“How can you even stand that, so much attention all focussed on you?” She sat back up, burrowing a little into his side. At least here, now, he was safe. But she was starting to wonder if maybe saying ‘no’ had been the mistake. Summer forced herself to breathe, again, and gave Tony a half-smile, with a teasing twinkle. “You know how to overwhelm a lady, Mr Stark.”
“I thrive off it. The energy of the crowd, the encouragement, it feeds me,” he laughed and placed his chin on top of her head. His arm tightened slightly around her, bringing her in close. “Yeah? Glad I could make an impression on you,” he grinned down at her. “Do you want anything to drink?” He glanced around, looking for the waiter.
“The impression was made long since.” The laughter helped, easing the panic out of her system. “I’d better just have water,” she admitted, looking up. “Anything else and I don’t know what I might do,” she teased. God, he was warm. Once again it was getting hard to remember why she’d said no.