Sailing Free at Loch Tunnagan: Book one (Loch Tunnagan Series 1), page 1
Sailing Free at Loch Tunnagan
Hazel Bray
Green Flame Books
Copyright © 2025 Hazel Bray
All rights reserved
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher, except as permitted by UK copyright law. For permission requests, contact details can be found at www.hazelbrayauthor.co.uk
ISBN-978-1-9998707-6-8
Cover design by: John Bray
First edition 2025
For my family.
"After every storm there is a rainbow. If you have eyes you will find it. If you have wisdom, you will create it. If you have love for yourself and others, you won't need it."
Shannon L. Alder
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Epigraph
Acknowledgements
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Epilogue
Fun Trivia
About The Author
Acknowledgements
For John, the man who has filled my life with the over the top, fairy tale type of love that I read about in all my romance books. Twenty years on and I still feel my heart rate escalating as I wait in anticipation for you to walk through the front door each evening. I hope that in twenty years Jess and Cal would feel even a fraction of the love that I feel for you.
Oh, and it's also really handy that you have written lots of your own books. Thanks for all the help you gave me with this one!
To our wonderful boys, you have no idea how much your existence has changed my life. You are both truly incredible human beings. Logan, thank you for using your graphic design skills to help with the front cover and Alex thank you for continually showing an interest in my writing. It really spurred me on!
I must also thank my wonderful sister in law Christine, my sister Lorna and my mum, all of whom kindly agreed to be my beta readers. Christine, thank you for introducing me to the romance genre. I always love the books you slip into my birthday and Christmas gifts! Lorna, thank you for jumping on board with all of my fantastical projects and always being so supportive and mum, thank you for instilling a love of literature in me from such a young age. All the bedtime stories you read to us have set me up for a lifetime of finding pleasure in books.
And to Jean, I didn't think it was fair to ask you to edit a book whilst juggling two little ones - especially as you would probably have said yes. But thank you for pushing me to read all those years ago. Despite being my younger sister you were always faster than me.
Also, to dad- there are lots of sheep in the next book so I'm going to need some advice from a trusted sheep farmer!
Keep an eye out for the next book in the Loch Tunnagan Series!
www.hazelbrayauthor.co.uk
Prologue
September
Her chin strained up to rest on top of the massive box she was carrying, causing her head to tilt at an awkward angle.
“Wait, you’re in the one opposite!” Paul exclaimed, a fraction of a second too late.
“Home sweet home…oh!” The words got lost somewhere as Jess frantically tried to grasp for the door handle.
The resident of the room lifted his head and Jess caught the flash of shock hit his eyes before she eventually found the handle and quickly closed the door.
She winced as she called through to him, “Oops wrong room, sorry!”
Shutting her eyes she attempted to block out the tidal wave of embarrassment washing over her but it was fruitless. The image of the guy was imprinted on her retinas forever. There he stood. Bare naked and wet, fresh from the shower.
“Urgh Paul, that was so embarrassing. I want to make a good impression. I’m going to be living with these people for the next year.”
“Awkward!” Paul chimed. Then added with a glint in his eyes, “You lucked out with your neighbour though. He was hot!”
Paul opened the door across the hall, “I believe this is home sweet home,” he said with a grin.
They had just heaved the boxes onto the bed when the door burst open.
“Oh my god Jess,” mouthed her mum. “I thought you said it was the door on the left. We just walked in on some poor guy in his boxer shorts.”
“I got mixed up,” whined Jess.
“Just be thankful he had time to get his boxers on,” remarked Paul.
Her Dad placed the last box down on the mattress, “Shall we go out for something to eat before you start unpacking?”
“Yeah, I'm starving,” replied Jess.
Paul checked his watch, he looked at Jess apologetically, “I can’t. I’ve got to get back.”
“I’m going to miss you,” gulped Jess.
“No, you’re not. Remember our agreement. I’ll be living student life vicariously through you. I’m going to be here all the time for the parties and the clubs. I just don’t fancy the studying bit.”
Jess laughed, “Okay, it's a deal.”
Paul squeezed her into a hug before heading for the door. She felt sadness tug at her as she watched her friend go.
Jess lay in her bed that evening listening to chatter and laughter emanating from the communal kitchen.
“I’ll go through in a minute,” she thought.
That statement had been repeated in her mind for the last 60 minutes and as time went on the laughter got louder and the room sounded progressively rowdier making the impending walk through more daunting. Her nerves eventually got the better of her and she gave up pretending she was going to be sociable and went to sleep.
