**Edited by krisgee**

The Rented Husband

2012 Copyright All Rights Reserved

Chapter 22

“How do you do it?”  Brody stared up at Seth with pleading eyes.  He was at a complete loss.  The little hellion that brought him in the first place was literally driving him out his mind.

“Do what exactly?” Seth asked cautiously.

“Deal with them.  The Murray women I mean.  There has to be some trick of the trade that I’m missing or something.  It's like we’re from two entirely different planets.”  

For the last half hour Brody had run himself ragged looking for Olivia all over the hotel.  He was at his wit’s end and to make matters worse he wasn’t all too sure what he had done wrong in the first place. 

They had been fine, she seemed happy enough and then the next thing he knew, Olivia hopped on an elevator, ceremoniously called him a sucker and closed him out, leaving him there to gape at the closed door.

“The Murray women?” Seth asked, highly amused by the initial question.  “You want me,” he said pointing to himself, “to tell you how to deal with the Murray women.”

“Yeah.  That’s exactly what I want you to do.  You married one of them, how do you survive?”  Brody loosely placed his hands on his hips before adding, “Because for the life of me, I can’t figure out what in the hell that I’m doing wrong.”

Seth dropped his head, his shoulders shaking with the laughter that he was trying to stifle.

“Are you laughing at me?” Brody was beyond exasperation at this point and he didn’t think that any of this was in the least bit funny.

Seth lifted his head.  “Did you seriously ask me how to handle a Murray woman?”

Frustrated, Brody ran a hand over his face.  “Look, just forget that I asked you anything.  I’ll figure out something on my own.”  Already turning, he started for the door.  He hadn’t thought to check out by the pool - maybe his missing better half decided to hide out there. 

Olivia was most certainly proving to be a handful and a half; but as long as they were here in Hawaii, she was his handful to handle.  Hell, he was a smart and a well-educated man, graduating third in his class from Wake Forrest Law School.  He should be able to deal with his pretend wife for one week. 

Should being the operative word in that sentence.  The problem with Olivia however was that nothing was ever as it should be.

            Seth watched Brody as he started to walk away and groaned.  Dealing with Murray women wasn’t easy but it wasn’t rocket science either.  “Brody,” he called, “Wait a minute.”

            Brody stopped in his tracks.  He hesitated for a minute before turning around.  “Look, if you only want to laugh at me some more then no thanks, I have better things to do like finding out where Olivia has taken off to before she gets herself into any more trouble.”

            “No, I’m not going to laugh at you but I suppose we can take a walk and talk about the Murray women as you so eloquently put it.”  He chuckled, picturing his own wife.  “They are, you might say, a breed of their own.”

            Brody thought about that and slowly nodded his head.  “Alright Maestro, you have my undivided attention.”

            Seth caught up with Brody and led him in the opposite direction of the girls.  “First off,” he started, “The one thing to always remember is that no matter what, she is always right.”

            He pulled himself up to a stop and glanced over at Seth.  “No way,” he exclaimed.  “Always right?  Seriously?”

            Seth chuckled at his remark.  “Seriously,” he confirmed.  “Even if she is wrong, never say it aloud.  Let her come to the realization by herself and your marriage will be all the better for it.”

            “Okay,” Brody said thoughtfully, tucking that bit of information away for later use.  “She’s always right - got that.  Now, what else do I need to know?”

            “You might want to get a pen and paper and write some of this down,” Seth said pointedly.  “This may take a while; the list is both very detailed and very long.”

*********************************************************************************************************

            Olivia took her time approaching her two sisters, recalling the last angry conversation that she had with Caley.  It didn’t go so well and she did not want a repeat of that particular episode. 

            Ashley spotted Olivia coming in their direction and held up her margarita glass.  “Pull up a seat and grab a glass, we’re just getting started.”

            Olivia did just that, all the while keeping an eye on her younger sister who had her head bowed.  Once she was seated, a young waiter with dashing brown eyes appeared in front of her.  “May I get you anything to drink miss?”

            She offered the young man a gentle smile.  Gesturing towards her sisters’ glasses, she told him, “I’ll have what they are having please.”

