Melt Read Online Free PDF

she asked.
    “Exactly,” he said. “With an interesting mix of people. ‘Big Brother’ all the way.”
    She glanced about. “Where do you think the hidden cameras are?”
    “Actually, there are a couple,” he said.
    “Really?”
    He laughed at her expression. “You know there’s a live webcam on the base website, right? On the corner of that building over there.” He pointed to one of the outbuildings.
    “Got it.”
    “So what’s your bunkroom like?”
    “That’s subtle,” she mock drawled. “You’re wanting an invitation?”
    “Well, now that you mention it…” He winked.
    She shook her head slowly. She recognized the deliberate provocation, but she wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of snapping. “Not going to happen.”
    “I’ve already been briefed on where all the lockable bathrooms are. And saunas.”
    “Already?” They’d only been on the ice a couple of hours.
    “You mean you haven’t?”
    She shook her head mock-woefully.
    “Come on.” He grabbed her hand. “Follow me.”
    His grip was firm and his palm swallowed her fingers. He led her a few paces along the corridor, turning into a narrow doorway.
    “You’re taking me into a bathroom?” Okay, now this was dodgy.
    But he just laughed and opened the cupboard beneath the sink. “See this?”
    The blush burned through her skin. Staring at the large plastic container filled to the brim with square foil packets, she wished she had her balaclava and goggles to hide her heated reaction. “And your point?”
    “You know they ship almost twenty thousand of these to the base at the start of each summer?”
    “Do they?” she asked faintly. Why on earth would they need twenty thousand condoms ?
    “They leave them here for free where anyone can grab them and not have to buy them and be embarrassed. They don’t want any unexpected arrivals.” He winked again.
    Emma bit the inside of her cheek to stop her laughter. Seriously, the guy needed to control his outrageous mouth and lock up his arsenal of babe-magnet moves. Risqué comment closely followed by the wink, dimple, and slayer smile? If he weren’t so damn handsome, he’d never get away with it.
    “I guess people need something to entertain themselves during those long, long winter days,” she said, trying to play it cool.
    “Not to mention those endless summer nights.” He waggled his brows at her. “People like to have fun here, you know?” He led her back out to the lounge and kept up the tease. “But if you didn’t want to use your share of those little items, you could join the three-hundred club.”
    “What would I have to do to join that?” she asked warily.
    He laughed at her expression. “You need to go through three hundred degrees Fahrenheit. You do that by boiling up in the sauna for a while, then rolling naked outside in the ice on a particularly cold day, and then going back to the sauna.”
    “Naked rolling on the ice?” She shook her head. “I can’t see that happening.”
    “No?” He shrugged. “Pity.”
    “Are you a member?” she couldn’t resist asking.
    He just smiled. “Come on, I’m starving.”
    …
     
    Their first meal was a mouth-flaming chili served with rice and vegetables and followed by apple crumble. Hunter sat at one of the long tables a few chairs away from Emma, but he kept a vague eye on her as she quietly introduced herself to the others seated among them. Nice people—a mix of beakers and support staff and a few media types—he chatted away, sharing common tales of Antarctic life and reliving that horrific landing with laughter. Years of itinerant overseas projects, of meeting many new people and having to work with them in close, stressful quarters, had made him an expert in sharing enough and holding back what he didn’t have to give.
    Not long after dinner, Hunter rose when he saw Emma slipping toward the door.
    He caught up to her. “You’re not going to stay and socialize a little?”
    “I need to get