut off by her lips crashing into his. She kissed him hard, and he kissed her back, pulled her closer to him by the waist, and running a hand up and down her body. She snaked her hands through his hair, and moaned into his mouth.
Tony broke his lips away from her kiss and cupped her cheek, leaning close to her ear. "Vanessa, I think you know I want you," he whispered softly to her.
"Yessss," she hissed softly.
He pulled back, and looked into her eyes with smoky desire. "Then tell me you want me, too," he begged.
Vanessa nodded, her chest heaving. "Yes,Tony. Yes. I want you," she whispered back.
A soft smile spread across his lips and he went in for a tender kiss, still cupping her cheek. This time Vanessa whimpered, unable to control the burn of lust in her body at the moment. She gripped the lapel of his suit jacket in her fist and deepened the kiss.
When it began to break, they slowly opened their eyes to gaze at each other. Vanessa brushed the tip of her nose with his softly. "Make love to me," she whispered.
Tony looked at her, his desire threatening to burn a hole right to his very core. He smiled and nodded. "Okay," he whispered back, his eyes sparkling with anticipation. He kissed her again, this time with deepened passion. "Okay, Vanessa. Okay," he reassured, his words muffled by her lips on his in hot, breathless anticipation.
