Maybe Tony had expected her to strike him somehow and even though he'd braced himself for any kind of slap physically, he wasn't prepared for the emotional hit.
"That 'girl', as you so eloquently put it, knew that was all I wanted. It's what she wanted too, or don't you think women are capable of having a quick screw just like a man? I have her card at home. Maybe if I have the itch again, I'll make sure she scratches it. I'm sure she wouldn't mind." Those words were meant to deliberately sting because her reaction to them would give him the answer he was looking for. That the true reason behind her uproar over all of this because she wanted to be that woman.
"It's not all that matters to me, Pepper. Living it up used to be, but it's not anymore." And his shoulders lumped as though he looked physically defeated here. Tony drew closer to her again, dangerously close, his eyes searching her face for something...anything to give him a glimmer of hope he hadn't screwed them up beyond repair. Because Tony always pushed his limits with people, to test loyalties, to see if his friends were made of the steel to give them what it took to be his friend and stand by him no matter what.
"Remember when I said that I would have a girlfriend who new my real identity? That she'd be a wreck and always worry I was gonna die but she'd be so proud of the man I've become?" Tony was barely a hair's breadth from Pepper now, his head inclined more to see her, but he didn't care touch her right this second. "Be proud of the man I've become, Pepper. I know you're always going to be a wreck and worried about me every time you see me on the television being blown up or whatever, but...you already know my identity. So that only leaves one part of that that needs to be filled."
Was he actually saying what he thought he was? Did Tony Stark just ask Pepper Potts to be that girlfriend?