Chapter 15
Tony stirred a bit and opened his eyes. Pepper was completely wrapped up in him and then he remembered last nights events and images of Pepper’s naked body came into his mind. He was again trying to block it out. He didn’t want to be aroused when Pepper woke up. It was going to be hard enough to explain this to Pepper without her freaking out. Pepper stirred and rolled over but she didn’t wake. Tony used this opportunity to get up and pee. And he hurried down the stairs for Advil and some Gatorade. When he got back to the bed Pepper was still out. He put the Gatorade and Advil on the dresser and slipped back under the covers. Pepper turned again and was laying on his chest. Her hand was resting on his chest and his nipple still hurt immensely. He looked down and she had left a mark.
“Mmmm Tony” she cooed in her sleep as she pulled him closer.
Her hand was dangerously low on his torso she almost brushed over him. Again he was trying to control his thoughts. He thought of her under the table night and seeing her between his legs and her cute response about trying to get a raise. It made him smile. He thought about Pepper in the Coors girl uniform and the shot wheel. He thought about how she took down those shots and he really wanted more. He wanted to know every side of Pepper. He didn’t care that he was her boss. She took care of him in a way no person who wasn’t his wife or mother should ever have to. He wanted her to let off steam and have fun. He added that to the list he was working on for Pepper and that was all he needed to complete it. He was going to give it to her when she woke up. She stirred again and this time she woke up.
“Tony? Why am I in your bed?”he heard.
Pepper had her eyes squeezed shut and she never felt so hungover in her life. She was so grateful that it was a holiday and that she didn’t have to work because she literally couldn’t function.
“Pep don’t freak out. I’ll explain. What’s the last thing you remember?” He asked.
Pepper felt a panic wash over her. She didn’t know if she slept with Tony or not and she was about to freak out about it. One because he’s her boss, two because then Tony wins and he’ll have gotten what he wanted and three because if she finally did sleep with him and she couldn’t remember any of it, what fun would that be.
“I remember throwing up on you” Pepper said.
And then she realized the words that came out of her mouth.
“Oh my God Tony I’m so sorry. That must have been horrible” she said.
“It’s a good thing I have a strong stomach. You smelled like tequila and vomit and to be honest id probably still kiss you” he said as he winked at her.
He handed her a purple Gatorade and some Advil. She grabbed it from him thankfully. He gave her a minute to take it and get up to pee before he continued with the story. Pepper came back into the bed and cuddled right back up with Tony.
“Tony even though I was drunk that was the best sleep I ever had. I love everything about your bed. The mattress is like heaven, the sheets are so soft and the whole bed smells like you. And you’re so comfy. Why didn’t you tell me you’re such a good cuddler ?” She said nestling herself into him.
“I’m not normally real cuddly. You can get away with anything with me Pep and I told you you would love my bed” he said as he looked down into her blue eyes and he meant every word.
“What happened last night?” she asked.
“We got home and Natasha helped clean you up and get you into pajamas so I could shower since my shirt and pants were covered in vomit. I get out of the shower and I slide into bed and a minute later you’re in my room. I asked if you were okay and if you needed something and you said “you could say that” and you dropped your robe and you were naked” he said.
Pepper felt herself shrinking. Tony had seen her naked. She couldn’t remember her last bikini wax. She was sure it needed a trim. Thank God for the darkness.
“Tony I can't work for you anymore. How can I look at you now?” she asked.
“What about me? Pep you’re hot and now that I’ve seen you naked and it’s forever etched in my mind do you think I’m EVER going to forget that image? Not to disrespect you but I can’t help it. I had to keep fighting images of it out of my brain. It’s the first thing I thought of when I woke up and realized you were next to me” he said.
“It’ll fade away when you find a new lady friend to fixate on” she teased.
“Nope not gonna forget ” he said.
Pepper felt herself blush. She looked away from him. She couldn’t look him in his gorgeous chocolate brown eyes.
“So we didn’t sleep together?” she asked.
“No Pep. Come on you really think that little of me that I would do something to you like that when you’re drunk?” he asked sounding hurt.
“No of course not. But I didn’t know how drunk you ended up” she said.
