Chapter 15

Steve visited her after work and spent time with her. He read to her and carried her to her bed when she got sleepy. She really enjoyed how he took care of her and when he had to go on a rescue mission for SHIELD, she missed him terribly. Her apartment felt empty and too quiet. She felt better each day and started to get ready for their date.

Maybe it was good that Steve wasn't here because she started to freak out. She never been on an actual date before, she went on dates for missions but she played a role everytime. This time she would go as herself. She was tempted to slip into one of her personas but she couldn't do that to him. She spent hours in her closet that used to be a guest room and now stored all of her clothing and shoes. She didn't know how many dresses she ruled out but she was running out of options. She plopped on her couch with her macbook and opened Net-a-porter, she needed to find the perfect dress. She checked online what kind of event it was they were going to and it wasn't too fancy but it still called for a nice dresscode.

She wanted to look good, especially since she looked like shit in the last days and she wanted to knock Steve off his feet. She scrolled through Net-a-porter for hours and ordered a few dresses. She hoped they would arrive before they left for New York. They would stay at Tony's Tower and he thankfully would be in Tokyo. She was okay with Sam knowing that she and Steve would go on a date but she didn't want Tony to know. He would make stupid jokes and make Steve uncomfortable. She didn't want to hurt Tony but she would if he upset Steve. She never felt this protective over anyone before. She knew she would do anything to keep him safe. She killed twice in the last few weeks to save Steve, first the ambassador in Mexico and then Yelena, and she knew that she would have no problem to spill more blood to keep him safe and sound.

She went to her bathroom and took a long and hot bath. She needed to go through a thorough beauty routine, the flu did not make her look better. Her skin was dry and grey and her hair lost its shine. She was for hours in the bathroom and when she looked in the mirror again, she was satisfied. She looked like her old self again, no one could tell that she was really sick for days.

When she checked her phone, she saw that Steve texted her. Ever since he left for Algeria he sent her texts to show her that he thought of her. She was glad that she lived alone because she smiled everytime like an idiot when she read his texts. He texted her that he was needed there longer and that they would meet in New York. And that he couldn't wait to see her again. Yeah, she knew how he felt. She missed his presence so much, it was ridiculous.

The dresses arrived two days later and she skyped with Laura so she could help her pick the right one. She didn't want to overdress but she wanted to make sure that Steve would only have eyes for her. With Laura's help she chose a Gucci dress that was black and off shoulder. It had cut outs on each side on her waist and made her look sexy but also elegant. She would pair it with black strappy heels and a silver clutch. Her hair in big waves and her lips in red and she would look hopefully great enough for Steve.

She was tempted to wear lace lingerie underneath her dress but she realized that she didn't want to sleep with Steve. Wait, that wasn't true. She really wanted to sleep with him but not yet. Normally the fact that he was a virgin would have been a no-go for her but the thought that Steve had never been with a woman before just excited her. She would hopefully be the first one to get her hands on him and a possessive voice in her head told her that she wanted to be the only one who would ever get her hands on him. But his first time should be special and there were so many steps they could take before they had actual sex. She didn't put the sexy lingerie in her suitcase but chose simple bras and panties.

Two days later shetook a cap to get to the airport. Steve was already at the Tower and Sam would fly in with his veteran friends. Tony offered Sam to stay at the Tower but he would stay at a hotel with his friends. Happy picked her up at the airport and drove her to the Tower.

JARVIS informed her that Steve wasn't currently at the tower but he would pick her up at 7 pm. She thanked JARVIS and went to her floor. A beautiful boquet of flowers was on the marble table in her hallway. She already had a suspicion who sent her the flowers and the card confirmed it.

I can't wait for our date

Steve

She checked her watch, she still had over three hours to get ready. She unpacked her dress and called the staff so they would iron it. She got into the giant bathroom completely made out of marble (Pepper had excellent taste) and began to get ready. She showered, scrubbed her body and washed her hair. She painted her nails in a deep red and applied a lot of lotion to make her skin smoth and glowy. She put her make-up on with precision, red lips and cat eyes and rolled her hair on curlers. She let it grow since New York and it now brushed her shoulder blades. Her dress was back when she walked into her living room and hanging on a clothes rail. She slipped into her underwear and then in her dress. Despite being incredibly flexible, she had some problems zipping up her dress. It was a bit of a fight but she finally got the dress zipped. She pulled the curlers out of her hair and shook some volume into it. She slipped into her high heels and looked into the mirror. Yeah, she looked really good if she could say so herself.