The next morning the need for caffeine trumped social anxiety. She wandered through to the kitchen clutching a jar of instant coffee. Her chest relaxed a little and she breathed a sigh of relief when she discovered that only one of her roommates was there.
The girl looked up from her cereal as Jess walked in, “Hey, I’m Steph.”
“Hi, I’m Jess.” She made her way to the kettle.
“You didn’t come through last night?” Steph questioned.
“No, I was kind of tired,” lied Jess.
She fumbled with the flick switch on the kettle. Nothing happened.
“You need to push it down hard. It’s a bit dodgy,” instructed Steph. “It took us ages to figure it out last night.”
Jess smiled over, “Thanks.”
“How did you get on moving everything in?” asked Steph.
“Good,” replied Jess and then because she was nervous and desperate to make a friend, “well, we had a bit of an incident.”
“Oh?” replied Steph curiously as she scooped the last of her cereal onto her spoon.
Jess relayed the story of walking in on the naked guy.
“OMG that’s hilarious,” laughed Steph.
Jess screwed the lid of her travel cup on, “I’d better go. I’ve got a business lecture.”
“I’m going to that one too!” exclaimed Steph. “Give me a minute and I’ll walk over with you.”
They settled themselves into the seats of the crowded lecture theatre. A buzz of conversation hummed through the large hall as students continued to file in.
“Oh god, it’s the naked guy,” Jess muttered to Steph out of the corner of her mouth.
She watched as ‘naked guy’ climbed the steps towards them. A pair of sunglasses were sitting on top of his head causing his blonde hair to spike out at different angles.
He scanned the area looking for a free seat and then zoned in on the only one in the area. Right next to Jess.
“Do you mind if I sit here?” he asked.
Jess moved her notepad over and indicated for him to sit down. The seats were narrow and she was acutely aware of the light pressure against her shoulder where his arm was gently pressed against hers.
“That’s the naked guy!” exclaimed Steph. Jess winced as Steph’s extremely loud whisper had clearly made it to the ears of everyone in the surrounding area, including the guy sitting right next to her.
Suddenly recognition dawned on his face and a blush crept over his cheeks.
Steph whispered, “That’s Ryan. He’s cool. We chatted for ages last night.”
She leaned over Jess, “Hi Ryan.”
Ryan tilted his head in a nod but before he could speak the lecturer tapped the mike to indicate the lecture was about to start and the room fell silent.
A feeling of exhilaration shot through Jess as the lecture came to an end. Her notepad was already b
“I’m going to Marketing now,” said Steph. “What’ve you got?”
“Hospitality,” replied Jess as she shoved her notepad back in her bag.
“Same,” said Ryan.
The three of them merged into the throng of students making their way up the stairs and out into the hall. Steph waved back to them as she walked off in the opposite direction.
“Bye naked guy,” she laughed.
Ryan spread out his arms and legs and looked down at his body. The corner of his mouth twitched and he looked at Jess questioningly.
“Please tell me I’m not actually naked. Am I in one of those nightmares where you come to class naked and I just can’t see it?”
Jess let her gaze travel over him. She took in the unbuttoned chequered shirt that lay open, exposing the white T-Shirt he wore underneath. He was tall and slim and so his clothes hung loose over his frame.
“You’re not naked,” she smiled. “I am so sorry for bursting in on you in your room. I’m in the one opposite you. I got mixed up.”
“When your mum and dad opened the door, I thought you’d come back for a second look or to make fun of me or something,” he laughed.
“Definitely nothing to make fun of,” she replied and then felt colour flood her cheeks.
“Phew!” Ryan grinned over at her as they made their way along the corridor.
Jess stopped in her tracks. Amongst the hoard of posters that had been haphazardly pinned to the wall; only one stood out to her.
“You going to go?” asked Ryan.
“Yeah,” replied Jess as she snapped a photo of the details on her phone.
“Sounds good, I’ll join too.”
Jess smiled, glad that she would know someone when she went.
December
“You are coming out!” demanded Steph. She held up a finger with every point she made.
1. The whole floor is going out
2. It’s the last day of the semester
3. Paul is coming through and
4. You haven’t been out in months.
“You have no excuse.”
“Urg fine,” sighed Jess.
At the start of term, Jess had discovered quite quickly that clubbing wasn’t for her. She’d been out three or four times unlike Steph who had gone religiously each week to reap the benefits of ‘Triple shot Tuesday.’
“Go and get changed. I’m coming through in 10 minutes to do your makeup and hair,” ordered Steph.
Jess grudgingly trudged through to her room. She opened her wardrobe door, hoping that an appropriate outfit would appear if she stared at its contents long enough. The weather had been warmer when she had last gone to the club. She grabbed the only three dresses she owned and laid them across her bed. These were all light summer dresses, none were really appropriate.