“Then what happened?”she asked.
“You tried sitting on my lap and you were kissing me so forcefully. I admit I kissed you back for a little bit. I am sorry for that but I was still in shock and you were naked on my lap and I was never more turned on in my life. I didn’t know if I’d ever get the chance to kiss you again. I know it was jerky but I didn’t touch you, I swear” he said.
Pepper was mortified.
“You know that was the alcohol Tony. I would never- you’re my boss and-
“You said please Tony I’m so horny and then you bit my nipple and you left a mark” he said showing her.
Pepper felt herself shrinking again. She was mortified.
“I’m so sorry Tony. That was so unprofessional of me” she said.
“Pep it was after hours. You’re fine” he said.
“So what else happened?”she asked.
“I finally pulled away from your clutches and you asked why I didn’t want to sleep with you and I said because It's not that I didn’t want to it’s that I didn’t want to do it like that. And I somehow convinced you to let me put some clothes on you and here we are” he said.
Pepper felt like her face was on fire. She was completely mortified and for once not angry with Tony. She continued to keep herself nestled into Tony avoiding his eyes.
“Pep you have nothing to be embarrassed of. How many times do I try and get naked when I’m drunk?” he asked.
“Tony this is different. I’m not your boss” she said.
“And I’m glad about that because I would have been fired about a week into the job” he joked.
“What happened to Holly?” she asked suddenly sitting up and looking for her phone.
“She went home with Rhodey” he said casually.
“I’ll text her later. Oh yeah I wonder if Dean text me” Pepper said suddenly remembering that part of the night.
“Oh wow you gave him your real number” Tony said.
“Well I don’t want to put all my eggs in one basket” she said.
Tony felt insecure and threatened by this Dean character just for the fact Pepper has liked him enough to give him her number. He was going to move to the next phase of his plan.
“I have something for you. I started it while you were on vacation” he said reaching into his drawer and pulling out the piece of paper and handing it to her.
It said:
10 ways to stop being an ass/make Pepper’s life easier.
1)be on time
2)tie my own tie
3)stop ogling her (really trying hard but failing miserably”
4)stop making her do things I know she’s uncomfortable with
5)give her control of the remote at least one day a week
6)lower my music
7)respect her space
8)slow down my drinking
9)pay attention during meetings
10)schedule fun
Pepper put the list down and looked up at him. She smiled and looked back down again.
“You made this for me. You didn’t have a cheat sheet from Tiffany or anyone” Pepper suspected.
“Nope. It’s all me and I hand wrote it” he said.
“You’ve definitely improves on 1,2,8 and 9” she said.
Tony smiled.
“I’ll give you a pass for number 3 since I know you can’t stop. Maybe change it to don't ogle me at inappropriate times” she said.
“The rest need work but I appreciate the effort” she said.
Tony was beaming. He wanted Pepper to be proud of him. Their eyes locked and they both began to move in. Their lips met like two magnets that couldn’t be pulled away. She kissed him harder and wrapped her arms around his neck and then the doorbell rang.
“I should get that” he said.
Pepper nodded and followed him down the stairs. She went into her bedroom to retrieve her phone. There was no text from Dean.
When she came back out into the front room Rhodey and Holly were in the living room. They stopped by to check on me and see if we wanted to join them for breakfast.
“I would love breakfast. I need to eat if I’m going to survive this hangover”
“Give me like ten minutes to get ready and I have to get Tiffany” Tony said as he hurried upstairs.
“Pepper why are you wearing Tony’s clothes? Are you guys...?” Rhodey asked.
“No were not and we didn’t and we’re not going to” Pepper said to answer all of the questions he was implying.
“You don’t know how good you guys are together. And you don’t know how good you are for Tony” Rhodey said.
Pepper avoided his eyes.
“Rhodey he’s a narcissist and his ego is sky high. He doesn’t listen. Should I keep going?”she said.
“Yeah but you’ve changed him Pepper. You changed him for the better” Rhodey said.
“I have noticed some positive changes and we’ve grown close but you can’t change people. Tony is still Tony” Pepper said as she headed off to her bedroom to get changed.
