Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 99960 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 333(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99960 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 333(@300wpm)
Jared heard me. “Which is why I think it would be perfect for a holiday rental opportunity.”
I turned to him. “You mean houses? Build houses here?”
He shook his head. “Have you heard of glamping pods?”
“Yeah. I’ve stayed in a few.” Excitement thrummed through me as I realized what he was planning. “Jared, that’s a fantastic idea.” I shaded my eyes as I gazed up toward the top of the sloping field where the land leveled out. “Up there?”
“Aye.” He jerked his head for me to follow him, and we strode uphill until we reached a large, flattened area. Jared gestured to his left. “A costly part will be putting a road in that brings guests right to the top. But I think it’ll be necessary.”
“Agreed.”
“I reckon we’d get six glamping pods on here. I’ve looked into it, and if we make them high spec, we can charge about a hundred a night in high season, sixty per night low season.”
My brain whirred. “You know I’ve seen some really successful social media accounts for holiday rentals in Scotland. They have so many followers, they’re booked out eighteen months in advance. That’s three grand a month in the high season per pod. That’s a gross income of eighteen thousand a month.”
Jared nodded, expression serious, thoughtful. “Aye, if you can make it work on social media. I don’t have any social media.”
“I do. For my art.” I shrugged nonchalantly. “I have a different artist’s name. Lucy Stella. No one really knows it’s me because I never post my face. I have almost four hundred thousand followers.”
Jared’s expression softened with admiration. “That’s amazing.”
I shrugged again, my cheeks a little flushed. “I’m creative. The whole social media thing comes naturally to me. So I could help with that. I’m not bad with a camera. I could take the perfect shots.” Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I tapped on a social media icon. “Here, let me show you what I’m thinking.”
Jared bridged the distance between us and I ignored the way my heart jumped at the feel of his hard shoulder touching me. My skin prickled as his head ducked beside mine to look at the screen. “Here.” I tapped on a particular account of a holiday rental on Skye. “They’ve captured the kind of luxury hygge lifestyle perfectly. People eat it up and want to experience what they’re selling.”
He appeared thoughtful for a second. Then he glanced down at my feet. “You up for a small hike?”
“Um … sure. Why?”
“This way.” He started through the clearing that would house the pods and into the woodland behind it. I hurried to follow, keeping all my questions to myself. After a few minutes walking through a dense woodland that was cool and shaded, we began going downhill.
It was kind of steep, and Jared kept glancing back to make sure I was okay. My legs, however, were strong from all the hiking I’d done since moving here.
Then suddenly beyond us, something sparkled through the trees. Anticipation filled me, and I was not disappointed as the ground leveled out and the trees opened up. Jared stopped and turned to me, eyes alight with pride as we stood on the banks of a small inland loch.
There was room enough for two more glamping pods here.
“This … Jared, this is stunning.”
“Do you think you could do with this what those people have done on social media with theirs? There’s a rough road over the hill at the back there.” He pointed toward the east. “It would be more money, but we could bring it close enough so guests don’t need to hike to get here. What do you think? Could you make this place look amazing on social media?”
I nodded, meeting his inquiring gaze and trying not to drop mine to his mouth. “Absolutely.”
“Great. We could split the profits.”
“So it’ll also feel like an investment for me?” I asked pointedly, knowing it was important to him that it didn’t feel like I was just giving him my money.
“Aye, aye, definitely. Plus you’d be helping me make it work, right? You should get paid for your time.” The first real smile I’d seen from him in ages flashed across his face, and it made me want to kiss the hell out of him. “We could make this happen.”
“We could.” I grinned. “It’s exciting.” I stepped toward the water. It was still as glass and almost green from the reflection of the surrounding trees. In fact, it was reminiscent of the famous green loch, An Lochan Uaine. I’d driven south to the Cairngorms last summer and walked the forty-five minutes to get to it.
At the time, I’d thought what a wonderful place that loch would be to have an artist’s studio. I’d been searching for the perfect spot for so long. My chest ached as I gazed around at Jared’s own green loch. I realized the ache was envy. This place would be perfect. I could see myself here with a studio that had at least two walls made entirely of glass. Surrounded by natural beauty and inspiration as I disappeared into my creations.