The Lodge was not crowded this early in the season. The few folks who were staying had had their evening meal, and then they seemed to fade into thin air. As I waved Warthog off, I remember the car park had seemed empty.

"Sorry to be antisocial Sven, but I have some friends who live locally and I want to see them. Their car's busted, so just this once you lose!" And he had grinned as he gunned the engine and sped off.

"Don't wait up!" had been one of the last comments before the little sports car had sped off into the dusk. I was on my first visit to the US and had relished the thought of meeting and chatting to other people, even if they were tourists; but now, in the quiet of the dimly lit bar, I was on my own. No matter. There was a diary of the day's events at Yosemite to write up, a few postcards to write to friends, and the small matter of another beer. Now that was an idea: another beer.

So I stretched, got up, and ambled over to the bar to find that a young woman had replaced the rather quiet youth. She got up and sort of unfolded. I admit to being a little startled as she stood up. The callow youth had been replaced by a tall blonde, about the same height as myself. A neat white blouse hid whatever charms she may have had, but the rather unexpectedly short skirt did not, could not, hide an extremely shapely pair of long, lithe legs. They were a knockout. I chuckled inwardly as the old joke flashed across my mind: they went right to the top, or bottom, depending on your point of view.

"Can I help you?" The slight twang of California brought me back to earth.

"Ah, yes, at least I hope so; I'd like another beer, please."

"Certainly." The girl turned and bent over to pick up a Coors from the cool cupboard, and I was treated to the sight of an even nicer pair of ass cheeks. Mesmerised, like a rabbit before a snake, I almost dribbled at the sight, and I was totally caught out when the woman before me turned round with my beer. I felt myself blush as she grinned at my discomfort.

"Like what ya see?" she laughed.

"Ah, no, I mean yes, jeez sorry, that was rude of me!" I spluttered. As I walked back to the seat down towards the log fire, to the echo of her genial laugh, I mentally kicked myself. How could I be that gauche? Hell, I was old enough to know to be a little more tactful when trying to be nice to someone. With a bit of a start, I realised that I wouldn't mind an evening of her company, whether it led anywhere or not. I giggled a bit to myself as I thought of the Warthog walking in on that.

For all his stories, the Warthog is quiet and sensitive, and would probably be as embarrassed as hell. I went back to my reveries, staring at the fire and thinking about the travels so far. After a week on the road, some of the women I was looking at were becoming far too interesting. Such a pity there was so little opportunity to follow up anything. I chuckled inwardly again thinking of the view of the barmaid's ass as she had bent over. "I wonder if she's a natural blonde," I thought.

I was interrupted by the lady herself. She had padded quietly up behind me, beside the table. "Your glass is empty; can I buy you one and come and chat? It's not often this quiet and I don't usually get the chance to talk to visitors from the other side of the pond."

I found myself laughing. "Yes of course, I'm feeling a little lonely, and I'd love to talk - that is, if you feel like talking to an Irishman who was rude enough to stare at your ass like that."

It was the woman's turn to laugh gently. "My fault; it was a bit obvious, but I couldn't resist the temptation to flash you a little! I'm Robyn, by the way."

I introduced myself and wondered if the evening wasn't taking a turn for the better already.

She returned with the two beers and I offered to pay. "Nope; this one's on me," said Robyn, "as long as I can join you." She sat opposite me, with as much decorum as the skirt would allow.

"God!" I thought, "it's barely legal."

The unavoidable view confirmed what I had only seen the merest flash of earlier: her panties were black, matching her skirt. The contrast with her white blouse and blonde hair was very pretty. In the end I relaxed and sat back to take in the lady across from me. She was tall, quite slim, skinny almost, but very pleasantly attractive.

We chatted and became more relaxed with each other's company. I told her of my home area in the UK and we talked of the places I had visited so far. Robyn told me she had come up to the resort in the previous fall and had stayed through the winter with the ski crowd, and was now looking forward to early summer and the increase in business it would bring.

"But Robyn, why so far out in the boondocks? Why leave that beautiful part of the coast close to Half Moon Bay? Surely there's more there than here, high in the Sierra Nevadas."

Robyn stiffened and was quiet for a moment, staring into the flickering flames of the log fire.

I apologised. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to pry..."

Robyn held up her hand and said, "No, don't worry. Just a little of the old boyfriend trouble. He wanted to settle down; I didn't. Pretty basic, really."

