“You’re not going to stop talking, are you?”

The man shook his head. “No, ma’am. Not unless you want me to.”

“Judging by your accent, you ain’t from around here. Where you from, stranger?”

He blinked in confusion. “What accent?”

“Exactly.”

“Washington, D.C.”

“What are you, a politician or something?”

He put his hands up in defense. “Hey, don’t cuss me like that. I can’t stand politicians.”

“Where you heading?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t understand the question.”

Anna met his gaze and held it for the first time. She found his hazel eyes to be soft, yet seemingly filled with the promise of excitement and adventure. “People don’t just come to Cowen. They’re just passing through, and it just so happens that this place, in the middle of nowhere, makes for a good pit stop.”

He sipped his water through a straw and smiled at her.

Anna cocked her head at him. “What?”

“I like your accent. Actually, my best friend’s father passed away and I’m here to pay my respects. After that, I suppose I’ll be going back home. Aren’t you an inquisitive one.”

“You decide what you’re having?” the owner of the diner asked the man.

“Just a beer. Whatever lager you have will do.”

The bartender reached into the glass fridge behind the bar, popped the top, then walked back to hand him the drink. “That’ll be three-fifty.”

The man left a five. “Keep the change.” His eyes stayed fixated on Anna’s as he took a long, slow drink from his cold bottle of beer. “And I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t here to also partake in some fly fishing.”

Anna took a drink of her beer and regarded him with curious eyes. “Do you lie often?”

“Only when I must,” he replied with a coy grin, his voice a lovely baritone.

Anna tried not to stare at the shape of his body, but his tight-fitting, white t-shirt made it hard not to. A man in his late thirties, physically fit, all alone at a bar in the middle of the day, in the middle of nowhere, with no wedding ring on his finger. Not even the tan line that most married men have around their finger when they’re away from the house at night and looking for pleasure.

“What’s your name?”

“Anna.”

He reached across the table to shake her hand. “Tucker. Pleasure to meet you, Anna.”

She shook his hand and got lost in the touch for a moment. “Likewise.”

Another drink from the bottle, both of them at the same time. “You live around these parts?”

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“Mmm, hmm. Born and raised.”

“You fish?”

“Only when I must,” she replied with a coy grin of her own.

He raised his bottle to hers. “Touche.” Another drink followed by another smile and an awkward pause. “I like you.” He shakes his head, slightly embarrassed. “I can’t believe I just said that out loud.”

Anna laughed. “Does that whole pickup line really work on girls in the big city?”

“Sometimes.”

“It’s straightforward, I’ll give you that.” Truth be told, she liked him too. There was something about him that she was immediately attracted to. The way he spoke and carried himself, the confidence in his voice. The way he boyishly rubbed the back of his head, pretending like he was embarrassed when he really wasn’t.

It was all an act, but Anna didn’t care.

She liked to play pretend herself.

“Is the pickup line working?” he asked.

“Maybe.” She couldn’t hide her smile.

He finished his beer and she finished hers.

“You wanna get out of here?” she asked.

He stood from the table. “Yes. Yes I do.”

*

On the bank of the river, the evening sun saw it all.

Two bodies, in the middle of mother nature, intertwined in beautiful harmony. Like a river, their passion flowed between one another until it climaxed like a wave crashing on a shore. Both stared into each other’s eyes in awe of the moment they just shared; the hour they just spent together, locked with one another. Sweat-soaked and breathing deeply, they laid on the muddy bank staring up at the blue sky and the green leaves on the trees overhead.

“My god, that’s the best sex I’ve ever had,” he exalted.

She hummed in agreement but didn’t want to express the same feeling with words—it would feel disrespectful to Oroville.

Tucker shook his head incredulously. “Where have you been all my life?”

Anna raised herself from the ground. “Come on, city boy.” She helped him stand then jumped into the creek to cool herself off. Thinking he would be right behind her, she turned around and found him just standing on the bank, swollen and naked as a jaybird. “Afraid it’s going to shrink?”

He laughed, shook his head and dove into the water. When he emerged, she splashed him in the face. He returned an attack of his own and they battled for the next minute or so until their bodies found their way to each other once again. Standing chest deep, they passionately kissed and held each other close as the cold water flowed around them.

Anna pulled away and caught her breath. “I should be going.”

“When will I see you again?”

“Tomorrow. That is, if you’re still in town.”

“Same place? Give me your number and I’ll call you.”

She placed a sympathetic hand to his cheek. “I don’t have a phone. Meet me here tomorrow, same time.”

“I’ll be here early, waiting,” he said as a promise.

She left him standing in the river, strutted her naked body out of the water and onto the bank, bent over to collect her clothes, then walked to her truck that was parked nearby.

She didn’t even wave goodbye as she pulled away.

Driving back home, her heart was beating a million miles an hour. It was the first time she’d ever slept with another man since she’d been with Oroville. What came over her? The heat of the moment?

No. This was a yearning that had been a long time coming. A desire for adventure that had been simmering under the surface like a bed of hot coals, ready to set ablaze everything around it. All it needed was some oxygen.

Tucker was the air to her fire.

But would he be enough to quench her desire for the unknown? She didn’t know. She didn’t want to know because she was afraid of what the answer might be. What if there was no satiating her hunger for more? What if her fire grew so much that it would threaten to burn everything that she knew to the ground?

To Anna, the fear was part of the excitement. The mystery of it all. The thrill of something new.

She decided to see Tucker tomorrow; to ask more questions and to find new revelations about him.

And for good measure, she’d be sure to bring some mountain magic with her.