At 7 pm on the dot there was a knock on her front door. She checked her reflection one last time in the mirror and walked over to open the door. God, she didn't think she'd ever been this nervous in her life before.

She opened the door and Steve smiled brightly at her. She returned his smile and suddenly felt at ease. Steve was wearing a dark grey suit and no tie. He looked very handsome and a part of her wanted to grab him by his collar and drag him into her bedroom to have her wicked ways with him.

"Hi, you look incredible." Steve smiled again and gave her a new bouquet of flowers.

"Thank you. You look very dapper yourself." She stepped aside to let him in. "I'm gonna put these in water and then we can leave." She rushed into the kitchen, looked for a vase and filled it with water. She dropped the flowers into it and returned with them into the livingroom where Steve was waiting for her. She put the flowers on her coffee table and smiled at him. "You ready to go?"

He nodded. "Yeah. I have to admit I'm really excited."

"Me too"

He helped her into her coat and he already had a cab waiting for them that would take them to the hotel where the dinner would be. She appreachiated the fact that Steve didn't ask Happy to drive them. JARVIS was discreet but Happy wasn't, he would immediately tell Tony that they looked like they were going on a date.

The hotel was really nice and Steve insisted on paying for the cab. He opened the door for her and gave her his hand to help her get out of the car. She should have probably let go of his hand but didn't and walked with his hand in hers into the hotel. Steve didn't seem to mind since he smiled at their interwined hands. They were escorted to a ball room that was filled with round tables and even had a dance floor and a live band. Did Steve know how to dance? She loved dancing and maybe they could dance a few rounds. Sam was already there and standing at a table and talking to a few people. He waved when he saw them and Steve loosend his hold of her hand but she didn't let go of it. He gave her a questioning look and when she queezed his hand he smiled and tightend his hold again.

They joined Sam's friends and the look on their faces told her that Sam already told them that they would be joined by two Avengers. They were curious but not noisy about their work and soon lost their interests. She was aware that a date like that wasn't really romantic but she thought it was better for her. This was still all new to her and she knew she would freak out if they had a candle light dinner under the stars or whatever people did on dates. Going out with Steve was already against everything the Red Room told her and she knew she needed time to ease into the idea of a relationship with Steve. She just hoped that Steve wasn't too disappointed that their first date wasn't very romantic.

People held speeches and thanked Captain America for coming. Steve blushed and was clearly uncomfortable with the attention but thankfully they left him alone and they could enjoy each others company. Sam's friends were nice and their table was the loudest with laughter. The food was good and the band amazing. She learned that the woman sitting next to Sam was Tess and they had been dating for a few weeks, they made a cute pair and Sam was obviously really into Tess.

Natasha excused herself after the main course to use the ladies room. On her way back to Steve she ran into the guy from the skydiving place. What was his name again? Will? Bill? Didn't matter, she wasn't interested in talking to him. She wanted to ask Steve if he liked to dance with her.

"Natalie!" Billy, she remembered his name now, smiled at her. She could tell from his body language that he was still interested in her." What a nice surprise! You never called me!" He managed to look sad and she knew that it was just show. He wasn't used to rejection which unfortunately made men like him even more interested.

She feigned a smile. "I lost your card." In the trash. She didn't want to be too rude and cause a scene but he really needed to get out of her way. The only soldier she was into was Steve. If Steve wasn't in the picture, she might have let Russo take her home but those days were over.

"And now we run into each other. Almost like fate." Billy smirked and Natasha could barely contain her eye roll. Please, he just wanted to fuck her. Nothing more.

"Well, if we're fated than we'll run into each other again one day. Have a nice evening." She said and left him standing there.

A guy near Billy started laughing. "Shut up, Curtis." He hissed and the guy laughed even louder.

Steve was smirking at her when she sat down next to him. Right, enhanced hearing. "That was not very nice, Natasha."

"What you want me to go back there and spend the evening with that douchebag?"

