Chapter Text
Steve heard the staccato click of a pair of expensive heels on the tile floor of the hallway and almost unconsciously straightened up in his seat.
He had been living in Stark Tower for a while now, and that noise meant only one thing. Pepper Potts.
She was very good about respecting the space of the four of them who lived in the Tower, he Clint, Natasha and Bruce, so the fact that she was here in their space probably meant a meeting, a message, or a mission.
He turned off the TV and stood to greet her, but it wasn’t Pepper.
No, it was not Pepper at all. Pepper was a beautiful woman, but she was all angles and sharp brightness. The woman reaching for something on a high shelf in the kitchen was curves and shadows and warm brown hair like silk. He couldn’t help himself from following the tailored curve of her blazer down her back, over her hips, to the slight flare at the hem of her skirt, down the seams of her stocking, to a pair of shoes that made his mouth go dry.
He had never really thought much about the shoes that women wore. And really, there was nothing particular about these shoes that should set them apart. He liked the line of them, a smoothly arcing curve under the arch, rounded toes, an architecturally graceful heel tapering to the floor, four inches clad in leather that shouldn’t be that special.
But her could see the way they made the woman’s calves stretch, the way the smooth line of her leg flowed through the shoe like a carefully chosen stroke of a pencil, the way her ass lifted under her skirt, the hint of red on the sole of the shoe as she rolled up on her toes, straining to reach… pop tarts?
“Darcy?” the word came out half choked.
She whirled around with a startled yelp, but then smiled in relief. “Steve! Scare a girl to death why don’t you!”
“Sorry…sorry…I just…ahhh,” Steve stammered helplessly. Darcy had taken over as Tony’s assistant about three months ago now. She came over to watch movies sometimes, met them out at the bar on the weekends. He liked her. He liked her a lot. She was funny and friendly and didn’t take any crap from Tony. He would have easily admitted that she was cute as hell up to about five minutes ago. She tended towards jeans and sneakers and sweaters that swamped her frame. She was comfortable and casual and Steve was fairly certain that one of these days soon he was going to work up the nerve to ask her out for a drink.
This Darcy though? She made him feel distinctly uncomfortable. And he didn’t mind it at all.
He realised that he was staring and she was looking at him with a raised eyebrow.
“You don’t usually…wear…those……..shoes,” he finished lamely.
“Oh! Right,” she said with a sheepish smile. “Needed to tag along to some meetings this morning. Had to suit up. Plus, it turns out Pepper and I wear the same size shoes,” she wiggled an ankle at him and he started reciting baseball stats in his head. “I look a bit silly, I know. Like I’m playing dress up as an adult.”
“No!” he exclaimed. She looked at him in surprise. “No, you don’t look silly at all.” He finished.
He could see her cheeks flush, but she looked away, picking at her skirt like she was embarrassed, like she didn’t believe him.
Well, Steve wasn’t about to let that stand.
“You look really, good actually,” he took a few steps towards her. “It’s kind of intimidating.”
She looked up at him, blinking. “Intimidating?”
He cleared his throat nervously. He could feel his palms starting to sweat. Oh god, he was going to do this, wasn’t he? “I think it’s the shoes mostly. You normally wear those red sneakers with the blue laces.”
“You noticed my sneakers?”
“I like ‘em,” he said with a shrug, “First pair of new shoes I ever bought was a pair of Chuck Taylors.”
“So, you are into shoes or something?” she was looking at him like he was about to grow a third eye.
“No!” he exclaimed, “No I just…” he let out a sigh, running his hand through his hair. “I am just terrible at this,” he muttered mostly to himself.
“Terrible at what Steve?” she asked, but she wasn’t looking at him like he was crazy anymore. Instead she kind of seemed…hopeful?
“Well, I’ve kinda been working up the nerve to ask you out,” he finally managed. “I was getting pretty close, but those shoes knocked me back a step.”
“What’s wrong with these shoes?” she asked, a smile tugging at her lips.
“Not a thing, it’s more the way that your legs…I mean,” Steve stuttered to a stop, “Not that I was looking at your…well, obviously I was but…”
“So the shoes are getting in the way of your nerve are they?” Darcy asked with her familiar confident smirk, and she toed off the shoes, her head barely reaching his shoulder in her stocking feet. “S’that better?”
Steve grinned, and suddenly she seemed comfortable again, not because she lost the shoes, but because he remembered that he knew her. “It’s a start,” he said slowly. “Not sure you’ll ever stop making me nervous, Miss Lewis, but I think I’m going to have to ask you out anyways.”
“Well, if it helps, I’m going to say yes,” she grinned and took a step towards him.
He may not know much about women, but he knew better than to pass up a signal like that, so he bent his head, brushed his hand against her face, and kissed her. It was a simple thing really, but her lips were soft and warm, and her hand fell against his waist and her hip was solid under his hand. He felt a bit breathless as he pulled away.
“Have dinner with me?” he finally managed to murmur.
“Yes,” she said immediately. “I’ll even see if I can borrow another pair of shoes from Pepper.”
Steve looked at her quizzically.
“Well those ones worked out pretty well for me,” she gestured at the heels on the floor behind her, “and they’re nothing compared to the rest of her collection.”