Page 70 of Pomegranates and Olive

"Dennis?"

"Deniz with a 'z'."

"What's a Deniz?"

We arrive at the mill just as a small tour bus pulls up. Within a minute the carpark is full of tourists who will be joining us on the harvest as part of a local gastronomy tour. The last person off the bus is Deniz, a sombre look on his face. His eyes sweep the crowd until they lock with mine, and he smiles, tapping his straw hat before his eyes move on to Rosie beside me. I cringe as he looks Rosie up and down, but what's all the worse, is that Rosie's eyes open wide and so does her mouth. She grabs my arm and squeezes me hard as she checks out Deniz, who I will admit is looking insanely gorgeous in a black t-shirt stretching over his broad shoulders, tattoos on show and tapering down to his gorgeous ass in ripped jeans and that damn straw hat.

I gulp. The idea of Deniz and Rosie together makes me want to puke.

"Wowza! I wonder how he'd feel being pressed up against me? Believe me when I say, he'd totally be able to get you off, sis."

I bet he could as well.

"That'sDeniz." I grin at her. "I like him."

"Ooh, so do I." Rosie is already hopelessly in lust with him. "Does he like you?"

"Sometimes."

"Does he have a brother?"

I shake my head.

"Bummer." She licks her lips. "Let's go say hi."

I desperately want to go over and speak to him, but I know I can't, not with Luca across the car park. Deniz winks at me and my heart flies into my throat as he saunters over to Aydin and Luca.

"Cazzo, cazzo, cazzo!" I need to keep those two separated. I watch in horror as Aydin introduces Deniz to Luca and I wait for World War Three to break out. Within moments, the three of them are best mates, laughing at something Aydin says. "Do something, Rosie."

"Happily." She flicks her hair over her shoulder and pushes her boobs out, gaining the immediate attention of the three men and half of the car park as well. I pinch her lightly. "You're going to go to hell."

She winks back at me as she sashays away. "All the coolest people go to hell."

She introduces herself to Deniz and I realize my mistake asking Rosie to run interference when I see his reaction to her. She's like a big bowl of catnip to a man like Deniz. He looks over at me with raised eyebrows before shaking his head. I can see immediately that he is well aware that I’ve sent Rosie over to avert their attention but he goes along with it anyway and kisses her, the Turkish style, on both cheeks. It has had the desire effect though as Luca scowls before turning his back on the both of them.

Soon enough, Gamze arrives, wielding her trusty clipboard, which she waves in the air gaining the immediate attention of the whole car park. She steps aside to allow Deniz to speak.

"For those of you who are joining us for the first time today, we know this will not be a typical tour for you. It's going to be hard work. And it's going to get hot. If it becomes too much for you or you need a rest, please come back up here to relax. There will be sandwiches and drinks laid out for you shortly. Please, also remember to be back here before sunset or you'll miss your ride back into Bodrum. For those of you who want to get started, please follow Aydin to collect your equipment. Our staff will show you how to harvest the olives. For anyone interested in seeing how the mill operates, come this way and I'll give you a tour. Remember, we'll meet back here in a few hours to sample some freshly pressed extra virgin olive oil.Kolay gelsinand have a great day."

The group separates and I watch as Deniz slips his arm around Rosie's waist and whispers in her ear. A sharp burn of jealousy jolts through me. I busy myself by rummaging through my backpack trying to crush the green-eyed monster inside me.

This harvest is really going to suck.

Reluctantly, I make my way over to where Aydin is giving an olive harvesting tutorial. I can feel Luca's tension and I react by getting tense myself. I watch as he scans the crowd, his eyes finally locking on Deniz and Rosie near the warehouse, and mumbles under his breath. "Bastard."

He knows? Or is he jealous?

Enquiring minds want to know.

I shuffle closer to Ginny who is rubbing sunscreen into Emine's unimpressed little face. As soon as she is able to wiggle out of Ginny's grip, she runs off with a group of children into the grove. Ginny rolls her eyes. "Won't see them again until sunset."

"Is it safe for them to go off alone?"

"They all know to stay out of trouble." We watch Aydin for a few minutes before Ginny glances over her shoulder back at the mill. "Speaking of trouble, I'm wondering what you were you thinking setting Rosie loose on Deniz?"

"Yeah, I'm not loving the dynamic —" I nudge her and indicate Luca who is glaring at them both, with my chin, "— he's not loving the dynamic either."

"Listen, I'm just going to say this, last night I noticed Rosie was rather... how can I put this delicately? Rosie was very, erm, attentive towards Luca."

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