**Edited by Adelina Clonts aka Seawriter**

“The Rented Husband”

2011 © All Rights Reserved

Chapter 5

Brody high tailed it out of Olivia’s office as fast as his two feet would take him. Without looking back he dashed directly to his office; needing to put some much needed space between him and the attractive blond he left behind.

The torn look on her face when he told her ‘no’ almost undid him. He had a notion to turn around, march right back into her office and agree to her all expense paid Hawaii trip and play the sweet husband she was looking for. Luckily, his conscious overtook his urge and inadvertently, kept him moving forward, taking his thoughts further away from the enticing offer and sweet temptations.

Of all the things he could have imagined her asking him to do, faking a marital relationship was nowhere near his realm of thought. She was crazy; the broad was absolutely nuts. Olivia Murray had finally gone off the deep end and even he wouldn’t have been able to throw her a life preserver to bring her back in if she really thought that hiring a guy to stand in as a husband for a week was going to solve all of her problems.

Hell, Brody wouldn’t have minded going out with her on a few dates, maybe even showing her a good time with a couple rounds in the bedroom but the forbidden “H” word was absolutely out of the question. He shuddered at the mere thought of even pretending to be a husband. It just wasn’t part of his male DNA makeup.

Brody O’Connor would never marry and willingly tie himself down to just one woman. He enjoyed playing the field and romancing various types of women; blonds, brunettes, and red heads, he was an equal opportunity lover. That was just who he was as a person and nothing, absolutely nothing, would ever change that. Not even a ‘too sexy for her own good’ attorney that held the most dazzling chocolate brown eyes and perfectly formed hourglass figure that could contend with any Victoria Secret model. Nope, not even the one Ms. Olivia Murray.

Brody slipped into his office and closed the door firmly behind him. He could feel the onset of an impending headache already pounding at his temples. Leaning his back up against the door he relinquished a breath of air, he hadn’t even realized he had been holding. Taking a minute to close his eyes, Brody sighed. That was a close one, almost to close for comfort.

After a few minutes of being in his office, Brody’s desk phone began to buzz. He knew instantly it was his secretary, Leslie. Leslie was young but very astute for her age and had been undeniably a major part of his recent success. At first glance the girl was kind of mousy looking but she had proved many times over that she had what it took to make it in the legal profession. On more than one occasion, she found valuable information for cases that even he himself had not been able to retrieve. The girl was just that good.

“Mr. O’Connor?” Leslie called out with her high pitched voice ringing through the speaker phone. Brody pushed himself away from the door and walked towards his desk.

“Yes, Leslie?” Thankfully, he was feeling more comfortable now that he was back in the sanctum of his own office.

“You have a visitor out here in the lobby,” she told him and something in her wavering tone warned him that she was leery of this particular visitor.

This is unusual, he thought to himself. He had planned on spending the afternoon cleaning up some of his old files and even doing a little research on the Marino case that was coming up at the end of the month because he thought his afternoon was completely free. Brody looked down at his desk and double checked his calendar. Yep, he was right, there was nothing booked for today, so who on earth could be calling on him?

Confused and now suspicious himself he asked, “Who is it Leslie?”
At first there was no answer. A short silence that seemed to put Brody more on edge than he already was after his brief encounter just minutes earlier with Olivia.

“Leslie, I asked who the visitor is,” he repeated rather impatiently.

“It’s your mother, sir.” Brody stilled and then audibly gulped.

“Did you just say my mother?” he said, his voice coming out with a squeak at the end.

It had been two years since he last saw his mother. She was caught up in country club appearances and overly concerned with social status acceptance. Although, there were a few phone calls over the past two years, communication was distant and lacking. Why would my mother come here? he mused. Clarice O’Connor was not one to trivial herself with the so-called entrappings of middle class living, which only brings him back to his original question; why in the hell was she here?

“Sir,” Leslie said interrupting his thoughts, “Should I send her in?” Brody shook his head out of his reverie.

“Um, yes, Leslie, send her in please,” he replied.

Brody settles himself in his chair and locked his hands together forming a steeple shape pressed against his lips. This was turning out to be one heck of a day. First, Olivia and her left wing proposition and now, his mother of all people showing up unannounced. This just keeps getting better and better, he sneered.

Clarice waltzed into Brody’s office as if she was floating atop of cloud nine. She smiled down at her son with a chivalrous motherly grin and approached the corner of his desk. Brody stood up, embraced her with constrained tenacity, and placed a chaste kiss on her cheek.

