Pepper woke up and her head was on Tony's chest and he had his arm wrapped tightly around her shoulder and arms. Pepper opened her eyes and Tony was awake but staring at the ceiling. She glanced at the clock and it was only eight thirty.
"Tony, can you turn the air down. I'm freezing," Pepper said as she got goosebumps on her arms.
" Pepper, I'm like a furnace right now. I can't turn it down. If you're cold then come closer my body heat will warm you," he said.
"No funny business," she said as she slid closer to him. She could feel the heat instantly and went even closer.
"I wouldn't dream of it," he said.
"You're right. You are like a furnace," she said pressing herself against him and wrapping her arm around him until she was almost on top of him.
Tony seized this opportunity to run his hands along her arms and shoulders and back to warm her up.
"Is that better?" he asked as he smiled at her.
"Yeah I feel warmer. This is great," she said snuggling deeper into him.
"Is it weird? For you?" he asked nervously.
"It probably should be weird but it's actually kind of nice. I've never been this close to you. I had no idea you were this snuggly and warm," she said.
"Feel free to bunk over anytime you want," he teased.
"I don't think I would mind that if you can always behave like this," she said.
"Let's do it. Netflix and pizza and whatever you want," he said.
"Maybe. That sounds fun," Pepper said.
She didn't know what was happening to her. Tony was totally making her melt.
"We have so much time until the should we do?"
"I feel like breakfast. I'm going down to the cafe to get some stuff. What do you want?" he asked as he got up and slipped into a pair of jeans and pulled a t-shirt over his head.
"I would love a peppermint tea and a chocolate croissant," she said.
"How's my hair?" he asked as he rustled it.
"You got bed head," she teased.
Tony grabbed a baseball hat and put it on his head.
"I'll be back," he said as he headed down to the bar.
Pepper took this opportunity to get into the shower. She turned the water on and grabbed her face wash, shower gel, shampoo and conditioner and lined them up on the shelf and she grabbed for her phone and opened Sing her karaoke app. She downloaded it on the drive to the wedding. She has been having the itch to sing again since she met back up with her old band. She turned on the music for What About Love by Heart. She didn't need to look at the words she memorized. It was one of the first songs her band covered. Pepper began her singing just as Tony returned to the room.
Tony opened the door to the room and he stopped suddenly. He could hear Pepper singing in the shower.
I've been lonely
I've been waiting for you
I'm pretending and that's all I can do
The love I'm sending
Ain't making it through to your heart
You've been hiding, never letting it show
Always trying to keep it under control
You got it down and you're well
On the way to the top
But there's something that you forgot
He felt very scared for a moment. It made him wonder if Pepper knew how he felt about her. He continued to listen closely and he was in awe of Pepper's singing voice.
What about love
Don't you want someone to care about you
What about love
Don't let it slip away
What about love
I only want to share it with you
You might need it someday
I can't tell you what you're feeling inside
I can't sell you what you don't want to buy
Something's missing and you got to
Look back on your life
You know something here just ain't right
Tony sat on the edge of the bed and contemplated his feelings for Pepper and wondered if she had feelings for him too. He heard the water shut off but the singing continued.
What about love
Don't you want someone to care about you
What about love
Don't let it slip away
What about love
I only want to share it with you
Pepper opened the bathroom door and came out in her towel and Tony applauded.
"Encore encore," Tony teased.
Pepper was bright red. She was actually more embarrassed by him catching her singing than catching him in her towel.
"How come you never told me you could sing like that?"
"I don't know. It never came up," she said.
"We're adding karaoke to the Stark Industries christmas party,"
Pepper was grabbing for her undergarments and she went back into the bathroom quickly and put them on and one of the bathrobes.
"One peppermint tea and one chocolate croissant," he said sliding the tray towards her.
Pepper was eating quietly and she could feel Tony staring at her.
"What?" she asked.
"Do you ever think about being in the band again? Or at least having a reunion show?"
