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Bucky's face twists into a scowl for a moment and his eyes go dark. "You know, I could probably teach him a lesson. I'd get my knuckles bloody for you, 'Tasha."

Knuckles and other things, besides, but he probably shouldn't push it since they'd established being friends and nothing more.

"How 'bout we go on a drive and you can tell me about it. I wasn't in the studio today so I have plenty of time just to ride around and listen if you want to tell me from top to bottom."

"All right."

She did, however, wait until they'd cruised out onto the PCH before relaying previous events, and trying to keep the profound anger out of her voice, and not quite succeeding. "He just...seems to believe that nothing happened, that I've had my little fit of temper, and I'll come toddling back home as if everything's just the way that it was."

In her lap, her hands clenched, and Natasha dialed back her irritation with effort. "I swear I'll have him arrested if he tries to get that close to me again," she swore. Then turned a sharp eye on her companion. "But you, sir, will not get any more involved, do you hear me? I exerted a lot of effort to get your reputation sterling again, and you're not going to throw away my hard work on that jackass."

Natasha even poked at his arm. "You hear me, James?"

"I got it, I got it. I'm just saying, I've hit people for less. I think he's a piece of shit and honestly, it would be a great pleasure to give him a little of what he gave you. But, because you worked so hard on me, I'll keep my fists to myself."

Bucky glances at her and has to bite back a compliment at how beautiful she looks. This is ridiculous. He's never getting over her.

"You're probably gonna say no if I ask you to stay in the main house for a couple days, aren't you? Cause you'd be safer up there, I think. I know it's safe everywhere but it'd just be one more layer of protection from that jackass."

"Well, since you asked nicely and agreed to stay out of it, I suppose I can for the weekend." She'd give him that small reward, at least. "But I'm staying in one of the guest rooms, all right?" Because temptation went both ways, dear God.

Natasha wasn't immune to the delicious image Bucky Barnes presented; reclined behind the wheel, left arm resting on the edge of the driver's door, dark hair tousled by the salty breeze, sunglasses thankfully obscuring those gorgeous blue eyes.

"I don't think he knows I'm all the way out here. But I've taken cabs to work this week because I don't want him getting a plate number or vehicle make. That's why I went to the crab shack, just now. I don't want him knowing where I am."

Yeah temptation was a hell of a drug. Natasha was dressed up for work and the blouse she’s wearing is a pale blue, just the way he likes, and her legs are bare and free from stockings. If they were together, he’d go park and run his hands up those smooth legs and push that skirt up, get his mouth on her and make her scream.

They’re not together.

When Natasha agrees to stay in one of his guest rooms, he’s glad for it. She’s better off up in the house until she can get a restraining order. He hadn’t known she’d been taking cabs all week, though, and he frowns slightly.

“I’ll pay for those cabs, thank you. If you don’t feel safe taking the BMW then at least let me foot the cabs for you.”

"James, you don't have to do that." He'd already spent too much on her as it was. Half of her wardrobe had been purchased with his credit card. "I can pay for my own transportation." Unable to help herself, she reached over and cupped his cheek, stroking his cheekbone with her thumb before pulling her hand away. "Don't worry about me, I can handle it."

She didn't want to be a further burden, she wanted to handle her own problems on her own, and she wanted to defend herself whenever it was necessary. Yes, it was sweet that he'd more than likely go to jail for her, or beat Alex to a pulp in her honor, but that wasn't what Natasha wanted. She just wanted the entire ordeal over with.

His cheek feels hot where she’s touched it and Bucky knows that he is never, ever getting over this woman while she’s in his life. When she says she doesn’t want him to pay for the cabs, he reticently agrees to it even though he wants to pay for everything and just take care of her.

“All right, all right. There’s a bunch of pull offs up here on the PCH if you want to park and just talk it out before we go home. This is my favorite cat to go cruise in, actually. She’s my best girl. I mean - don’t tell Becca I love this car more than her. She’ll take it the wrong way.”

They’re at a stoplight so he looks to Natasha to see what she wants to do.

Natasha chuckled at the light humor, but she had to admit that Bucky was right. This beautiful beast was entirely lovely; Natasha could definitely appreciate a classy vehicle. Truth be told, this particular car had long been one of her very favorites, but she'd never quite mustered up the courage to purchase one of her own.

"I won't, I promise. But sure, we can pull off for a bit and just...enjoy the afternoon." She didn't really want to go back right now, anyway. Alex's menacing shadow still lurked in the corner of her eye, and Natasha didn't want to sully Bucky's peaceful property with that paranoia.

"We can even take a walk on the beach, if you'd like. I can go barefooted, even if the sand's a little cold." It was winter, after all.

"Your toes will freeze," Bucky says, grinning at her. "Can't have that. Don't know how we'll warm 'em back up again. Besides, I haven't driven this car in a long time. It needs to stretch a little before I go home. You have to do that or they have issues with everything."

