Highland Whirl | Must Read LGBTQ+ Books

Belinda leaned in towards the phone. It was impossible not to notice her ample chest pillowing against the surface of the bar, not to mention the breath from her moist lipsticked lips misting the screen. “Hi, Eve.”

Roxanne held her glass momentarily motionless to her mouth at the heady sight. A moustache of foam gathered and tickled at her top lip.

“Hi!” Eve shouted, startling Roxanne from the enchantment of Belinda’s cleavage.

“I know you’re in Inverness and everything, mate.” Roxanne wiped at her mouth with the back of her hand. “But you don’t have to shout. Modern technology, you know.”

“Bugger off,” Eve said. “I’m not shouting because I’m far away. I’m shouting because I thought it was a busy, noisy bar.”

“I’ll leave you guys to it,” Belinda said with an amused smile. She paused to briefly lift Roxanne’s chin so that their eyes met. “Obviously, we’re not stopping. Come with us for a curry? And then maybe a nightcap at mine?”

There was nothing Roxanne wanted more than to forget her day with a nightcap. It always helped. Thank God for the urgent press of another’s body against hers, dissolving her stress and worries into nothing but hot sensation. Until the morning that was, when her lover would hope for more, whereas Roxanne’s only hope was simply to leave without attachment or regret. “I don’t know, Bel…I don’t want to, you know, mixed signals and everything.”

Belinda raised her palms in the air in compliant surrender. “I know, you don’t do relationships, you’ve made that clear many times. Nothing heavy tonight. I promise.” She brushed her lips against Roxanne’s ear and whispered, “Just casual. Just how you like it.”

Tricky. Fair play, Belinda knew exactly how she liked it.

Roxanne hesitated. “Okay. Meet you outside.” Roxanne watched Belinda curve and sway her return to her group. How she loved to watch her leave.

Eve loudly cleared her throat. “Er, hello, I’m still here. You do know that shagging her is giving her mixed signals, right?”

“That was a private conversation. And we both know Bel doesn’t exactly do serious herself.”

“That was on speaker. And we both know she’s saying what she thinks you want to hear.”

“Just a sec. I just need to…” Roxanne finished her pint and made for the street and the relief of fresh air. She leaned against the outside of the pub and took several deep breaths. All she could taste was the acrid tang of paint, not to mention the bitter after note of Eve’s uninvited observation. A change of subject was called for. “So, what’s up, bud?”

“What’s up? Please don’t tell me you’ve forgotten already?”

“No.” Shit. What was it?

Eve gave a heavy sigh. “My birthday.”

“Yes. Exactly. I knew that. Happy birthday.”

“It’s not for a fortnight yet.”

“That’s right, it is. That’s how ahead of it all I am.”

“Uh-huh. You’re still planning on coming up, then? For my party?”

“Coming up? Erm…absolutely.”

With a tone unmistakably rippled with hurt, Eve said, “You don’t have to come, you know. If you don’t want to.”

“Evie, come on, don’t be like that. I’m really looking forward to it.”

“It doesn’t exactly sound like it.”

“It slipped my mind just for a second.”

“What, just like all the other times when I’ve asked you to visit?”

Fair enough, Eve was right. How many times in the last three and a half years or so had she wriggled out of visiting Eve in Scotland? It was touching, in fact, that Eve continued to ask, given how often she’d given her the brush-off. Add to that, Eve was the one who’d faithfully done the travelling back and forth since her move. But the thought of visiting her best mate in her new home, and with her new love, and living her new life, well, it left Roxanne feeling like crap. And not just the crap that comes from being left behind and lonely, even, but the crap that comes from the scrutiny of comparison. She could sense people thinking—where was her new love and her new life?

The only thing that had changed or moved on for Roxanne it seemed was the paint job at The Brewer’s. And to be frank, that’s how she liked it. Did that make her a loser? No way. Had she ever cared about what other people thought of her, in any case? Nope. She had a life plan. Her life plan was to have no life plan. It was simple and perfect and resulted in her having no expectations, and therefore no disappointments. It was hard to disagree—it was perfect. Wasn’t it?

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Highland Whirl is the sequel to my debut novel Highland Fling ( but it can also be read as a standalone). Read all about my Highland Romance Series.