Pepper's eyebrow shot up and she snorted, smirking. Like she had to sleep with Tony to out-pace anyone at SI.
She might have teased him back, but then his hand was against her cheek again, and she was leaning into his touch like a kitten before she could even think about stopping. 'I trust you'. She knew it was true, but it was amazing the effect those three little words had on her, the rush of warmth that flooded through her and pooled at last in her belly. Her hand fluttered down to briefly settle over the RT Unit, staining the webbing between her fingers a luminous bright blue. "I trust you," she said quietly. "I wouldn't have offered if I didn't."
Quickly, she pulled her hand away, needing to keep her head in the game before she drown, either in the water or him. "I have just three... rules, though," she said. "If we're going to do this. Just to keep things from getting complicated." Which she didn't think either of them wanted. "First - we don't tell anyone about this." Pepper really didn't want the media or their co-workers finding out, it would just make a huge mess out of everything that she did not want to deal with. She also didn't want to try explaining to their friends what was going on.
"Second - no staying overnight." She didn't think he's actually argue with her on this one, but she explained. "We're grown ups, and workaholics; as soon as you want to be somewhere else, or I have work to do, just say so. No excuses, no awkwardness, no trying to figure out a polite way to get rid of me. I'll leave on my own, or you can do it without apologies.
"Third," And she looked away on this one. "I don't want you taking me out for dinner, or buying me gifts, or anything like that. This isn't..." she paused, then looked at him. "I'm not one of them."
Pepper forced aside any inclination to feel guilty for putting any restrictions on this, but she felt a strong need to protect herself. Because getting too comfortable, letting herself think it was more than it was - when it wasn't - would only get her hurt.