**Edited by krisgee**

"The Rented Husband"

2011 Copyright All Rights Reserved

Chapter 17

                Olivia pulled herself back, out of Brody’s arms and struggled to regain her composure.  Her breaths were uneven and she had to fist her hands to still the trembling.

                “What…” she stopped and squeezed her eyes closed tight, taking a calming breath.  Starting again, she opened up her eyes and stared back at Brody.  “What do you think you’re doing?” 

                Brody stepped back with that damnable grin of his and gave Olivia a thorough once over.  “I believe I just kissed you,” he told her in response.

                She rolled her eyes in a move that was mean to show her sarcasm.  “Thank you Captain Obvious, I figured out that much.   My question is why?”

                Brody lifted his shoulders in an easygoing manner that she was starting to become accustomed to.  Standing there, by the bed, with his darkening eye and his impish smile she couldn’t decide if she wanted to grab his collar and pull her to him while continuing to ravage his mouth as she had just moments earlier or if she wanted to grab him by the neck and throttle his cocky ass.  

                “Because I wanted to,” he finally answered her after what seemed to be a farmer’s minute.  

                “Because you wanted to,” she repeated with equal amounts of frustration and anger seeping in her tone.

                Brody turned and went back to his suitcase, lifting out his laptop.  “Yup.” He headed over to the small desk that was nestled in the corner of the room.  Laying the laptop down on the desk, he flipped it open and started it up.  

                Olivia stood there dumbstruck.  One minute he’s ranting, the next he’s kissing the daylights out of her and now, well….now he’s just sitting there as if nothing had happened.

                Shoving her hand irritably in her hair, tangling it with her fingers she let out an exaggerated sigh.  “What are you doing now?” she asked.

                Brody pulled out a pair of glasses from his shirt pocket and started tapping at the keys.  “Work,” he stated plainly.  “I needed to check on a few things,” he told her, not bothering to stop what he was currently doing.  “You know, it might be a good idea for you to check in with Marcey too.”

                “You might want to check on Marcey too,” she mimicked him, lowering her voice a decibel or two.  She hated the fact that he had a point and she didn’t think of it first.  She still has that huge case coming up and didn’t want anything to slip by her just because she was here in Hawaii.  

                He heard her mocking him and stifled his own chuckle.  Olivia was a complicated piece of work all right.  She could be as sweet as the honeysuckles that used to grow out back of his mother’s home in the springtime when he was a kid one minute, and she could be as ornery as a wet hornet the next.  He heard her stomping over to where she left her suitcase by the closet door, and some other exaggerated noise as she pulled out her laptop and settled over on the bed.  

                She huffed and puffed, and he wondered if her wires were as crossed as his right now.  Hell, forget crossed - he was finding more and more that whenever he was near the notorious Olivia Murray his wires tended to flat out short circuit and he wasn’t at all sure how he felt about it.  

                He felt confused but yet he felt intrigued.  She lit a fire under his butt and kept him on his toes.  Most women that he had dallied with in the past just fell at his feet and did his bidding…but not Olivia.  

                She challenged him.

                She made life exciting.

                And she drove him bat crazy.  All good things, he thought to himself.  

                His computer dinged at him, letting him know that he had an email.  He shook his head slightly to get his mind off of the little spitfire sitting across the room.  He had some work that needed to get done; playtime would just have to wait a little bit longer.

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                Olivia closed her computer.  She had been sitting there for a little more than an hour now, answering emails and proofing a brief that Marcey had sent to her for review.  She stood up, stretched her arms, rolling her neck around in a circular motion and yawning in the process.

                Glancing over her shoulder she noticed that Brody was still hard at work, tapping at the keys.  

                I need to get out of here, she thought to herself.  The long plane ride, the parental confrontation and then that cursed kiss had her nerves on edge.  She wanted to get out and see some of the island and she also needed to call her baby sister, let her know that she was here.  

                Chewing on her lip, she silently debated on what to do.  She glanced at her phone and then back to Brody; back to the phone and then to Brody once again.  

                Phone call, she decided.  

                Clearing her throat, she reached for her phone and stared at his back.

                Brody turned and their eyes instantly met.  A sizzling arc of energy seemed to jut between the two of them, seemingly bringing the room to life around them.

                Staving off the urge to stand and pull the delectable Olivia Murray in his arms, he pulled his glasses off of his face and looked up at her expectantly.  “You need something?” he asked, his voice a little gruff.

                She rolled the cell phone in her hands.  “Um, yeah…” she started, stammering over her words.  “I’m just going to,” she hooked her thumb over her shoulder towards the door, “Um, go call my sister.”  

                He cut her that knowing grin again.  The same one that told her he knew exactly what type of effect he was having on her and that little telltale fact burned her up something fierce.  “Okay,” he replied simply.  “Do you want me to hold your hand or something?”  