            The waiter returned her smile, exhibiting a perfect set of glossy white teeth that stuck out against his coppery skin.  “Yes ma’am,” he replied.  “I’ll be right back,” he added and agilely turned towards the bar.

            “Now that,” Ashley remarked, “Has got to be the most squeezable set of cheeks that I have ever set my eyes on.  Charmin has nothing on that ass.”

            Olivia and Caley both swiveled their heads and stared dumbly at their sister.  “What did you just say?” Olivia finally asked after she was over the initial shock of her older and married sister ogling another man’s behind.

            Ashley giggled.  “What?”  She pointed in the direction that the waiter had traipsed off to.  “You can’t deny it can you?  I mean look, it’s as plain as day.”

            Caley leaned in to her sister, “But you’re married,” she whispered low, afraid that they may get caught doing something that they shouldn’t be doing.

            Ashley nodded and picked up her glass, bringing it up to her lips.  She knocked it back, draining the last of the liquid.  “Yeah, and your point is?”

            Olivia interrupted, “The point is that you have a husband Ash.  A very handsome husband, mind you, that just so happens to worship the ground that you walk on.  You should not be noticing, much less commenting on some stranger’s rear end.”

            Ashley set the glass down on the table with a thump.  “Girls please.  I’m married, not dead.  I love my husband and I would never do anything to hurt him.  Haven’t you ever heard of the saying that a person can look at the menu as long as they eat at home?”

            Olivia cocked her head to the side.  “Well,” she drawled, “When you put it that way, it doesn’t seem to be so bad.” 

            “See?” Ashley commented.  “I look, I just don’t touch.”

            The waiter returned with her drink and carefully set it down in front of her.  He flashed her that heart stopping grin of his and placed a small square napkin down in front of her.  “Will that be all ma’am?”           

             Ashley, already tipsy leaned over on her sister’s shoulder.  “What’s your name?”

            “Mario,” the waiter replied amicably.

            “Mario,” she repeated his name deliberately, testing the way that it sounded rolling off her tongue.

             With that same grin that probably earned him a hoard of girls, he nodded.  “Mario.”

             “Okay Marioooo,” she drawled out cynically.  Reaching for her empty glass, she held it up.  “Can you fill ‘er up please?”

              He took the glass from and slightly bowed his head.  “As you wish.”

              Olivia sipped at her drink.  “You, my dear sister, are wasted.”

              Ashley let out a silly giggle.  “Me?  Nooooo,” she said and turned to Caley.  “What do you think baby sis?  Am I wasted?”

              Caley lifted her hand, bring her thumb and forefinger together, leaving just a little space between them.  “Maybe…. Just a little.”

             “Ha!” Olivia, recoiled.  “If she’s just a little then I’m Angelina Jolie, which,” she said, holding up one hand and draining the rest of her first drink with the other, “As you can see, I am not.”

             “No, you’re not,” Caley observed, staring down at her glass.  “Look Liv,” she started and then stopped when the water reappeared with Ashley’s drink.  The trio grew somber as he set the glass down in front of her and picked up Olivia’s empty one.  “Would you like another, miss?”

             “Yes,” she said simply, adding “Please,” as an afterthought.

              Once again he was off and before Caley could say anything, Olivia spoke up first this time.  “Caley, I’m sorry,” she blurted.  “I mean if I had known that everyone was going to act the way they did with Brody then I wouldn’t have brought him.  I honestly thought that by eloping with him that it would stay on the down low and wouldn’t take away from your special day.”

               She was on the verge of tears but she didn’t want her sister mad at her for any reason.  Besides, what she had said was true.  She did it for the sake of her sister.  The waiter came back and silently laid the glass on the table in front of Olivia, offering her a quick smile before hastily making an exit.

              She picked up the glass, taking a large swallow.  “I just wanted this to be perfect for you Caley, that’s all I was thinking about.”

When Olivia turned to Caley, she was shocked to see that her eyes were watery too.  Caley brought her hand to her mouth.  “I’m sorry too,” she blubbered.  “I was such a bitch and I shouldn’t have been but with all of the stress of the wedding and Daddy acting like a fool, I just lost it and you just so happened to call at the wrong time.”  She reached out and covered Olivia’s hand.  “Can you please forgive me?”