Steph appeared in her doorway. She looked stunning in a sparkly silver jumpsuit. Her hair was curled and the large silver hoop earrings that hung from her ears finished the look off perfectly. She held up a dress.
“Do you want this? It’ll go great with a pair of tights and your black heels.”
“Thanks,” Jess was relieved that the decision had been made for her. She took the dress and quickly slipped it on.
“Wow, you look amazing!” exclaimed Paul as he burst into the room five minutes later.
Jess looked in the mirror. Steph’s black dress actually felt really good on. She twirled to show Paul the low cut back. The deep V was lined on either side with gold glittery sequins. The floaty material stopped mid-thigh and she liked the way her heels accentuated the length of her legs.
“Thanks,” she grinned, “so do you!”
Steph opened the door and yelled into the corridor. “Let’s go, everyone!”
The students started emerging from their rooms and the smell of different perfumes and aftershaves mingled in the air.
Ryan’s door opened at the exact moment that Jess opened hers.
His piercing blue eyes travelled appreciatively over her, sending a thrill of nerves and excitement up her spine. “You look good Jess.”
“Thanks,” she smiled.
“He was totally checking you out,” whispered Paul from behind her. “What’s going on with you two?”
Jess waited until Ryan was out of earshot.
“I don’t know," she sighed. “I really really like him Paul, but sometimes I wonder if he’s into Steph. He comes over here to hang out all the time but Steph is normally here too so it’s hard to tell.”
The club was dark and loud. Deep base notes from the DJ's set emanated from speakers a mere metre away from where Jess was standing. She could feel the vibrations pulsate through her body and her ears were now ringing.
“Drink this!” yelled Steph. Her hand was outstretched, holding a plastic cup with a luminous green drink in it.
Jess accepted the cup with some degree of difficulty. Her limbs weren’t obeying her like they usually did and she struggled to get her arm lined up with the cup in order to take it from Steph. The sticky liquid sloshed onto her hand and down her arm. She sucked at it in an attempt to clean it up.
Steph laughed, “You’re so wasted!”
Paul squeezed his way through the crowd to join them, “I love this song!” He grabbed Jess’ arm, “come dance with me!”
“I’m going to the toilets. I've spilled my drink all over me,” yelled Jess.
“I’ll come with you,” replied Paul.
“No, this is your favourite song. You can’t miss it. Dance with Steph. I’ll be back in a minute.”
Steph grabbed Paul's arm and pulled him further onto the dancefloor, “I’ll dance with you Paul!”
Jess fought her way towards the restroom through a mass of warm sweaty bodies that bustled against her as they danced. The strobe lights pulsating through the dark room warped her vision making it impossible not to bump into people as she passed them.
She felt warm, really warm. Her head was swimming and the room started to spin. Her legs gave way and she reached up to grab onto the nearest thing that would keep her in an upright position. A guy’s shoulders.
“Hey!” The tall guy grinned down at her, sweat dripped off his forehead and she felt it splash into her eye. He held onto her waist and pressed his body against her. As he moved to the rhythm of the music, he forced his hips against hers. Somewhere at the back of Jess’ mind a voice was telling her to move away but the rest of her brain and her body didn’t seem to be functioning properly. He moved his hand to her bum and she felt him squeeze and draw her even closer to him. He lowered his head; she could smell the alcohol on his breath. His mouth came down over hers. He tasted stale, like old cigarette smoke. She felt nauseous.
Suddenly she could feel the presence of someone else beside her.
“Jess?” The soft low voice whispered in her ear, “I’ve got you.”
In an instance Ryan had her; he gently took her wrist and wrapped her arm over the back of his neck and across his shoulder. His other arm was around her waist.
“What the fuck man!” yelled the guy.
Ryan said nothing. He didn’t even acknowledge the other guy's presence. He simply turned and walked through the crowd, supporting Jess and holding her close.
They passed Steph who was queuing at the bar again.
“I can’t believe how drunk she is,” laughed Steph.
She held her hand up, cupping the side of her face as if imparting a secret to Ryan.
“I’ve been giving her doubles all night,” she said in a conspiratorial tone.
“Urgh Steph!” moaned Jess as a wave of nausea hit her.
“What!” Steph replied defiantly, “You’re so boring. You need to loosen up and learn to enjoy being out more.”
“Jesus Steph,” Ryan’s jaw clenched. He shook his head and was about to say more but Steph was already gone.
“Where we goin?” Jess’ words came out slurred.