Bucky gives Natasha a look, openly appraising. She looks good and she always does but this little number does a lot for him.

"Socks when you get back," he says, deciding the beach walk would be nice. "Get your toes all warm again. Stick 'em in front of my fireplace."

"My toes will be just fine," Natasha smiled back, appreciating the silly humor. "I'll just make sure to stay out of the water, that's all." She wasn't so fragile as to freeze to death from a little walk on the cool sand in the afternoon sunshine. "But yeah, I'm taking tomorrow off, so curling up in front of the fireplace sounds like a great idea."

Then he mentioned the car, and her mouth melted in a soft little smile.

"I love this car," she mentioned, rubbing the dashboard reverently. "The Portafino has been one of my favorites forever, it seems like." Then she chuckled, shaking her head lightly. "But it's always been way out of my price range. And my job speaks to a more tailored mode of transportation, which is why I went for the Mercedes." A mild shrug.

"But there's something really appealing about all that power under the hood, too. Like it could fly, if it had the chance."

"You wanna drive 'er back home? Cause I got the keys and everything, imagine that. Shit, if I knew you liked this car, I would have let you take it forever ago. I barely drive it because it's a special occasions kind of car. It's my date car."

Annnnd he'd gone to pick her up in distress in it so he doesn't know what that says about him or the situation.

"I bought this baby so I could fly around curves on it. It's a pretty sexy car, all told, and my favorite color. C'mon, lets go for a walk and then when we're done you can drive back."

Natasha laughed, humor truly piqued. "Really? I'd love to." Just the thought of sliding into that leather driver's seat was enough to evaporate most of her sour mood, and it was a smiling redhead that pulled off her heels and swung bare legs out and onto the sand-dusted concrete.

"It is a sexy car," Natasha told Bucky, coming around the front of it to walk beside him. "Just the right color too, because it matches your eyes." Which were still shielded behind the glasses, but she didn't need to actually see them to know.

It was Thursday, and in the middle of the afternoon, so the public stretch of beach wasn't at all crowded, and there was plenty of room between the levy and the water to walk. Natasha kept her hands in her sleeves, idly wondering if any paparazzi might show up before they made it back to the car.

The paparazzi aren't out today, luckily, because there's just enough of a breeze to keep them off the beach and even though his car is distinctive, it's just not worth the effort. Bucky is pretty glad for that because he doesn't get to do a lot of private things when he's out in public.

"Matches my eyes? Ms. Romanoff, I believe you complimented me. I'm gonna have to write that in my diary for today," he teases, flashing her a broad grin. Maybe he shouldn't be flirting since they decided to just be friends but he just can't help himself where she's concerned. He looks at her and he's filled with aching want no matter how much he's tried to push that away.

"So he just showed up like nothing ever happened? Whatever possessed him to do that shit?"

"I did," was out before she could bite it back, wind tossing a few stray curls across her face. "Are you keeping score, Mr. Barnes?" Then Natasha abruptly shut up, realizing that falling into that easy, flirtatious camaraderie was dangerous, now.

She cleared her throat lightly, pulling her hair back out of her eyes, thankful for the different segue. They were moseying slowly along the shoreline, and Natasha dug her big toe into the sand before answering the question about Alex.

"Yeah. It's par for the course, really." She sighed, gazing down the beach. "He's always been like that. After a fight, he goes distant for a day or so, then comes back around all smiles and sweetness, like nothing happened at all. Like the argument didn't even exist. Like he did nothing wrong." Her brows lowered, lips set. "And I hate that."

Then she snorted. "--he even had the audacity to tell me that I'd made my point, and it was time for me to come back home."

"Except he hit you and there's no going back," Bucky says, voice rising a bit in anger. He isn't angry at Natasha, not at all, but he wants to dismember Alex and bury him on this beach so no one will ever hear from him again. Unfortunately, that's not possible.

"You gonna get that restraining order? Cause I think that's where you are at this point, if you want my advice."

And she might not. He's been nosy enough in the time that she's come to stay with him and there's Carol's voice in the back of his head warning him to stay the fuck away from Natasha.

"I know," Natasha replied, ducking her head. The memory of her black eye and split lip still hurt, whenever she thought about it. A sigh. "I told him if I saw him again, I'd have him arrested. And if that happens, then I definitely will get the restraining order. But he's not really a bad guy, James. He's not."

To keep him from quietly seething over her former boyfriend, Natasha unthinkingly took Bucky's left arm with her right, trying to share a modicum of calm.

"He just...does stupid things sometimes, without thinking about it. Stupid, bad things." She kept her eyes on the beach ahead. "I did love him, you know, a long time ago. I'm...not entirely sure when I stopped...I guess I just forgot how."

