Chapter 13
When Pepper opened her eyes the sun was filtering through the living room. It took her a moment to realize where she was. She blinked her eyes a few times to wake up and she realized that she had fallen asleep on the couch and so had Tony. He had his arm around her and her legs were entangled in his. She didn’t even remember being in this position. She looked at the table and realized that they had finished the whole bottle of wine. She was about to wiggle out when she felt Tony pull her tighter to him.
“Pepper” he mumbled in his sleepy state.
She was frozen momentarily. She didn’t know if he was dreaming or if he knew it was actually her. She wasn’t sure if she should wake him. She tried to slip away again and he opened his eyes.
“Hey Pep” he said as he adjusted his body into a more comfortable position.
“It looks like we finished the bottle of wine and fell asleep on the couch”
“I was dreaming about you” he said.
“What is it a good dream?” she asked ignoring the fluttering she was feeling.
“It was. I never dream and when I do it’s always of you” he said as he brushed the hair away from her face.
“I need to sit up, my back” she said trying to wriggle free of Tony.
“Sure” he said untangling himself from her and helping her up. Pepper got up to start the coffee. Tony headed to the bathroom.
“What do you usually do with yourself on a Saturday?” Pepper asked him when he got back.
“I usually find things to call you for and bother you” he teased as he grabbed a cup of coffee off the table.
“I think I’m going to get a work out in if you don’t mind me using your gym” she said.
“You can use my gym if you don’t mind me joining you” Tony said trying to imagine a hot and sweaty Pepper in a sports bra and spandex. He added that image to his rolodex.
“Tony it’s your house and your gym. I can’t object” she said.
“Don’t worry I have some light girly weights too for Happy when he lifts with me”
“Don’t underestimate me Tony. I can bench more than you think.” she teased him back.
Tiffany came downstairs to the kitchen. She grabbed some fruit and a muffin and text her friends to see if they would be free for the day. She didn’t even bother to look for Tony or Pepper because she knew they would be together.
Pepper was warming up on the treadmill while Tony began racking weights. He sat on one of his workout benches and began doing bicep curls. Pepper was trying not to make it obvious that she was watching him. She finished her warm up and went over to the free weights and grabbed a bar 40 pound barbell and began doing squats.
“How come you’ve never come here to work out before?” Tony asked as he was staring at her chiseled stomach.
“Because I come here to work and then I like to leave to clear my head” she said.
“You should work out here instead”
“Why is that?” she asked as she took a rest between hers sets.
“Is that what you wear to the gym? Workout pants and just a sports bra?” he asked.
“Yeah usually”
“Because if you wear that you’ll have all the men ogling you and if you work out here and wear that you’ll only have to worry about me ogling you” he said as he smirked at her.
Pepper was on to Russian twists and she quickly smiled back.
“So if you’re always here when do you work out? Because you’re in crazy shape and I never would have expected that” Tony asked as he started working his back muscles.
“Usually at 4am and on weekends. I have a trainer. He’s great” she said.
“He?” Tony asked. He was a little jealous.
“Yes he” she said as she stopped to rest. She reached for her water and took a small sip.
Tony looked at her and she was covered in sweat. His mind was taking things places he knew he shouldn’t.
“Let me know when you’re ready to bench press”.
“Let’s go right now” she said. Tony racked her at twenty five pounds.
“Seriously?” she said.
“You don’t want to hurt yourself sweetheart”
“I can bench at least forty” she said. Tony was amazed.
“You’re full of surprises Pep” he said adding some plates to the barbell. Tony was spotting Pepper while she was bench pressing when Tiffany came down the stairs.
“Is it cool if I have some friends over?”she asked as she stared at Pepper lifting a significant amount of weight.
“ You’re not having boys here” Tony stated matter of factly.
“Tony they’re not boys” she assured him.
“Who then? And how many?”
“Umm just two friends. Jessica and Amanda” Tiffany said.
“I need their last names honey. I gotta look them up” Tony said as he lifted the weight off Pepper and put it back in place.
“Umm Jessica’s is Traynor and Amanda’s is Kirkwood” Tiffany said as she paced back and worth.
“Jarvis can you run a search of those two and their families” Tony said as he helped Pepper up. He added plates until he was at one hundred fifty pounds.
“My turn” he said as he slid under the barbell.
“Tony they’re in my science class they’re not involved in espionage” Tiffany said as she rolled her eyes.
Pepper laughed and smiled at her.
“Who’s side are you on?” Tony asked Pepper.
She just laughed at him too.
“I need to keep you safe” he said.
“You need someone to spot you Tony. I can’t lift one hundred and fifty pounds”
“Pepper I’ll be fine. I can lift this in my sleep. I only need Happy to spot me when I do heavy lifting” Tony argued.
“You should always practice safe sets” she said with a smirk.
“Are we still talking about lifting?”
“Seriously? I just want to know if my friends can come over” Tiffany said growing tired of her father’s antics.
Pepper was watching Tony lift and his arms and chest looked amazing. She never knew Tony was in this good of shape. Tony sat up and quickly scanned through Jarvis’ report on Tiffany’s friends.
“They check out fine. You can have them over” Tony said with a smile.
“Thanks Tony”
Tiffany heard the bell and opened the door for her friends just as Tony and Pepper came up the stairs.
“This is Pepper. She’s my father’s personal assistant” Tiffany said.
“Hi girls can I offer you something to eat or drink?” Pepper asked while Tony made him and Pepper protein shakes.
“No thanks” they said.
“Hi girls” Tony said as he came out into the hall shaking two protein drinks and handing one to Pepper.