"Tony we weren't big enough for that,"
"Not according to these articles. You guys made the list for a buzzfeed article,"
"What article?" she asked.
"Twenty Bands with Famous Faces We Wish Never Broke Up," Tony said, handing her his Stark phone.
"We're number 18. That's not possible. Tony what did you do?" Pepper asked.
"Well when I found out about the band, I may have anonymously sent some of your videos to buzzfeed. And people were into it," Tony said.
"Why would you do that? This is not a time in my life I want to revisit. There will be questions about my leaving the band and I'm not prepared to answer them. It was a silly high school dream. This is much more practical and exciting. I'm a CEO now," she said feeling panic rising inside of her.
"And lots of people want to interview you now. Forbes, Maxim, Sports Illustrated, to name a few" he said raising an eyebrow.
"No. I'm not doing interviews," she said, shutting it down quickly.
She thought about what she would even say. She couldn't remember leaving the band and ending up working at Stark Industries.
"What about just the photoshoot part? We could do it privately at the mansion. You could pose on the hot rod in a bikini," he suggested.
"That's a hard no," she said with a laugh.
Pepper's group text was blowing up.
We got on buzzfeed. Did you see this? Julia texted a link.
Tony just showed me, Pepper responded.
How's it going with lover boy?, Amanda asked.
Wait something is going on with you and Tony? Sam texted.
NOTHING is going on. It's all pretend, Pepper said.
Tonight's the wedding, perfect romantic time to screw, Julia said.
Pepper was blushing and it piqued Tony's curiosity.
"Why are you blushing?" he asked.
"Girls never reveal what's said in their group text," she said with a smile.
"My turn to shower. I'll let you get dressed," Tony said as he headed into the bathroom.
Pepper was feeling so giddy. She kept thinking about how warm and snuggly Tony felt in the morning. She really wanted to make out with Tony. She wanted to get on top of him and kiss him deeply and undress him slowly. Her thoughts were running wild when Tony came out of the bathroom in those boxer briefs and she had to calm herself down.
Later that evening Pepper got out of the bathroom in her dress for the wedding. She had her hair pinned up very simply and a very delicate piece of jewelry but the stand out piece was the dress. It was a pale blue dress with ruching on one side made of taffeta with thin delicate straps. She paired it with silver strappy open toed heels. Tony was staring at her in complete awe.
"What? It's ridiculous right? I told the saleswomen I didn't want taffeta," she said wrinkling her nose in distaste.
"No it's the opposite. You look beautiful and tasteful. Very classy," he said not being able to take his eyes off of her.
"What about you? You need me to do your tie for you?" she asked.
"Nope. I got it covered," he said producing a bow tie.
Pepper smiled.
"That's what you wore to that fireman's benefit the night we danced and you left me on the roof all alone," she reminded him.
"Haven't I made up for that yet?"he asked.
"Yes. I'm sorry," she said.
"Come on. We don't want to be late," he said taking her hand and lacing his fingers in between hers.
When they got inside the music was so loud but Pepper was feeling great. The cocktail hour seemed to fly by and Pepper already indulged in a dry vodka martini and a shot. She really wanted to let loose and not let herself care about anything.
She continued to drink and left Tony to go dance with some of her girlfriends. Tony was a great dancer but not this kind of dancing. He mingled with people as he watched her dance. Then Tony caught Brad trying to catch Pepper's eye and he approached him.
"We had a deal and I won fair and square. Stay away from her," Tony warned him.
"I will but there is no guarantee she will stay away from me,"
"I told her about your little plan and she wants nothing to do with you," Tony scowled at him.
Pepper saw Brad and Tony in what appeared to be a heated conversation and she walked over to them.
"Wow Pepper you look incredible," Brad said.
Pepper pulled Brad close and grabbed him by his waistband and dumped the ice from her drink down his pants at the crotch.
He yelled out in agony from the cold and he was trying to shake the ice out.
"That was hot," Tony said with a smile on his face.
