Antarctic Affair by Louise Rose-Innes Read Free Book Online

friend, “Why does she
bother you so much? It’s not like you to kick up such a fuss about a waif of a
girl and a couple of interviews.”
    “It isn’t just the interviews. A girl
like that has no right to be out here. She couldn’t be more ill-suited to this
kind of assignment.”
    “Mm…” Don looked sceptical. “Methinks
thou dost protest too much.”
    “She should stick to ski resorts and lunching
at the country club.”
    “Even so, that doesn’t explain why she’s
got you so worked up,” mused Don.
    “Forget it, you wouldn’t understand,”
Taj told him.
    Don studied his friend thoughtfully, but
didn’t reply.
    They discussed the itinerary for the
next nine days and then Taj announced he was going to bed. As an afterthought
he turned back to Don. “I hope this is not some hair-brained attempt at
matchmaking on your part,” he said sceptically. “I already told you I’m not
interested.”
    “Would I do that to you?” Don said
feigning a hurt expression.
    “You would too, you bastard,” Taj said
dryly. “I don’t know why I didn’t see it before.”
    Don smiled at his friend’s tone. “You’re
imagining things buddy. She’s engaged. Get over it.”
    Taj laughed, “You’re impossible. I don’t
know how Maria puts up with you.”
    “Neither do I,” said Don only half
seriously, “but I count my blessings every day.”
    “And so you should,” Taj told his friend
as he left the room.
    Taj knew
what Don was trying to do, but it wouldn’t work. His motive wasn’t to scare
Georgina off, but rather to throw them together in the hopes they would be
attracted to each other. He had to give his friend credit for trying. He very
nearly fell for it. But all was not lost, he still planned to make their first
excursion as difficult and as dangerous as possible. The well-heeled Miss
Georgina McKellar would not endure another minute in the frigid wilderness once
he was finished with her. Don’s plan with all his good intentions might be the
only hope he had of getting her off his back.

CHAPTER FOUR
    The first morning on board the Explorer dawned bright and chilly.
Georgina had slept with the heater on low all night, despite specific
instructions not to, because the one time she had turned it off she’d woken up
and hadn’t been able to feel a single one of her toes. She longed for her
electric blanket, or at the very least, decent central heating.
    Teeth chattering she was horrified to
find the shower didn’t believe in working overtime and because she had already
overslept there was now no more hot water. She debated skipping the shower but
then decided against it. Her hair was dirty and desperately needed a wash.
Yelping like a puppy she darted under the frigid jets and washed as fast as
humanly possible. She emerged bright pink and shivering compulsively, so she
dived under the covers again to warm up. It was incredible more people didn’t
suffer from hyperthermia on board polar vessels.
    When her circulation had returned to
normal she dressed quickly and with far less care than usual, her main priority
to stay warm. Ignoring the thermal vests she reached for a pastel pink lamb’s
wool jersey and dived into its luxurious softness, sighing in relief. Now that
was more like it.
    She hauled out her super powered
hairdryer and plugged it in. Scratching around in her mammoth case she found her
hair mousse and styling brush. She flicked the switch and screamed as the rear
end of the hairdryer hissed and fizzled and then with a loud, smoky pop, died.
Great, she fumed. No heating. No hot water and now no hair dryer. What else
could possibly go wrong?
    When she finally made it to the dining
room for breakfast about half an hour later, Georgina was not in a good mood. She sat down next to Amy, who had been about to
leave and in ecstasy, wrapped her frozen hands around a cup of steaming coffee.
Her pleasure was short lived, as no sooner had she taken a sip, Taj and Don
arrived looking relaxed and in