The five of them were in a booth at the local diner and Pepper was feeling the full effects of all the liquor she consumed last night. They all had on sunglasses except for Tiffany because the hangover was real.
“Wild night?” Tiffany asked.
“Yeah I threw up all over Tony” Pepper admitted as she sipped her coffee.
“Are you kidding me? I missed that” Rhodey said shaking his head.
“Yeah I had to throw my shirt out” Tony said.
Pepper’s phone suddenly pinged. She opened it and it was a number she didn’t save.
It said: Hi Pepper it’s Dean. How’s your day going?
Pepper smiled. She didn’t think he would really text.
“Who is it?” Tony asked nosily trying to read her text
.
“It’s Dean” she said as she was blushing.
“The guy from last night? What did he say?” Tony asked.
He needed to know what he was up against.
“What guy from last night?” Holly asked.
“The one that sent Pepper a drink. She got his digits” Tony said with an annoyance in his voice.
Pepper was ignoring the conversation and wrote back to Dean.
I’m terribly hungover. Out to breakfast, hopefully some food helps.
“What’s he saying?” Tony asked again.
“Nothing. Just hello and how is your day going?”she said.
“That’s lame” Tony said.
“You sound jealous to me” Pepper said.
“Why would I be jealous? You came home with me. You wanna tell him what happened after we got back to the house?” Tony said smugly.
Pepper felt herself flush and she could feel the silence at the table.
“What did you guys finally do it or something?” Tiffany asked trying to cut the silence.
“We almost did. She came on to me but I let her down gently since she was drunk and all” Tony said.
Being a jerk was his only defense when he had feelings that made him uncomfortable.
“You know what Tony. You might want to add a few things to the list” she said slamming it down in front of him.
“Now move so I can get out of the booth” Pepper said.
“Smooth Tony” Rhodey said from across the table.
Tony snatched the list off the table before anyone could notice.
“What the hell do you mean you almost?” Rhodey asked.
“Not in front of my daughter” Tony said.
“Tony I know what sex is” she said.
“How do I fix this?” Tony asked Rhodey.
His eyes were burning with desperation.
“You can start with an apology” Rhodey said.
Tony got up and hurried outside where Pepper was sitting on a bench.
“Hey” he said quietly.
She turned to face him and he could see her eyes were red.
“Leave me alone” Pepper said turning away from him again.
“I came to apologize” he said.
“That’s a first” she said.
“You have a pen?”he asked
“What for?”she asked.
“So I can add apologize to the list” he said.
Pepper tossed the pen at him.
“This is what I was saying with you being hot and cold with me. You're mean sometimes. What happened last night was humiliating Tony. I got naked and threw myself at you and you’re my boss. And I thought it was understood that it was between us and you just embarrassed me in front of everyone” she said.
“Number twelve think before I speak” he said writing another one down.
Pepper was so hurt. But this was still progress.
“What goes on in your brain? What would make you think it was ok to tell them what happened?” she asked.
“I use being a jerk as a defense when I feel things I’m uncomfortable with. It’s wrong and I’m sorry. You deserve so much more than this” Tony said.
“What made you feel things you’re uncomfortable with?” she asked.
“This guy Dean. I just don’t want you to get hurt. He’s not right for you. Nor good enough. I want to protect you” Tony said trying to sell to her that and not the real reason that he was jealous.
“All we did was text and set up a date. Nothing has even happened yet. He seems like a nice guy so far. I didn’t even think he was going to text me” she said quietly.
“He’d be an idiot not to. I seen what you look like in those leather shorts” Tony said as he revisited that image.
“Tony I believe your heart is in the right place but I don’t need you to protect me. I’m a grown woman. I can take care of myself” she said.
“I know but I care for you so I can’t help it. It’s my instinct to protect” Tony said.
Pepper stood up and walked over to him.
“I know” she said.
“Are we friends again?” he asked.
“We’ll always be friends” she said as she pulled Tony in for a hug.
“When’s your date?” Tony asked.
“Tomorrow night after work provided my boss doesn’t keep working all night” she said staring at him.
“I’ll let you off at five sharp” he said.
“Thank you Mr. Stark” she said.
“You’re welcome Miss Potts” he said as he followed her back inside.