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

Chapter Six

_BRUCE'S POV_

I walked around the busy living room. people were everywhere, chatting, drinking, playing pool, exchanging pleasantries. I ducked around a lamp as I tried to get around a group. Other then Tony and the other Avengers I didn't really have anyone to talk to. I took a moment to look around the party in search of Aero. I could only imagine where she would be hiding. Tony bounced from group to group chatting away with the others. He passed behind me giving me a strong pat on my shoulder. I glanced back at him. He seemed to be looking for someone. He paused and leaned in to whisper to me. "Damn, You're a lucky man." He chuckled in my ear. I lifted a confused eyebrow. He motioned to the large main staircase. My gaze followed to where he was pointing. I almost fell over at the sight. At the top of the stairs stood Aero looking drop dead beautiful. She had on a dark red dress that was higher in the front than in the back. The back of the dress was even with the bend in the back of her knees. The front of the dress was about halfway up her thighs. She had on a pair of black heels that made her a couple inches taller. Her long thick black hair was in large beach curls around her shoulders. She descended the stairs with such grace. I stumbled as I tried to reach the base of the stairs before she made it that far. I offered my hand out for her. She placed her soft hand on mine and I helped her down the last few steps.

"You look beautiful," My mouth let my thoughts flow out freely. A pleased smile spread across her face. I could tell that she wasn't used to getting complimented. I want to change that.

"Thank you. You look nice as well," She replied politely. I wasn't all that dressed up. Just a grey button-up and a black jacket and black slacks. I was going to reply but she looked as if she wanted to say something. Before my brain could process what was going on she was being whisked away by Thor. She glanced over her shoulder at me and gave an apologetic smile.

~

The night had been busy. This week had been busy. Tony had me practically locked in the lab since we got back. I would hurry down to the lab early in the morning. Most of the time, Aero was still dead asleep. When I finally convinced Tony to let me free, most of the time, Aero was already asleep. We hadn't seen a whole lot of her, and this party was no different. Aero was like a light. She didn't mean to but people were just attracted to her. So someone always had her attention. I glanced around since most of the people had left the party. I could only imagine how late it actually was. My gaze stopped at the black haired girl at the bar. She looked so perfect even though most of her makeup had worn off and she seemed tired. Her hair that had once been curled into large beach curls was almost perfectly straight again. She was mixing herself a drink behind the bar. Her gaze was on the rather drunk veterans that were being assisted in leaving the party. She dropped her gaze to the glass in front of her. She poured a soft yellow liquid into the glass. I made my way over to her trying to hide my need to smile. She looked up at me as I approached but looked back down at her drink. I pulled my glasses off and sat down at the free seat in front of her. "How'd a nice girl like you wind up working in a dump like this?" It was hard not to laugh at calling Tony's tower a dump. She leaned forward resting her weight on the bar. She had a small flirtatious smile on her lips.

"Fella done me wrong," Her tone is almost pouty. She fiddled with her glass not looking at me. She grabbed a second glass from a nearby rack. She poured what was left of her drink into the other glass. She grabbed a cherry from the small container beside her. She dropped it into one of the glasses. She grabbed a second cherry. I assumed she was going to put it in the other drink but instead she popped it into her mouth. She gave a soft smile in my direction.

"You got a lousy taste in men, kid," I mumbled. I couldn't hide the sad tone in my voice no matter how much I wanted to. She slid the drink over to me giving herself time to finish the cherry in her mouth.

"He's not so bad," She picked her glass up from the bar and brought it close to her mouth. "Well," She paused taking a sip and clearing her mouth of the cherry so she was free to talk. "He has a temper." She gave a small shrug in a teasing tone. I couldn't help but to tense a bit when she mentioned my temper. "Deep down, He's all fluff." She giggled. I brought my glass to my mouth to cover my smile. I was a bit unsure of the yellowish liquid in my glass. Aero seemed to like it well enough. I set the glass back down but kept my eyes glues to the liquid in my drink. "Fact is, He's not like anybody I've ever known." She started again. The off-hand compliment made me look up at her quickly. She looked down at her own hands. She seemed to be trying to piece together the words to use. She looked as if she wanted to say something. "All my friends are fighters..." My thoughts jumped Natasha, Clint, and Thor who were her friends, the people she was closest to. She looked at me with such a soft gentle look. "And here comes this guy, spends his life avoiding the fight because he knows he'll win." She was keeping her voice low so that she wouldn't draw the attention of the others. "He's also a huge dork," She made a face by scrunching her nose as if something smelled bad. She brought her glass to her lips and took a decent swig. "Chicks dig that," She let out a little. "what do you think?" Her tone became serious again. "Should I fight this or... run with it?" She tilted her head to the side in the cutest way possible.

"R-R-Run with it, right?" My mouth fired off whatever came to my mind. "Or did he... was he... What did he do that was so wrong to you?" I stumbled over my words as I tried to play it cool again. The small complements she had been dropping had my mind buzzing. I could see that she was trying to hide her smile behind her glass.

"Not a damn thing," She stood straight and moved away from the bar. She could no longer hide that beautiful teasing smile. She leaned in towards me. "But... Never say never." She gave a small wink and headed out from behind the bar. I followed her as she headed for the stairs. She gave a kind smile to Steve as they passed each other. He made his way over to where I was at the bar.

"That's Nice..." Steve struck up a conversation with me. I jumped a bit not expecting him to speak to me. I left the drink Aero had made abandoned on the bar.

"What is?" I stumbled a bit. He gave me a knowing look and nodded towards Aero.

"You and Aero," He said with a confident smirk. My brain went into panic mode. I had no idea that he might've seen us talking the way were, not that there was anything wrong with it.

"No, We haven't... that wasn't..." I had no idea what was the correct path to defend myself. I wasn't even sure why I felt the need to defend myself in the first place. Steve was like the dad of our team. He was always so composed and stoic. I stood from my spot at the bar creating space between me and the place the flirtatious moment had occurred.

"Its okay," He held his hand out to stop me. I paused. "No one is breaking any bylaws." He stated in a half-joking way. He let his hand settle down. "It's just that she's not the most open person in the world." Steve wasn't necessarily very close to Aero, but it was clear that Aero wasn't always very welcoming to new people. "But with you, she seems very relaxed." He said in a kind tone.

"No... Ro, She just..." I tried to deny. "She likes to flirt." I tried to convince myself that she was just being typically flirty. I looked down a bit. Steve reached over the bar and retrieved a beer.

"I've seen her flirt, up close." He gave a small chuckle. He opened his beer and tossed the top back onto the bar. He took a few steps closer to me. "this ain't that," I let out a snort of disbelief. He didn't know Aero as well as he was claiming to. "Look," He chuckled to himself. "As maybe the world's leading authority on waiting too long, don't." He gave a small smile. "You both deserve a win," He gave a sad smile to me. I looked down messing with my hands. what he said ran through my mind.

"Wait, What do you mean 'Up Close'?" I called after him. He chuckled and gave me a nonchalant wave over his shoulder.