Waking up early, I'm pleased to find that we're still wrapped up together in an intimate entanglement. I want to linger in this warmth just a few more moments, replaying the tender moments we shared last night before falling asleep. Lauren's rhythmic breathing is a soothing backdrop, but my mind soon wanders down the list of things I'd like to accomplish - the reports to run, samples to collect, preparations for training my shiny new lab assistant.

Kenzi bursts through the door without a knock, pulling me from the thoughts rattling around in my brain.

"Evony is looking for Lauren. Have you-" She stops mid sentence, looking at Lauren snuggled up next to me, then back to me. "Oh. This is going to get interesting." I can tell she's trying her best to stifle some inappropriate comment and keep an ever-widening smile at bay.

"Kenz, can we not right now?" I beg. I'm not even bothering to move. I'm content where I'm at, and so not in the mood for more Evony drama-a-rama just yet.

"Say no more. I saw nothing, and I was never here." She backs out door, a little too slowly for my taste. "You're so lucky I don't have my camera with me," she points out, giving me an exaggerated wink and thumbs-up. I'm almost expecting a tongue waggle when, thankfully, Kenzi vanishes into the hallway and the door swings shut.

Then the door flies open again, and my feet hit the floor before I realize it's Kenzi, popping her head back in to get in one last word. "Careful, you two. The heat building up in this room could melt the polar ice caps and put us all out of a job!"

"Go photograph something frozen!" I yell at her.

She pulls the door shut as slowly as humanly possible, looking rather pleased with herself and her new secret. At Kenzi's parting wolf whistle, Lauren wakes up, pulls the covers up over her head, and burrows under like a bunny. She mumbles something from below the blankets.

"Did you sleep well?" I ask inanely.

A few moments later she emerges, her blonde hair tousled like a work of art. She doesn't even know how breathtaking she is, one of those rare creatures who doesn't need beauty sleep. I, on the other hand, look like I fought a courageous battle with a pillow monster and lost.

"I slept so good," she admits as she sits up groggily, rubbing her eyes.

The words slip out before I can stop them. "I hear from an early Kenzi birdie that Evony has already been looking for you this morning."

Lauren groans and pulls the covers snugly over her head again. I can't help but laugh. I think we'd both prefer to just stay here in our little arctic love nest, but sadly, my research grant has nothing to do with exploring human physiology.

"If I get out of this bed and distract Evony, I think you will owe me."

The top of Lauren's head pops out. One brown eye opens and looks at me with a mixture of hope and suspicion. "I would owe you. Big time," she observes.

"Long time," I correct her. "You would owe me a very. thorough. long. time." I nod vigorously.

"You would do that for me?" She bats her eyes at me, and I feel my insides turn to goo.

I frown and pretend to change my mind. "Well, now that you mention it, Evony can be pretty damn scary. She could do awful things to me."

Lauren's hands busy themselves under the covers.

"I can do things to you," she says innocently. Both of her hands are now exploring between my thighs. My eyes roll back in my head. I try really hard to remember the objective was to get us both out of the bed.

"Kenzi!" I blurt out trying to redirect her, startling even myself with the absurdity.

Lauren's talented fingers pause. It's killing me, but I need to postpone this mood or I'll never make it to the lab today. I don't want to risk losing my funding.

"She knows about us." I inform her.

"It's okay, since she was bound to find out sooner or later. It's a small facility." Lauren's fingers resume their leisurely explorations.

"Lauren, if I don't get to my lab and get caught up before Tamsin arrives, I'm worried Evony will call the NSF as soon as she gets a chance," I say quickly, finally blurting out what's really on my mind. I wait for her to complain, object…

Instead, she sits up in bed and starts untangling her hair efficiently. "You're right, of course. We have to do our jobs. We have to be above reproach. We can't give Evony any excuses, and you worked hard to get that grant. I don't know what I was thinking."

Now I want to complain and object a little, already missing the sweet warmth of her touch. I watch Lauren slide out of bed and into her pants. She turns briskly and surveys me. I give her a weak smile.

"You go collect your specimens," Lauren orders me, her eyes sparkling. "And don't kill Tamsin. Just promise you'll come play with me later, okay? 10pm. My room. Doctor's orders." I smile and salute her, then she turns and disappears out the door.

The rest of my morning goes by in a flurry. I barely have time for a coffee, but I'm catching up on preliminary satellite reports and reviewing the field sensor data that has piled up over the past couple of weeks. I'm pleased with the results I'm seeing so far. I've also caught up on my emails, including one from Dr. Barrett, a senior research scientist at NASA. What he says leaves my head spinning. He got my name from a former colleague and says he wants to collaborate with me on some Arctic sea data collection. It's for a global climate change study he's working on with scientists from all over the world. The amount of funding NASA is offering for this data is easily enough to keep my lab running for the next 5 years.

I sit, a little stunned.

My first thought is that I want to share the news with Lauren. My second thought is that I need to talk to Evony about this opportunity. I feel bad for even thinking it, but a part of me doesn't trust her. Surely she wouldn't try to undermine this opportunity somehow, or try to take credit for it? I close the email and decide I'd rather share the information with her in person, after I've had some more time to think.

For now I need to focus on getting the rest of the supply boxes put away, since it will be easier to train an assistant if I know where everything is. I make good progress, managing to keep so busy that I work right through lunch, and well into the afternoon before I realize I haven't stopped for a break.

