The Loch Effect: A Romantic Comedy by Genny Carrick

Author:Genny Carrick [Carrick, Genny]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-08-08T16:00:00+00:00

The exhilaration of a twenty-one-mile ride was swiftly followed up by a majestic crash into sheer exhaustion. Even Rupert felt the effects of all our activities—lulled by the muted lights in the dining room and the warm smell of roast beef, he dozed off in the middle of dinner. Bea smacked him on the shoulder, but that didn’t stop him from falling asleep a second time.

After dinner, the usual suspects retired to the lounge for a nightcap. Duncan and I collapsed onto a banquette, our shoulders propped against each other as we sank into the deep leather seat. Nursing our whiskies, we listened as Carlos and Harlow chattered away the last of the evening’s waning light.

“I can’t believe you’ve never seen Race to the Finish.” Carlos looked from Harlow to me, goggling at our blank reactions to the revelation he worked as a producer on the show. I guessed there was a junior somewhere in his title that he’d conveniently left out. He looked to Duncan out of desperation. “Surely you’ve seen it, it’s one of the most popular extreme sport reality shows you can stream.”

“I don’t watch reality shows,” Duncan said.

“I knew you had a flaw,” I whispered. He tilted his head closer to mine and bobbed his eyebrows, making my stomach swoop.

Carlos looked like we’d personally insulted him. “You people are a crime.” He took a long pull on his beer to shake off his shock. “We shot an episode a few weeks ago in New Zealand dedicated to bungee jumping and abseiling.”

I wasn’t familiar with abseiling, but I couldn’t be bothered to ask questions. I was much too comfortable leaning against Duncan to ask about extreme sports definitions.

“New Zealand is beautiful.” Harlow sounded a bit hesitant, as if her Aussie blood prevented her from heaping too much praise on her neighbor. “There’s a yoga retreat in the Southern Alps I want to do someday. I’ve done retreats in Bhutan, Bali, Goa. There’s nothing like practicing the timeless art of yoga in such gorgeous surroundings.”

I furrowed my brow, unable to find Bhutan, Bali, or Goa on a map. I was totally out of the loop when it came to travel destinations. The Olympic Peninsula, maybe. Anywhere else, not so much.

“We did an episode in Bali.” Carlos spoke more to Harlow now than Duncan and me. “Contestants rode jet bikes and went paragliding.”

“Paragliding.” Harlow said the word slowly as if savoring it.

Carlos nodded. “Take a running jump at a cliffside and just sail.”

“Sounds horrible,” I whispered to Duncan.

“Not for you?” His voice was a soft purr in my ear. My answering shudder had more to do with his face so close to mine in the soft light than any thoughts of extreme sports.

“No offense, Molly,” Carlos said, “but you don’t seem like the type to take a running jump at anything.”

He grinned like it was all in good fun, but I’d reached my max for shady comments on my personal life.

“No offense, Carlos, but why don’t you take a running jump?”

He chuckled softly and downed the last of his ale.

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