He put his arm on the top her chair and she could feel how he hold it in place to trap her. " You're stuck with me. Besides I hate to break the guy's nose." He grinned but she could see a hint of jealousy in his eyes. That alpha male behaviour would usually annoy her but she liked that Steve only wanted her to himself. She didn't want to share him either.

She leaned closer to him. "Do you want to dance?"

He looked at her sheepishly. "I don't know how. I never danced before."

She could teach him but not here. She didn't want anyone to make fun of him and teaching him to dance seemed intimate,something that should stay between the two of them. "I'll show you how when we're back in DC."

He smiled and nodded. "You can dance with Sam though if you want to. But please not with Russo!"

She laughed. "I think I rather spend time here at this table with my date." She winked at him and he started to brush his fingertips over her naked shoulder. It was only a light touch but it set her body on fire.

They decided to skip dessert and wanted to go for ice cream. They said goodbye to Sam and his friends and Sam looked very pleased when she took Steve's hand after he helped her into her coat.

They found an ice cream shop near Central Park and took a walk through the park after they got their order. She looped her arm around his and leaned into his side.

"I think this is my favourite part of the evening." Steve whispered.

"Mine too." She smiled up to him. Despite wearing four inch high heels, he was still much taller than her. There was an empty bench near a fountain and they sat down next to each other and finished their ice cream. She remembered that they were in a similiar situation in Arizona a month ago but this time was different. She didn't want to fight her feelings anymore. Steve seemed happy and that was all she wanted for him.

She leaned her head on his shoulder and he interwined their hands. "Natasha?"

"Mm?"

"I have to ask you something." The sound of his voice made it sound like it was something serious. She looked up to him and nodded for him to continue.

"Were you and Clint ever involved? I don't want to complicate things between the Avengers." He looked actually really worried about that. God, he was so thoughtful.

She knew that people at SHIELD assumed that she and Clint were together or used to hook up before they started to gossip about her and Steve. She never cared about that and let people talk. Who would get the idea that Clint had a wife and two kids when everyone thought he was banging her?

"No." She shook her head. "It's not like that between us. It never was and never will be."

Steve looked relieved and squeezed her hand. "Good. It would have made things awkward otherwise because I'm not interested in letting you go."

"That's fine by me." She admitted. "Steve?"

"Yeah?"

"Kiss me" She asked and ordered at the same time and he beamed at her. God, his smile made her weak in the knees. Thank god they were sitting down.

He leaned his head down and pressed his lips against hers. She smiled and deepend the kiss. She didn't know how long they kissed but it felt like an eternity and yet it wasn't long enough. They parted when they were both out of breath. He rubbed her hands between his larger ones. "We should go back. Your hands are cold and you just recovered from a flu."

She nodded and let him pull her up from the bench. "Thank you for taking care of me when I was sick, Steve."

He brushed her hair behind her right ear and kissed her again. "You don't have to thank me."

It wasn't too far from Central Park to the Tower and so they walked hand in hand to it. There was a secret entrance to avoid running into the fans that we're waiting to meet Stark at the main entrance and they managed to get inside without anyone noticing.

Steve walked her to her floor. "JARIVS, activate privacy protocols please."

"Yes, Agent Romanoff."

Steve raised an eyebrow at her but she just pulled his head down and kissed him. He grinned and wrapped his arms around her waist. His tongue pushed against her lip and she let him in. She noticed that he got more confident the more they kissed. Everyone needs pratice, she thought to herself and let him explore her mouth. He was turning into an amazing kisser and desire built up in her core. She wondered how he would be in bed after she showed him how it was done but she wouldn't find that out tonight. She pulled away from him and he immediately followed her movement. She grinned and gave his lips a short peck. His lips were swollen and wet and the blue of his eyes was almost gone. Good to know that she wasn't the only one who was turned on. But they needed to stop.

"Good night, Steve. " She whispered. "I had a wonderful evening."

"Me too. I can't wait to repeat it." He rasped out.

"The date or the kissing?" She smirked and he blushed.

"Both." He admitted and gave her a short but sweet kiss.

"Yeah, me too."

"G'night, Nat." He kissed her forehead and she watched him leave until he disappeared behind the elevator doors.

She leaned against her door and smiled to herself. Not that she had any real comparison but she thought that it went very well for a first date.