Page 69 of The Highland Game

But what kind of general-interest content can you create for a small Highland pub? Here’s another photo of someone holding a pint! Hardly riveting stuff . . .

As a test, I record a few videos—shots of food being served and locals laughing—but not anything worth posting.

The problem niggles at me all night, lingering through last orders and beyond, as I scrub tables and sweep floors. It beats thinking about Jamie anyway.

Freshly showered and tucked up under my duvet, I watch yet another research video on my laptop, jotting down ideas in a notebook balanced on my knees. Showcasing local suppliers? Highlighting quirky regulars? Sharing cocktail tutorials? By the time I finally switch everything off and set my notebook aside, my eyes are burning from staring at screens for so long. And I still don’t feel like I’ve cracked it.

As if on cue, my phone buzzes with a message in the Scottish Sirens group chat.

Iona

Anyone else staying up for tonight’s episode of Highland Legacy?

God, it’s already 1:57 a.m.! Just three minutes until the new episode drops in the UK to match its US broadcast time. (Because even though the show is filmed in Scotland with a cast full of British actors, its creators are, naturally, all about reeling in that huge American audience.) Normally I wait until morning to watch, but tonight? My brain is too wired with new ideas to even consider sleeping anytime soon.

Maisie

I am! Also, there’s something big I’ve been keeping from you and Cat—proper juicy gossip—but I’ll tell you tomorrow.

Iona

Don’t leave us hanging!

Maisie

Tomorrow. For now, let’s enjoy tonight’s episode.

Cat doesn’t respond—she’s probably fast asleep already. It’s got to be a first, her being the sensible one of the three.

The episode opens with calamity: waves crash against a besieged coastal village as a massive kraken coils its tentacles around rooftops and fishing boats. Callum, the roguishly handsome fire mage introduced this season, charges into action—a living inferno amidst the chaos—to rescue Isla, the enigmatic but powerful water mage. Their elemental magic collides spectacularly: blistering flames meeting rushing waters in a clash that sends steam billowing through the air. Even as they fight side by side against destruction, it’s impossible not to notice how tension crackles between them like another force of nature.

It’s an exciting start, but things really ramp up when halfway through the episode comes the scene, the one fans online have been speculating about for weeks now. We all knew it was only a matter of time before Callum and Isla surrendered to the desire they obviously feel for one another.

Under a pale moon in an ancient stone circle, they meet again, only this time it isn’t a common enemy that brings them together but raw need. Things start slowly, charged glances melting into tentative touches, until restraint shatters entirely. Clothes tumble away like fallen leaves on the breeze. The show delivers on its usual no-holds-barred nudity policy, and let’s just say both actors are easy on the eyes—with their clothes on and without.

The man playing Callum is objectively attractive, like the human embodiment of a Greek statue come to life. But, to me at least, he just doesn’t compare to Jamie. And so, instead of appreciating what’s right in front of me, my traitorous mind drifts back to yesterday. To Jamie’s hands sliding over me, his body pressing close, solid and scorching-hot against mine like he’d been made just for me . . .

Argh! Stop it, brain! Banish those thoughts immediately!

I force my attention back to the screen, and thankfully it doesn’t take long for Highland Legacy to pull me back under its spell. Because what’s more impressive than the actors’ physiques is the way their magic comes alive as their passion crescendoes. Callum’s ribbons of fire twist through Isla’s streams of water in an otherworldly display above them, sparks hissing and crackling while glowing golden symbols form on the mages’ flushed skin. Steam rises from them both, coiling into the night air as guttural moans echo off the towering stones surrounding them.

Thanks to Callum’s fire magic, it’s easily one of the hottest scenes Highland Legacy has ever aired—pun very much intended. In fact, it might even give the infamous body-painting scene a run for its money. But just as I’m about to crown it the steamiest moment in the show’s history, something unexpected steals my attention—and this time, it isn’t Jamie. No, it’s the stone circle. As the camera pans out in a wide arc, capturing the fiery and watery tendrils entwining above, I realise I know the place. Not just from TV but from real life. It’s barely a half hour’s drive from Bannock. Oh my God, did they really film this scene there?

I grab my phone and go onto social media. Unsurprisingly, viewers (mostly American at this hour) are already losing their minds over the scene. #HighlandLegacy is trending, and my feed is flooded with posts, many featuring blurry screenshots marked NSFW: Click to reveal.

Wow. How do actors do it? Strip down, bare it all—literally everything—and know that within seconds of broadcast their bodies will be screenshotted, GIFed, zoomed in on, and shared across every corner of the globe? Fame must come with an extraordinary level of fearlessness. Or maybe just really good lighting.

Before I can spiral into a full-blown analysis of celebrity courage, an idea flickers to life in my brain, a suggestion for marketing content that might actually work. Something people might just stop to watch. Something that could give Jamie’s beer garden a run for its money.

And just like Callum’s fire magic twisting around Isla’s streams of water, my thoughts start swirling together into something bold, something exciting—something I can’t wait to try out.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

JAMIE

The beer garden’s heaving again, every table packed with tourists and locals basking in the kind of sunshine that feels like a miracle this far north. We’ve been blessed with a streak of golden days, perfect in every way—and perfectly timed. Three days since the grand opening, and every single one has been bustling with life. The hum of chatter fills the air, glasses clink like a merry symphony, and shades, sunhats, and wide grins complete the scene. It’s everything I’d hoped for. Everything I should be proud of.

But I can’t savour it. Because Maisie’s on my mind—again.