Beauty and The Beast ~ Hulk Love Story ((Book 2))

Chapter Five

"You look beautiful," Bruce whispered to me. My stomach did a flip at the compliment. It felt nice to have someone to see you like more than another soldier. I let out a small chuckle at my own thoughts.

"Thank you. You look nice as well," I gave him a soft kiss on his cheek. I could see his cheeks light up with a soft blush. I opened my mouth to offer that we go get a drink.

"AERO!" Thor came rushing to my side. He picked me up in a monster hug. I giggled and held tightly to the big bear of a god. "You look amazing," He gushed as he set me back on my feet. His large warm hands on my exposed shoulders made my heart flutter and my face heat up a bit. You couldn't deny that Thor was hot and it didn't hurt that he was my best friend. "Let's get you a drink!" He pulled me away from Bruce over to the bar. I looked back at Bruce with a laugh and a small shrug. He leaned onto the bar to talk to the bartender. "Amaretto Sour?" Thor asked over his shoulder to me. I nodded. He repeated my drink back over to the bartender. The man behind the bar made my drink and handed it over to Thor. Thor passed the pale yellow drink to me. I pulled the cherry from the top and popped it into my mouth with a content smile.

"Enjoying the party, Aerosmith?" Tony tossed his arm over my shoulder with a wide grin on his face. I snorted in laughter and kept my drink level so it didn't spill. I gave a small nod to his question. War Machine came over to where we stood. He began telling Thor, Tony and I a story about something he had done as War Machine.

"I dropped it at the general's feet and was like 'Boom you looking for this'," He finished his story. I almost erupted into laughter at the blank faces of Thor and Tony. They didn't seem to find his story all that impressive. I couldn't say much I wasn't listening to most of it. "Boom, Are you looking for- Why do I even talk to you guys?" War Machine sounded a bit upset that they weren't impressed. I giggled. "Everywhere else that story kills,"

"That's the whole story?" Thor seemed a bit confused. War Machine nodded. "Oh, Well. Its very good then," Thor chuckled and lifted his drink to his lips. I bit my lip to cover the need to laugh. "Very Impressive." He nodded.

"Quality Save," War Machine gave a small eye roll. "So, no Pepper? She's not coming?" War Machine tried to change the topic to help cover his sore ego. Tony gave a small shrug and shook his head. I looked at Tony's face.

"What about Jane?" Agent Hill asked. I hadn't noticed that she had joined the conversation. Thor tensed a bit beside me. "Where are the Ladies, Gentlemen?" She chuckled looking to the boys. I could tell that Thor hadn't told them about him and Jane breaking up. He covered it with a smile.

"Well, Ms. Potts has a company to run," The tense tone in his voice told me that Tony was also hiding something from the others. The more I thought about it I hadn't seen Pepper around the tower at all since we got back. She could just be busy, but it also seemed a bit odd.

"I'm not even sure what country Jane is in." Thor gave a small shrug. "Her work on the Convergence has made her the world's foremost astronomer." Thor gushed about Jane despite them not being together anymore. I decided it would be best to let it die.

"and the company that Pepper runs is the largest tech conglomerate on Earth. It's pretty exciting." Tony piped up quickly so that he would not be outdone.

"There's even talk of Jane getting a Nobel Prize." Thor continued the praise of his ex. I felt a tiny pang in her chest but pushed it away. War Machine, Agent Hill, and I exchanged looks knowing they'd continue their attempts to one-up each other.

"They must be busy. I'm sure they would hate to miss you guys getting together." Agent Hill chuckled. "Testosterone!" She coughed fakely making us laugh.

"Oh, My goodness. Want a lozenge?" War Machine smirked as he led her away from the two. I gave a small roll of my eyes as Tony and Thor laughed.

"But Jane's better," Thor took one last blow at Tony. I bumped my shoulder against his. Thor chuckled rubbing the spot.

"Put the rulers away boys. It's not the size of the boat... Its the motion of the ocean," I made a small wave movement with my hands and backed away from them. I had a large smile on my face. I headed off to find other people to talk to. I passed Steve as he headed up the stairs with Falcon in tow. I gave a small wave as they passed.

"You look beautiful, Ro." Falcon whistled. I gave a bright smile and blew him a kiss with a wink. He pretended to catch the kiss and put it over his heart. I rolled my eyes and continued on my way.

~

I stood behind the bar lazily mixing my drink. The party was most of the way over. Thankfully almost all of the guest had left. I watched as some people helped a few of the very drunk veterans out of the party. I snorted in laughter. I poured my drink into a glass that I had sitting on the bar. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Bruce walking up to where I stood. I tried to look as serious as possible as I glanced up at him. The party had been such a hustle and bustle I hadn't spent that much time with him. He pulled his glasses off and sat down at the bar. "How'd a nice girl like you wind up working in a dump like this?" Bruce almost couldn't hold in his laughter when he called the tower a dump. I leaned forward batting my eyelashes and smiling flirtatiously.

"Fella done me wrong," I purred playfully. I looked down to the glass in front of me. I poured what was left of the drink I had made into a second glass. I pulled a cherry from the container and dropped it into his drink. I grabbed a second cherry, but instead of dropping it into my drink I popped it into my mouth. I looked up at him through my long lashes.

"You got a lousy taste in men, kid." He said in a sad tone. I moved the drink closer to him. I finished the cherry in my mouth before replying.

"He's not so bad," I lifted my drink and leaned onto the bar. "Well," I paused taking a sip. "He has a temper." I gave a small shrug. Bruce physically tensed under my teasing. "Deep down, He's all fluff." Bruce tried to hide his smile by bringing his drink to his lips. He took a small sip unsure of the soft yellow colored drink. He set it back down and kept his gaze on the drink. I chewed my lip before continuing. "Fact is, He's not like anybody I've ever known." I looked up at him with a sweet smile. He lifts his gaze to meet mine. I looked down thinking of how to put my thoughts into words. I want him to know how much I care about him. "All my friends are fighters..." I thought about Natasha, Clint, and Thor. I lifted my eyes to look at him. "And here comes this guy, spends his life avoiding the fight because he knows he'll win." I purred in a quiet tone so that the others wouldn't hear. He mumbled something along the lines of 'sounds amazing' before taking a sip of his drink. "He's also a huge dork," I scrunched my nose a bit. I took a sip of my own drink. "Chicks dig that," I laughed. "what do you think?" I asked falling back into a serious tone. "Should I fight this or... run with it?"

"R-R-Run with it, right? Or did he... was he... What did he do that was so wrong to you?" He stumbled over his words at first. I could tell I had rattled him a bit with my complementing. I simply smiled into my glass as I continued to drink.

"Not a damn thing," I pulled back a bit picking up my drink. I leaned back in failing to hide my smile. "But... Never say never." I winked and headed out from behind the bar. I gave Steve a kind smile as we passed each other. I saw him lean on the bar near Bruce. Steve was like the team dad. I gave a small chuckled and rolled my eyes. Natasha waved me over to where she stood at the top of the stairs.