Steve heard "Lonely ride in bucket five!" for the third time and finally turned his head to find the source of the boisterous voice. A young, redhaired woman was sitting in a Ferris wheel cart by herself, looking mortified as the operator of kept calling out for someone to take the seat next to her.

A pang of secondhand embarrassment went through Steve and before he realised what he was doing, his feet moved forward until he was standing in front of the Ferris wheel.

"I'll take the other seat," he said to the operator, handing him his ticket. The bulbous man took the paper from him with a dirty grin.

"Can't say I blame ya, pal. When there's a hot cookie like that in the cart. Try to keep things PG, huh?" He winked.

Steve narrowed his eyes, but said nothing. He stepped forward and smiled kindly at the young woman. "Hi, I hope you don't mind sitting next to a stranger."

Her green eyes were full of gratefulness. When she spoke, he heard an accented lilt in her voice that wasn't very strong. "No, I'm glad that you came over. He's been yelling for a full minutes and I was afraid he was never going to shut up."

"That's unfortunate," Steve replied as he sat next to her and pulled the protective bar up.

"And embarrassing. I felt like a prize to be won or some toy to be shown off."

"Yeah. It was unprofessional behavior, that's for sure. The operator from last year didn't say things like that when single women rode the Ferris wheel." As the ride started to move, Steve looked down at the ground. "They should hire someone less impertinent next time."

"Impertinent? Now that's a word you don't hear every day. Are you a English teacher?"

"Right on the dot, but I'm also a painter. I charge commissions through a gallery downtown. It's a place called Stark's. Have you heard of it?"

"I have! I've actually been thinking about getting my portrait done by one of the artists there."

"Really? Good choice. We have a lot of good artists. Although, I'm sure a portrait, no matter how well it's made, could do you justice. It'd be difficult to capture such beauty on a canvas."

She blushed a beet red and looked away, unsure how to respond. "Thank you..."

Steve watched her reaction carefully and suspected that he said something wrong. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be so direct. I tend to say what I think and a lot of people don't know how to take it."

"It's not that. I have heard a lot of lines from men about my hair, my clothes, my body, but you...the way you said that, I feel respected and safe. I know you weren't trying to get in my pants when you complimented me and I appreciate that. Thank you."

"You're welcome." Steve smiled before extending his hand out. "I'm Steve Rogers, by the way."

The redhead shook his hand with a firm grip. "Natalia Romanova."

"Oh, you're Russian?"

"Yes, born and raised, but I came to America with my cousins many months ago. They're the only family I have and they kept telling me in their letters how they wanted me to come and live with them. So I did."

Steve furrowed his brow. "Your cousins are from Russia as well?"

"Mhm. I didn't go with them because I was...afraid of leaving my country to come to a strange land. I never left Russia before, you see. It took several months of coaxing before I finally relented."

"Do you regret it?"

"Not at all. I'm enrolled in the New York University, although I haven't decided on a major just yet. I actually have a job teaching Russian to people who want to learn it and I get paid well, which is great." Natalia licked her lips as a rush of embarrassment ran over her. "I don't know why I told you all of that. I'm sure you couldn't care less what I do..."

"That's not true. I've never met anyone from Russia before and I don't mind listening to you. What else are we gonna do on this ride, anyway?"

Natalia blushed a little and shrugged. "Oh, I don't know." She glanced at the cart below them and felt a pang of jealousy. There was a happy young couple kissing quite passionately as the Ferris wheel went round. "Seems like they have a good idea."

Steve followed Natalia's line of sight and chuckled. "Yeah, Ferris wheels are perfect for a make out session."

"Is that from your own personal experience?"

"Who, me? Nah. I've never kissed a girl on a Ferris wheel or any other carnival ride for that matter."

"Why not?"

"The only girl I kiss will be my girlfriend and since I've never had one, there's been no point."

Natalia's eyes bugged out. She stared at Steve for a long time, unsure if he was joking with her or in earnest. "You've never had a girlfriend?"

"Nope."

How interesting. It was unbelievable that a man as handsome and charming as Steve didn't have a girlfriend. What the hell was wrong with the women in New York? Perhaps she was about to overstep her boundaries, but she was very curious. "What about a one night stand? Or a fling?"

"Why so curious? Are you offering?" Steve's eyes sparkled in mischief and Natalia felt her pulse quicken. Is that what he thought she was getting at? The idea of having a liaison with this man sounded very nice. Of course, she wasn't that type of girl, but it still was tempting.

"Are you kidding? We hardly know each other."

"That's usually the point of a one night stand."

"Well, I suppose-" A loud clanging noise startled Natalia and she stopped speaking mid sentence. The Ferris wheel came to a complete and sudden stop, causing the carts to rock back and forth. Natalia gasped when she realised how high up they were and she grabbed onto Steve's shirt. "Why did the operator stop us here? I thought Ferris wheels were supposed to be in continuous movement."

"They are." Steve looked down. He couldn't see clearly because of how high they were, but the operator seemed to be running around and shouting something to another person. "I think something's wrong with the controls."

"Oh, wonderful. I'm stuck at the top of the Ferris wheel and it stopped working. This will be a memorable evening."

"I think it will, too...once you focus on me and not the altitude." Steve's words surprised Natalia and she looked at him, lips parted.

"What do you propose?"

"Why don't we get to know each other? It'll help take your mind off our unfortunate predicament."

"Well...okay." She gave him a tiny smile.

"Do you think you could ease up with the grip on my arm first? It's a bit tight."

Natalia gasped and removed her hands from his arm. "Oh, my God! I hadn't realized that I was holding on to you like that. I'm sorry." She clasped her hands together in her lap and shook her head.

"It's alright. I'm not used to situations like this either, so I won't hold it against you." He grinned at her and she felt her heart pound against her chest. Maybe being stuck up here wouldn't be so bad after all.