I find some shiny new speakers in one of the boxes, and I'm anxious to test them out. Now the walls of my lab are shaking with the sounds of The Police. I'm unabashedly drumming on empty boxes like some kind of cracked-out Phil Collins when Lauren unexpectedly walks through the door looking more like a rock star than I ever will. She's holding back laughter, and for a second I blush, but then my eyes focus on the large sandwich wrapped in cellophane she's holding.

"For me?" I ask hopefully, as my stomach growls.

She quietly sets the sandwich down on the nearest table and I frown, sticking my bottom lip out. When she grabs me around the waist and pulls me in for a kiss, I quickly forget what I was pouting about. All I can think about is her hot mouth on mine, her wandering hands now tangled in my hair, pulling me closer. All of my senses light up. I'm just about ready to push her back onto the lab table and have my way with her when she suddenly pulls away and strides back out the door.

"Enjoy your sandwich," she yells casually over her shoulder.

I'm left standing there breathless. What just happened? I smile to myself: Lauren can shake the gravity around me without saying a word. I reluctantly turn my focus back to that sandwich, which now seems like a sad consolation prize compared to that kiss I was just served.

I'm only halfway through eating the turkey and swiss on sourdough, when boxes and supplies crash to the floor just behind me with a ferocious clatter. "Back for more already?" I say coyly, hastily wiping the crumbs off my mouth.

"Christ, it smells like science in here!"

My head whips around when I realize it's not Lauren.

"Tamsin. Welcome to Palmer Station," I say, although I can't really hide the disappointment in my voice. She walks over and grabs the other half of my sandwich, leaning back leisurely against the table. She's looking me up and down as she eats it, with all the manners of a wild beast.

"Got anything to drink around here?" she asks with her mouth full. Perhaps she did me a favor by eating the rest of my sandwich because now my stomach is turning sour.

"Charming." I resist the urge to roll my eyes, but my intended sarcasm is clear. How can one person be so annoying? She's only been here 30 seconds and I already have the urge to punch her.

I grab a face mask and put it on, remembering Lauren said Tamsin could still be contagious. I hand her a face mask, too, and take a couple of steps back. If we're going to be able to work together, it's clear that I'm going to need to set some immediate ground rules,and let her know I'm in charge.

I cross my arms over my chest and begin. "In my lab, you follow my rules. You can start by cleaning up those bread crumbs and picking up the boxes you just knocked over. Put that mask on, too. After that we're going out to collect some water samples."

Tamsin straightens herself up, puts the face mask on, and gets right to work on the tasks I set for her. I'm a little surprised, but also pleased that she's decided to cooperate. She seems strong for someone her size, so I ask her to carry the heavier equipment on our outing to the bay to collect samples. I need to save my energy for Dr. Lewis, after all.

The weather outside is dark and freezing, but the air still with barely a breeze. I'm relieved that the base is near the water's edge because even though I'm bundled up in my heavy arctic coat, the cold air stings. I look over at Tamsin who strangely appears to not be affected by the temperature. I make a mental note to assign more of these outdoor tasks to her in the future. Being a California girl, I do better where it's warm.

On the way back to the lab after collecting our samples, Tamsin is super chatty, and I'm largely tuning her out. She doesn't seem to notice. I'm daydreaming about the 10 o'clock date I have with the beautiful doctor. I have some payback planned for that kiss she surprised me with this afternoon.

Once we get back inside, I begin setting up the salinity tests I want to run overnight. Tamsin plops her ass up on the table right next to where I'm working, wholly oblivious that she nearly knocked the fresh vials onto the floor.

"I was worried that my first day here would be difficult since I don't have a science background, but I think this is going to work out, don't you? Aren't you glad you asked for my help?" she announces cheerfully.

"Uh, I think you're confused. I didn't ask for your help."

Tamsin raises her left eyebrow. "Hmm, that's odd, because Evony said you were struggling with your work."

"Well then, she seems to be more confused than you are," I retort, and I feel my temperature rising.

"Whoa, princess, I didn't mean to hit on such a touchy subject." The tone of her voice tells me she's amused more than anything else. I decide to ignore her attempt to get under my skin and turn the tables on her instead.

"I'm going to finish up some reports before I call it a day," I inform her.

Tamsin jumps down off the counter. "Sounds good. I could use some shut eye. What time do you need me here in the morning?"

"Not so fast. Now that we have those tanks filled with water from the bay and I've heated up two, we need tests." I point to three huge containers on the far wall. "Make sure you wear a mask, because I don't want you contaminating everything in my lab. Use the pH test strips every fifteen minutes in each tank - new strips in each tank, remember - and write down the times in the log book table before you tape the strip in the right column. Check the thermometer every time you do a pH strip to make sure it doesn't fluctuate more than half a degree. It shouldn't take you more than...oh, I don't know, five or six hours to get twenty readings?"

Tamsin's smile falters, then picks up. "Four readings each hour with three tanks means I'll have more than enough results in two hours, Dr. Dennis," she tells me smugly.

"Well, good to know you have a handle on third-grade mathematics," I reply sweetly. "But you're taking twenty readings for each tank. Sixty total.

I hand Tamsin a face mask and the log book. There are quicker ways to accomplish this task, but at the moment I'm not feeling very generous. "I'll check on your progress in the morning. If you've done a good job with this, then we can discuss a regular schedule for you."

I walk off to finish my reports, not waiting for her to respond.

Twenty minutes later, satisfied that my reports are caught up for today, I head back to my room to take a nap before I meet Lauren. If things go as well as I hope, I won't be getting much sleep tonight. I don't know how long I've been sleeping when my phone starts buzzing.

"Hello?" I mumble groggily.

"I need you down in your lab immediately." It's Evony. She sounds pissed.