Pepper grabbed him and pulled him down for a peck on the lips. She wanted Brad to wish he had asked her out in high school. Tony wrapped his arms around her and kissed her again. Pepper reached her hands around and squeezed his butt tightly and pulled away.
"Pepper we didn't rehearse that," he teased.
"Do you want me to stop?" she asked as she continued to squeeze it.
"Hell no. I love it," he said.
"Good because you've got a great butt and I really want to make everyone jealous," she said.
"Squeeze away Miss Potts squeeze away," he said with a wink.
A slow song came on and they looked at each other. Tony put his hand out and Pepper took it. Of course it was an extremely popular slow song played at weddings. It was Because You Loved Me by Celine Dion. Tony pulled her close and everytime she looked at him his eyes were locked on hers. She was having those butterflies in her stomach from the fireman's benefit when they danced. But this time they were pretending to be a couple and it could be a dangerous thing. She stared at him and she didn't know how much longer she could evade her feelings and attraction to Tony. He was no longer her boss so what was really holding her back? His reputation? Her reputation? Tony was watching Pepper and he could tell she was thinking and it was killing him. He was dying to know what was going through her mind. He needed her and she wasn't going to be easy to get.
"All eyes are on you," he said.
"No Tony you're the celebrity here, I think the eyes are on you," she said.
Tony needed to capitalize on this moment and he caught her eyes and he leaned in. He knew this was for show for Pepper but it was real to him and he was hoping that she would pick up on that. He leaned in even further and he closed his eyes when their lips met. This one was different. It was soft and caring and neither of them wanted to be the first to pull away. Tony finally had to only because he couldn't breathe but he went in again immediately after taking a breath so he could kiss her again and the second time she pulled away. Then they locked eyes and they were both wondering what the other was thinking and they were both too afraid to ask. They continued to stare at each other until the song ended and it made Pepper want to drink more.
The night was going by quickly and Pepper was having a great time. She continued to drink and dance and mingle and she definitely saw Lisa looking at her more than once with a nasty face.
"Come on Tony let's do some silly photo booth photos," Pepper said, dragging him over to the props table.
She started digging through them and grabbed a feather boa for herself and a pair of silly glasses for Tony. They did four different poses including Pepper pretending to choke him and one of him kissing her cheek.
"I'm ready to go back to the room if you are," she said.
"Yeah let's go," Tony said.
They were in the hallway and Tony was helping Pepper who was a little uneasy on her feet from the drinking. Pepper saw Brad passing them by and she kissed Tony furiously and started trying to take his jacket off. She wanted Brad to think they were going to have sex. Tony went with it and he was kissing Pepper on her neck and she didn't expect a sudden flip in her stomach. They got into the elevator and lucky for Pepper Brad needed to share the elevator. Pepper pushed Tony against the wall and continued kissing him forcefully and running her hands all over him.
"I can't wait to get these clothes off of you," she said, completely shocking Tony.
"What about me? I'm going to undress you and kiss every inch of your body," he said going with it knowing because he knew Pepper wanted Brad to hear.
The elevator pinged and it was their floor when Tony scooped Pepper up and carried her through the door. She giggled as she looked back and Brad. He carried her until they got to their room and put her down gently.
They opened the door and Pepper kicked off her shoes.
"Tony that was s'good" Pepper said, stuttering a bit from the liquor.
"Yeah Pep I really think we made both Brad and Lisa miserable,"
"No the kiss s'good," she said, pulling his shirt off and running her hands on his chest.
"It was. You're an incredible kisser but we should get some sleep. Come on let's get into pajamas," he said pulling hers out of the draw and helping her into her pair.
"That's no fun," she said with a pouty face.
"Yeah but you'll thank me tomorrow," Tony said, pulling the covers back for her.
Pepper was still pouting as she climbed into the bed but she fell asleep within two minutes. Tony wasn't tired at all and he was extremely horny from the way Pepper was kissing him and touching him. He went into the bathroom to give himself a release and then slid into bed to join Pepper even though he knew he wouldn't sleep much.