                Now his grin turned into a full blown smile, one of those smiles that lifted from ear to ear.

                She scowled.  “No, smart ass…. I don’t need you to hold my hand,” she snapped.  “I just thought you might want to know.”

                “Duly noted,” he inclined his head.  He could see the color in her cheeks rise to a bright pink that was surprisingly adorable on her.  Needing to focus on finishing his work, he turned back to his laptop and continued the email that he had been composing for his assistant, Leslie, to send out to one of his clients.

                “Men are so stupid,” she muttered under her breath as she stared at his broad back.  She was tempted to walk up to him and knock him one, but considering the damage that her father had caused, she thought better of it.  Instead, she whirled around and headed for the door, jerking it open and then slamming it closed behind her.   

                Standing out in the hall, she blew out a loud breath.  Sometimes that man just made her want to pull out her hair, she mused.  Determined to derail her thoughts, she flipped open her phone and dialed her baby sister’s number.  Bringing the phone up to her ear, she settled up against the wall and listened to the familiar ringing.

                “Hello?”  

                “Caley,” she spoke animatedly, “How are you?”

                Olivia heard her sigh.  “I’m fine,” she stated stiffly.

                She waited a second for her younger sister to continue.  When it was obvious that she wasn’t going to say anything, Olivia continued.  “We’re here….in Hawaii I mean.”  She kept her voice as bright as she could make it, not wanting to bring her sister down with any of her own screwed up problems.  This was her wedding after all.

                “I know,” she said curtly.  

                Olivia picked up on the snap in her tone and frowned.  “Are you okay Caley?”

                She chortled.  “Yeah, I’m just a fucking ray of sunshine.”

                Olivia sat up straighter.  “What’s wrong?” she asked Caley, now having her full attention.

                “What’s wrong?  You’re really asking me what’s wrong,” she stated incredulously.

                “I just…”

                “I’ll tell you what’s wrong Olivia,” she interrupted, seemingly on a roll now.  “You.  It’s always you.  You just couldn’t let me have the attention for once could you?  You couldn’t stand to sit back while everyone cooed over me for once.”

                Olivia shook her head.  “No,” she jumped in.  “What in the world are you talking about?”

                “You know damn well what I’m talking about.  Getting married and getting pregnant, announcing it at my wedding.  I knew you were self absorbed but I had never pinned you for callous.  You just proved me wrong.”

                She didn’t know what to say.  Is that really how everyone was looking at her and Brody?  This charade was partly for her sister in the first place.  She wanted this week to be special for her and if she had not brought Brody, everyone would have been dead set on hitching her to the first available chump.  She only thought that by bringing someone with her, she would avoid the mayhem and Caley would have her special day.

                “You don’t understand,” Olivia protested.

                “Oh I understand all right.  I understand perfectly.  I understand that you’re an attention whore and I would really appreciate it if you just stayed away from me.”

                Olivia could feel the back of her eyes burning.  “You don’t mean that,” she said weakly.  

                “Bye Olivia.”

                The line disconnected, leaving a temperas buzzing sound ringing in her ear. 

                What is happening to me? she wordlessly asked herself.  In less than twelve hours she managed to piss off her dad, alienate her sister and make a fool of herself in front of Brody by reacting shamelessly to his deadly kisses.

                She dropped her phone in her lap and repeatedly banged her head up against the wall.  If the earth could swallow her whole and make her disappear, then now would be the ideal time for it to happen.  

                She was at an utter loss of what to do now.

                Standing up, she rubbed at her temples.  A familiar pounding in her head was beginning to take precedence over everything else.  She was getting ready to walk back into the room when her phone vibrated, signaling a text.  Thinking that maybe it was Caley again, she quickly flipped open the phone and hit the message button.

                It took a few seconds for the picture to download and when it did a hoarse cry strangled in her throat.  She dropped the phone and felt the world spinning dizzily around her.  She would have fallen to the ground herself if it had not been for Brody opening the door at that very minute and catching her just in time.

                “Olivia?” he asked worriedly after seeing her ghostly white complexion, “What‘s wrong?”

                She couldn‘t speak.  All she could do was point at the phone lying sideways on the floor.  He picked her up in a bridal carry and bent down to pick up the phone.  With her in his arms, he turned it around so that he could see what had her so peaked.

                Seeing the gravestone with her name carved in it and the dates January 12, 1983 to December 8, 2011, rattled him in such a way that he had never been rattled before.  He had to work to keep his hands steady as he carried Olivia back into the room, closing the door behind him.  He strode over to the bed and gently lay her down and pulled the cover up to her chin.

                Standing by the bed, he opened up the phone again and re-read the message that was attached to the photo; “The final countdown has begun - are you ready?”

                "Jesus," he muttered to himself and rubbed tiredly at his eyes. "What the hell is going on here?"