Page 15 of Pomegranates and Olive

Or smuggler.

Oh God, what if he's a human trafficker?

I frown as I imagine myself falling asleep beside this man and waking up in chains… and not in a good way.

Pulling the in-flight magazine out of the seat pocket in front of me I start flicking through the pages, in the hope it might distract me. "I'm going to ignore you now."

"No, please, don't ignore me. I'm having way too much fun. What about you, then? Where's your husband? Boyfriend?" His voice is deep and I can hear a hint of suppressed laughter. "Girlfriend?"

I swat him with my magazine. "Not that it's any of your business, but my boyfriend and I recently split, so I'm going to Bodrum to have an adventure."

"I'm finding you more and more interesting. Tell me."

Why would I want to tell a complete stranger about the breakdown of my relationshipandmy mind? Although, I guess I'll never see this guy again, so why not?

And then I blurt it all out. My relationship with Luca, his proposal, Madam Magda, my projectile vomiting, and finally this quest to find myself. When I finish, Yilmaz just shakes his head.

"Your Luca must be crazy."

"How so?"

"I would never allow you to run off on this adventure of yours alone."

"Luca doesn't really get a say in anything I do anymore. Anyway, I made a decision to do this. For myself."

"No, sorry, I mean, I would not want you to go on this adventure alone —" His eyes lock with mine and I find myself melting into a puddle in my seat by the startling intensity of his iron grey gaze. "— because I would want to go with you."

I have to remind myself that I dislike this man intensely.

"Does that line ever work?"

We stare at each other, both starting to laugh at the same time. "Sometimes."

I shake my head at him. "Anyway, maybe I'm an idiot but I think my destiny is out there somewhere."

"So, stealing someone's coffee and telling that someone to ‘fuck off’ in Italian is somehow a step towards your destiny?"

"Probably."

"Oh,askim, you're travelling halfway around the world on the advice of a charlatan, looking for something that may not ever happen, or worse still, may not even exist." I could practically hear his eyes rolling at me.

"That's twice you've called me that. You'd better not be insulting me!"

"Askim?It means my love." I open my mouth to protest, but he places a finger against my lips. His heat sears my lips, sending shockwaves through me. We gaze into each other’s eyes, then he pulls his finger away sharply as though I was about to bite it off at the knuckle. "Don't flatter yourself,canim. It is merely a common term of endearment in Turkey. I expect you don't like being called love, do you? I had better apologise for that as well then."

I want to slap his magnificent, arrogant face... but I also wonder what he would've done if I had wrapped my lips around his finger and sucked it? That would probably fall under the category of something crazy and definitely something that Librarian Olive would never, ever do. I’m starting to become concerned for the sanity of this new and improved Olive.

"Alright then, if we go along with your way of thinking, then perhaps weweredestined to meet. Are we destined to fall in love as well?" He snorts derisively. "'I pray you, do not fall in love with me, for I am falser than vows made in wine'."

This guy quotes more Shakespeare than I do, and that's really saying something.

"You think a little too highly of yourself."

"The fact is that some people are just not genetically made for love. I just so happen to be one of those people." He sighs and rakes his fingers through his hair before he winks at me. "But if I was…"

I wait for him to finish his sentence, but he merely winks, shuffles in his seat in an attempt to get more comfortable and closes his eyes.

Well, that's just fine by me.

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