"Natasha. A man who hits a woman is pretty much the definition of a bad guy. That's like...crossing a line, okay? He assaulted you. That's not a decent man," Bucky argues. "Like, me? I can get angry as hell sometimes. I would never in a million years hit a woman. Maybe I'll rack up an assault charge on some asshole in a bar but if I got mad at you I'd yell maybe and just leave. I wouldn't ever hit you because I like to think of myself as a good guy."

Bucky rubs the bridge of his nose for a second and he's glad, real glad, that he's wearing sunglasses.

"You deserve better, you know? If you wanna be in a relationship with someone, he shouldn't hit you and he shouldn't pretend like everything's okay when it isn't. You deserve to be loved, Natasha, and love whoever it is right back. That guy doesn't deserve you and probably never did."

"I know, I know. I know that." Natasha gave Bucky's bicep a squeeze, rolling her eyes in mild exasperation. "I guess I'm just...trying to find the good in it. But you're right. And I know that; you don't have to keep reminding me."

She huffed a sigh, suddenly weary of the entire subject. "I'm not going back to him, James, trust me on that. But he's not one to let go of anything, either. I'll deal with it, when I have to. I'm hoping - against hope, really, but still - he'll just go away quietly, but if he doesn't, then I'll handle him."

Another brief squeeze. "But I don't want you getting any move involved in it, because it's not your fight, and it's not important enough to risk your reputation over. Again. I'm truly thankful for everything you've helped me with, but I'm not going to ask you to fight my battles for me, James." She did give him a soft smile.

"I am a big girl, you know."

"I would ruin myself a million little times for you, Natasha." It's a lyric in a song she hasn't heard yet but she doesn't have to know that. Not right now. Still, he sighs and tips his head back before saying anything else. She's right even if he wants to charge in and handle it for her.

"I mean that. But it's not gonna be that way because we're keeping my rep squeaky clean and clear of arrests. You gotta admit, at least I got arrested for a good cause."

There. Maybe he can make her laugh and clear the awkward away.

Although her expression darkened when once again, she heard that insane declaration of his feelings for her, but the levity was appreciated. It helped lighten her gaze, and curve the corners of her lips just a little.

"Yes. We are definitely keeping your reputation clear. Absolutely squeaky clean." She huffed another sigh, red curls tossed by the ocean breeze. "God, you have no idea how much tearing around I had to do on your behalf, Bucky Barnes, to make sure the press was happy with you again."

Then she smirked, quietly amused. "But you being so photogenic and vivacious helped quite a bit, too."

"They say I have good bone structure, whatever the fuck that means," Bucky says. "But yeah, apparently I take good pictures. Clint and Erik give me shit for it all the time and say I'm prettier than Carol but I take offense to that. Carol's gorgeous."

Bucky shrugs a bit. "But I guess it does help when you're doing the PR song and dance. You don't work for me anymore, do you?"

Bucky vaguely remembers Sam saying that but he's not absolutely certain on it. If they're not in a business relationship, it kind of makes a personal one more on the up and up.

No doubt about that; Carol Danvers was a tall, busty, platinum blonde with enough self-confidence to sink a battle cruiser. Just another woman that Bucky Barnes could have, which boggled Natasha even more than he didn't, and had been blindsided by her, of all obscure females in the world.

"No," she agreed. "Wilson signed off on the contract earlier this week. I'm officially off of your payroll as of this past Tuesday." Yet another weight off of her mind. "And I trust," she told him coolly, "that you won't need a PR lawyer for a good long, while."

This time, the squeeze was a poke.

"Right?"

"Sure as hell hope not. Hope that means you'll at least stick around, though. Kinda don't want you leaving if Alex is looming around doing this fucking idiocy. Who knows where he's gonna turn up next time. I don't get it but I guess I don't have to."

They're still arm in arm so Bucky squeezes her arm a little just to show that he cares. Maybe he shouldn't.

"But yeah, hoping I never need you in a work capacity ever again."

"Keep your nose clean and you won't," Natasha assured him, still willing to keep her arm in his as they walked along. "But I'll stay, for a while, at least. Until I can get my business back on its feet and procure a few more clients. It'd be stupid to pass up free-rent quarters, especially out here. And believe me, I'm grateful."

Time to talk about lighter things, and hopefully just enjoy each other's company.

"So Steve's coming by this weekend? Is there another backyard gathering in the works? It's been a while since the last one, hasn't it?"

"Weather permitting, another barbecue," Bucky says, laughing a little. "Got my Kiss the Cook apron and everything. Really hope we're gonna have our typical sunshine so I can show off the new duds. It'd be a shame if no one saw it because I can't really wear it in the house where only Anita would see it. Maybe you or Becca."

Bucky slides his arm around Natasha's waist and squeezes a little before sliding his arm back in hers.

"You gotta come, of course. You've been initiated into the family and it's a family tradition."

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