Stark After Dark

Chapter 4

Pepper was there bright and early Monday morning. She knew she was going to have to wake Tony up and kick out god knows what girl he got entangled with. And see what horrific outfit he had chosen for her. She typed in her code and to her surprise Tony was standing there waiting for her and he was showered and dressed. He smiled as she stood there in shock.

"Ok, what have you done with Tony?" she said with one hand on her hip.

"Nothing," he said

Pepper approached with caution.

"But I did win a bet with you and I am ready to cash in," he said as he wiggled his eyebrows at her.

"Ok let me have it," she said as she mentally prepared for the blow.

He handed her a bag from Gucci and she peered inside. It was a simple gray dress. Sleeveless but very form fitting. She silently celebrated that the dress covered her up though.

"I'm going to put it on," Pepper said as she headed to the bathroom.

Tony waited while Pepper emerged from the bathroom in her grey dress and he whistled at her. She rolled her eyes playfully.

"I think this dress is pretty, believe it or not. I thought you'd choose something way more revealing,"

"This way leaves more to the imagination," Tony said with an eyebrow wiggle.

"Well you got your thrill now go build something so I can get some work done," Pepper said, settling down on the couch with her laptop.

Later that evening Pepper was packing up her things and getting ready to leave and it was suspiciously quiet.

"Leaving on time tonight?" Tony asked as he appeared out of nowhere making her jump.

"Yes I want to get out here before your extracurricular activities begin," she said.

"Oh really? What if I told you there were no extra curricular activities tonight?"

"Then I would wonder if you were feeling ok and I would say I hope you use this opportunity to get some sleep so you can be on time for the budget meeting tomorrow?"

Tony groaned.

"That's what I have you for," he said.

Pepper gave him a stern look.

"Goodnight Tony," she said as she headed for the door.

"Wait," he said.

Pepper turned around to face him.

"Would you stay and have dinner with me if I promised to go to the budget meeting?"

Pepper was taken aback by the sudden behavior of Tony.

"Goodnight Tony," she said simply. As much as she wanted to, she wanted to keep the boundaries clear.

Pepper signed in to her laptop and opened her blog.

Today was a strange day. He had no extracurricular activities planned and I was able to leave on time.

Pepper hit save and posted her smallest entry of only two sentences and then poured herself a glass of wine and decided to curl up with Netflix before bed.