I chuckled gently, "Hey, that's unusual, isn't it? Normally you ladies want to settle down and we men don't!"

Robyn relaxed again, then laughed a little. "Well, I suppose so. But I felt there was more to life than getting married at 22, especially as he wanted to have kids straight away. I want to enjoy myself, meet people, maybe have the odd fling, not settle into a rut at my age."

She giggled a bit as I chuckled again. "I'll never understand you girls as long as I live." Then after a moment's pause I said, "Would you like another beer?" As Robyn got up to get them I stood up, stretched a little, and then put another log on the fire before making for the restrooms.

When I came back out Robyn had turned the bar lights almost off with a dimmer switch and was sitting on the bench next to where I had been sitting. Now it was rather romantically dark, with only the firelight to illuminate the corner. Glancing as I sat down beside her I realised her blouse was a little more open than before, or maybe it was just a trick of the shadows and my imagination. "Whoa, there," I thought, "don't go jumping to conclusions."

Before I could properly decide, Robyn said to me, "I hope you don't mind the gloom. Frank, the owner, just phoned down to say that I could close up shop a little early tonight. He's asked me to lock the bar up as he doesn't expect anyone else in."

As I sat down, I looked at my watch in the firelight and found that it was past eleven pm. Robyn got up and squeezed past, a little unsteadily, between my knees and the table. Automatically I reached out to steady her as she went. She giggled a little as I put one hand on her hip, the other to her waist. She turned round a little and leaned back down close to me, just enough to catch a glimpse of her naked breasts as she did so, then I was distracted as she gently kissed me on the tip of my nose.

"At least let me lock the door first," she said softly.

Now it was my turn to be a little startled. It's nice to be seduced, and, unexpected as it was, I began to think that maybe that was what was happening. My heart began to beat a little faster as I watched the curve of her legs when she crossed quickly to the main entrance and I heard her snap the door catch. Then she went behind the bar and the last of the lights were dimmed totally, leaving only the flickering of the firelight.

"Don't worry," she called out softly, "We're not overlooked." As she walked back to me, she gestured at the windows. I could just make out her arm wave at the open curtains as she spoke.

As she got near in the semi-darkness, she put something down on the seat opposite before returning with the intention of sitting beside me. As she tried to squeeze past me, I put my hands gently on her hips and pulled her down so that she was sitting on my lap.

I was rewarded by a giggle and a provocative wiggle of her hips as she snuggled her back against me. My hands moved round her waist and I held her gently as she leaned her head back alongside mine on the leather sofa. I turned my head gently and kissed her forehead as she turned towards me a little.

Robyn sighed contentedly. "You Irishmen are so nice," she said quietly. "The last animal I went out with would have had my drawers over the lamp shade by now. In fact, he'd probably be on his first post-orgasmic damned cigarette!"

The thought conjured up was so ridiculous that we both laughed. I shifted myself slightly and ran my hand down her back as I kissed her properly this time. She opened her lips and I ran my tongue gently along them. Robyn shivered gently under my touch. I was right; she was not wearing a bra. I moved my hand round to her front and cupped one of her breasts gently through her blouse. I could feel her nipple stiffen under my palm. Robyn broke her embrace and sat back a little so I could undo her blouse buttons. As they were revealed, her breasts shone gently in the soft glow of the flickering flames.

I reached inside her blouse and cupped one breast gently as I leaned forward and kissed the nipple on the other. Robyn's fingers twirled in the back of my hair as she leaned her head back and moaned softly in her throat at her pleasure. Again I ran my hand round under her blouse and used the edge of my fingernail to tease her back, from the nape of her neck to the base of her spine. My mouthful of breast wobbled in a wonderful way as she shivered again at my touch.

She disentangled herself from me and stood up, slipping off her blouse and then unfastening the snap of the waistband of her jeans. She slipped them down and stepped out of them. "Now do you like what you see?"

As she was wearing only a pair panties in the firelight, I could just see her svelte figure in all its beauty. Robyn was slim, but in nice proportion; she had a beautiful shape. Facing me, she landed back in my lap, straddling me, and she quickly undid the buttons of my shirt. Slipping it off my shoulders, she said, "Fair's fair," as she started on the belt of my jeans. Then, as she touched the buttons to undo them, she encountered the bulge of my erection. "U-huh, guess you do like," she grinned.