Tony Stark
As your fingers came in contact with the first item in the bag, you chanced a second glance at Tony to find him wearing an expression that could best be described as a guilty smirk. When he caught you looking at him, it turned into a smile and a wink, and you responded with a good-natured eye roll.
“Keys,” you thought to yourself as you grasped an item inside the bag. “Definitely car keys. Now who would have driven here?”
You quickly made a mental list of possibilities in your head, and the first name on the list was Tony’s. When your thumb ran over the familiar logo of overlapping rings, you bit your lip to hide a smile.
Pulling the keys out of the bag, you heaved a dramatic sigh and said, “Tell me someone else drives an Audi besides you-know-who over there.”
“Hot damn, I’m up,” he said, heading towards the next room. “Don’t dawdle, sweet cheeks.”
Placing a hand on Rhodey’s arm, you asked, “If I need back-up?”
“All you gotta do is scream.”
“Might want to come up with a better signal than that!” Tony yelled from the open doorway. “We’d hate for you to ruin a beautiful moment.”
Following him out the circle, Natasha caught your attention and whispered, “You’re almost believable.”
“Shut up.”
Tony was leaning against the open door, trying to look at you from under his lashes.
“After you,” he said seductively.
Once the door was shut behind him, he said, “You can drop the act. I know you drew me on purpose.”
Of course you drew him on purpose. You’d had a thing for Tony ever since the first day you met him. But, instead of talking about it like two, normal adults, the pair of you had just bantered back and forth for years. Natasha said it was obvious flirting. Steve was shocked to find out you even liked him. And what Tony actually felt and thought about it was a total mystery.
“Wow, you are so extraordinarily—“
“Charming,” he supplied.
“Self-confident,” You said at the exact same moment.
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” he said, moving very close to you.
“I’m not sure I meant it as one.”
The sight of his gorgeous brown eyes staring directly into yours from such a short distance away turned you on and made you nervous all at the same time. You ended up caving into the second emotion, and turned your attention to the window on the far side of the room.
“Thank you...for the party,” you said suddenly, trying to break the silence. “It really was wonderful.”
“You’re welcome. It was all me, you know. The surprise party...all my idea. And I really put a lot of work into it.”
“So, you remembered my birthday all by yourself?” you asked, your gaze returning to his as you fell back into your comfortable routine.
“To be fair,” he began, “remembering important dates like birthdays, anniversaries, dental appointments...isn’t really my strong suit. I told Friday to remind me, but I still think that took a lot of consideration on my part.”
“And you ordered the band? The caterer? Did all the decorating yourself?”
“I might have delegated some tasks out to the rest of the team...just to make them feel included. Like, moving the heavy furniture...that’s really more of a Cap and Thor job. The point is, I wouldn’t have put them to all that effort for anyone but you.”
“So, I should feel—“
“Flattered,” he finished for you.
You tried not to tremble when he placed his hand on your hip.
“Touched’ would also work really well there,” he added, pulling your body gently against his and moving his head in close.
“Yeah, I guess it would at that,” you whispered before closing the distance between your lips and his.
Oh God, was he a good kisser. You had to make the conscious effort to keep your legs under you as he traced his tongue along your bottom lip. Opening your mouth ever so slightly, you moaned softly when it slipped in to find yours. Somewhere in the back of your mind, in the tiny area that managed to escape the power of his kiss, you must have remembered that your time was limited, because you resisted the overwhelming urge to grind your hips against his when his grip on you tightened.
After he finally pulled back, he said, “You can admit you picked me on purpose now. After all, I planned it that way.”
“What do you mean you planned it?”
“My item was the biggest one in the bag, and it screamed ‘me.’ Either you’d skip over it, or you’d cheat and pick me on purpose. Either way, it would answer that unspoken question about us.”
“Tony, you are—“
“A genius?”
“Wonderful.”
“Tell me something I don’t know,” he said in response, making you laugh.
“Oh! Before I forget, here you go. You might need these,” you said while handing him his keys.
“Those aren’t mine,” he said, pulling an identical set out of his pocket as proof.
“Then whose—“
“You’ll find her parked outside,” he said with a big smile. “Happy birthday, honey.”