             A small smile tugged at her lips.  “Caley, there was never anything for me to forgive.  You’re my sister and I love you.  In the end, that’s all that matters.”

            Ashley rolled her eyes.  “Yeah, yeah.  I love you both too.  Now, can we get back to checking out the menu?”

           Caley and Olivia shared a conspiratory look before falling into a fit of giggles.  Ashley soon joined them.  “Ain’t we something else,” Olivia said.  “All three of us have decidedly handsome men at our disposal and here we are, sitting in a lounge, getting smashed while checking out young blood.”

           “Well,” Caley interceded, “I want to know what it’s like.  Being married I mean; the good, the bad and the ugly.”

            Ashley hiccupped and sat back in her chair.  “I’m sure you can guess the good.”  Her glazed eyes twinkled.  “All the mind numbing sex you can handle, whenever and wherever you want.”

          “But you have kids,” Oliva put in.  She finished her second drink and held up the empty glass to the waiter.  He acknowledged her and she sat it back on the table, looking over at her sister.  “How can you do it whenever and wherever you want with kids around?”

          “Yeah, that’s a really good question.  I’d like to know the answer to that one myself.” Caley added.  She picked up her drink and daintily sipped at it.   

           Ashley leaned forward.  “We have to get creative, sometimes it’s a challenge but that makes it all that much hotter,” she grinned.

           Olivia slapped her hands over her ears.  “TMI,” she stated laughing.  “Way too much TMI.”

           “Alright, sex is the good.  What about the bad?” Caley asked, her interest now piqued.

           “The bad,” Olivia slurred, setting her chin in her hand.  “It has to be the bathroom.  The boxers lying in the floor, the toilet seat being left up, or the towel that you laid out mysteriously disappearing.”

“I second that one,” Ashley noted.  “Then there’s the television remote.  They have this idea in their tiny little head that they are King of the castle and hence they should be the holder of the remote control.”

           “Oh God yes,” Olivia stated.  “If I have to watch another baseball game, I think I’ll kill myself,” she groaned.  “That has to be the most boring game in history.  They hit a ball and they run.  Half the time they miss or get out.  I think I would rather watch Grandma Cora clean her dentures than be forced to endure another baseball game.”

             Caley had a look of horror on her face as her two sisters went on to explain the bad and the ugly points of marriage.  “I am beginning to re-think this whole marriage thing,” she muttered to herself.  “To hear you two tell it, I would be better off signing up for a bowling league.”

            Having entirely too much alcohol in their systems, Ashley and Olivia busted out laughing.  Caley could only grin and then joined them in the combined hysterics.  The three girls were starting to cause quite a stir in the small motel lounge with their boisterous laughter.

           “Is that who I think it is?” Brody stopped and listened as they neared the lounge.  He could hear the rambunctious laughter and one of the laughs sounded suspiciously familiar. 

           Seth figured that the girls had plenty of alone time by now.  He had inconspicuously turned Brody so that they passed by the lounge.  After talking with him; he was finding that he actually liked the man and he got the feeling that Brody was probably going to be good for Olivia, which was another plus in his opinion.  “I think so,” he said and waved towards the lounge.  “Let’s take a look, shall we?”

             The two men made their way into the lounge.  As soon as they walked in, Brody zeroed in and locked onto Liv.  It was obvious that she had way too much to drink but there was something else about her that he was drawn to.  Something in the way that she held herself. 

           She looked free, not like the stiff lawyer that he was used to.  Her head was tossed back and she held her hand in a strangely seductive pose at her throat. 

          “Hey,” Seth nudged him in the side.  “Are you just going to stand there or are you going to go and get your woman?

           Brody hadn’t even realized that he had stopped in the center of the floor, staring stupidly at Olivia.  She enthralled him like no woman ever had.  She knocked him off balance and the more that he was around her, the more he wanted her with a driving passion.

          Regaining his composure, he cut a glance in Seth’s direction.  “I’m going to get my woman,” he proclaimed and headed towards her with purpose.