“This is my father” Tiffany said.
“Mr. Stark it’s so great to meet you” Amanda said.
“Call me Tony please”
“This house is incredible” Jessica said.
“Have you met Jarvis yet?” he asked.
“Who’s Jarvis?” Amanda asked as she looked around.
“He’s the A.I. that runs the house” Tony said with a grin.
“Hello Miss Traynor and Miss Kirkwood” Jarvis said.
“Whoa” Jessica said.
“I built him” Tony said proudly.
“That’s so cool” Amanda said.
“Why don’t you let them be?” Pepper asked as she pulled him away.
“Your Dad is HOT. And he’s not that old” Amanda said.
“Yeah he’s sexy for sure. How come he’s not married?” Jessica asked.
“First of all that’s gross. And he’s really busy and kind of crazy so dating is hard for him” Tiffany said.
“Your Dad is like the most eligible bachelor right now. He’s one of the richest men in the world” Jessica said. Tony was smirking because he could hear there conversation.
“They think I’m hot” he told Pepper as he bumped into her gently.
“Big deal Tony” Pepper teased.
“You know they’re right. I am the most eligible bachelor. You sure you don’t want to invest in a piece of real estate” he teased. He got really close to her face and he gave her those brown eyes again.
“I don’t think I will be investing at this time” Pepper said staring right back at him trying her best not to look flustered.
“You know before I knew about Tiffany I used to think I wanted an heir. Someone to hand my legacy down to. I’m so grateful she is in my life” Tony said.
“And tell me who were you going to have a baby with? Because your choices in women aren’t very motherly” Pepper asked out of curiosity.
“I was going to ask you” Tony said as he held his gaze on her.
Pepper choked on her protein shake and some of it came out of her nose. She hurried over to the table to get a napkin. Once she got cleaned up and caught her breath she looked up at Tony.
“Are you out of your mind?” Pepper said at him.
“I’m dead serious” he said. Tiffany’s friends were startled by Pepper’s yelling and they turned to the kitchen.
“Don’t worry that’s nothing. They fight all the time” Tiffany said laughing.
“Tony the only way I’d ever consider sleeping with you is if we were the last people on earth” Pepper said trying to keep a straight face.
“What about if they injected you with my seed? Would you carry my baby?”
“I don’t know. That’s a really big decision” Pepper said sipping some water.
“But it’s not a no” he said smiling at her.
“No it’s not a no but it’s also not a yes”
“I can live with that” Tony said smiling at her.
“I’m going to take a shower and have some retail therapy” Pepper said.
Tony came down from his shower and he had on basketball shorts and a tank top. He walked into the living room and the girls were still watching YouTube videos about some makeup palette on the computer.
“Why don’t you girls just watch this on the television?” Tony asked.
“What tv?” Jessica asked.
“Tiffany you didn’t show them the tv?” Tony said shaking his head.
“Jarvis turn on the tv” Tony said.
The girls watched in amazement as the painting on the wall lowered down and the television came out of the wall and turned on.
“This is amazing. Where did you get it?”Amanda asked.
“I made it. Almost all the tech in the house is made by me” he said proudly. He wanted to impress Tiffany’s friends. He wanted her to be proud of him.
“That’s really cool”
“You want to see something even cooler?” he asked.
“No they don’t. Can you go away?” Tiffany asked. She was starting to get embarrassed.
“Yes” Jessica said.
“Watch this” he said as he waved his hand. A few moments later you could hear glass breaking and the piece from his armor came flying up the stairs and onto his hand.
“Come on outside” he said waving them over.Tiffany’s friends jumped up to follow him.
“Point at something you want me to shoot”
“That sign over there” Jessica said pointing to a sign off his property in the distance.
Tony pointed his repulsor at the sign and they watched in amazement as he blasted it away.
“Wow that’s cool” Amanda said.Tony went behind his back and blasted another sign in the other side.Tiffany was mortified.
“You want to try it?” he asked.
“Ok”Jessica said as Tony helped put it on her.
Tiffany watched in horror as Jessica was flirting with Tony. It was gross for her to think of him that way even though she had to admit that her father was a very handsome man. She could understand why her mother and Pepper were attracted to him.
Pepper retrieved her drink from Starbucks and when she turned around she smacked right into someone.
“Ginny?” a woman’s voice asked her. She hadn’t heard anyone call her Ginny in years except her mother.
“Holly” she said as soon as she recognized her old college friend.
“What are you doing here?” Pepper asked.
“I’m here for a week and a half for a work project” Holly said.
“We should totally get together for drinks one night” Pepper suggested.
“How about tomorrow night? I know it’s a Sunday but Monday is a holiday” Holly suggested.
“Yeah that sounds great”
When Pepper arrived back at the house Tiffany and her friends were eating lunch. Pepper put her shopping bags down and Tony immediately came over and he was being nosy.
“What did you buy?” he asked trying to peek through her bags.
Pepper slapped his hands away and picked up the bags and brought them to her room.
“We’re closed Monday right?”she asked as she came down out to the living room.
“Yes why?” he asked eyeing her suspiciously.
“I ran into one of my girlfriends from college and we’re going to meet up for drinks on Sunday night” Pepper said.
“Am I invited?” Tony asked.
“No” Pepper said adamantly.
“Why don’t you want me to meet your friend? Is she hot?”
“It’s not that I don’t want you to meet my friend it’s just that I haven’t seen her in years and I want to catch up just me and her” Pepper said.
“I see” Tony said.
He went to sit on the couch and sent two texts. He sent one to Natasha and one to Rhodey. He was determined to go out with Pepper and her friend one way or another.