“Mother, this is quite a surprise,” he said after releasing her, waving to the empty seat in front of his desk. “Why don’t you have a seat and tell me what pleasure I owe for this visit?" Brody made sure to keep a bright smile pasted on his face the entire time, while Clarice situated herself purposefully.

“Does there have to be a reason? Can a mother not drop by to see her son? I mean, it has been sometime since we have last seen each other and you always seem to be too busy to come and visit with me, so I thought I would take matters into my own hands,” Clarice answered his question all in one breath. “Here I am.”

Brody raised a brow. His mother was the one frequently vacationing in exotic islands and fleeing to other countries. He never could pin her down and had long since stopped trying. He was an only child and she knew how to reach him if she needed him.

“If that is the case then it is nice to see you, mother.” Hovering over his desk he sincerely asked, “So, how have you been lately?” He sort of felt like a fish swimming in dangerous waters when it came to talking with his mother; Clarice never did anything without reason. Casual small talk would be safe enough for the moment. He was positive that her unexpected visit had an underlying purpose and Brody was already more than suspicious as to what it might be.

Clarice O'Connor folded her hands in her lap primly and straightened her posture. She looked every bit the regal woman that Brody remembered from his childhood. She breathed out slowly and started in on, “To tell you the truth son, I am a little worried.”

At this point Brody started to worry himself. Any time his mother started with “to tell you the truth” he knew there was going to be a problem.

“The simple fact is that I am not getting any younger and neither are you son. You need to get on the ball boy and get your act together. It just has been far too long.” She told him sternly.

Brody drew up his brows in confusion. He was a successful attorney. He could more than easily provide for himself. He felt like he was all in all pretty well put together, so what was the problem? “What are you talking about Mom?” he asked, perplexed by the direction the conversation had turned.

Clarice rolled her eyes in disdain. “Grandchildren, Brody,” she told him sounding exasperated. “I want grandchildren before I am too old to do anything with them. It’s about time you returned to Connecticut and married a proper woman of status so I can have some grandchildren. One boy, one girl will do nicely.”

Brody was beside himself. She did not just say what he thought she said, no freaking way. Stupefied by her request, he unbelieving looked up at his mother and nearly yelled, “What?!”

“Marriage and kids, Brody; the whole shebang. Were you even listening to a word that I just said?” Clarice asked, sounding plain annoyed now. She could have sworn that she stated everything and didn’t know how to make herself any clearer than she already had.

Brody turned around and walked over to the window and made a sound somewhere between a choked chuckle and a strangled laugh. “You’re joking, right? I mean you didn’t come all the way here, to my office, only to tell me that you want grand-kids.”

Clarice looked at her son dumbly like he had just grown an extra head. “No, I’m not joking,” she told him seriously. “Here,” she added and reached into her briefcase pulling out a manila folder. Brody turned just in time to see her plunk it down on his desk. Clarice pointed at it and stated, “In here I have managed to put all of the eligible women that would be worthy of the O’Connor name. I have attached their pictures as well as some other random facts about their lives, what they like and what not. All you have to do is choose, marry and impregnate one of them. It’s that simple!”

No, it’s not as simple as that, Brody thought to himself. The girls from back home were snooty, high maintenance and pretentious. There was no way in hell that he would tie himself down to one of those gold digging heifers. “Mom, put the folder away. I’m not marrying someone back home,” he replied dryly and walked back towards his desk.

Clarice stood embittered and placed her hands on her hips. The cool composure that she was typically known for was started to slip away. “And may I ask why not?” she demanded raising her voice.

Brody thrusted his hands up in the air in sheer agitation. “Because I’m already married!”

Clarice’s eyes enlarged at the startling revelation, “You’re what?”

Brody wanted to smack himself. Why did he just say that? There was no way he could take it back now, not after he blurted it out to his mother of all people. She looked at him with an admiring twinkle in her eye. "Who, Brody? Who is the lady that you're married to?"

Brody averted his gaze to all of his law books that lined his walls.

Feeling sheepish he muttered under his breath, "Olivia. Olivia Murray."

"Olivia Murray?" Clarice repeated the name seemingly deep in thought. She brought her head up and looked her son in the eye and asked, "Do I know her family? Are they the famous Murray's that discovered the gold out west? If so, you did well son and I can't wait to meet her."

Brody wanted to scream. Of course that would be all that she would be concerned with; not who Olivia was as a person, but where she sat on the social hierarchy. Biting his tongue and clenching his back teeth he ground out, "No Mom, Olivia is here and she is an attorney like me."

"Oh," she said with her lip slightly down frowning. After another minute of silence she asked, "Well, since I didn't get an invitation to the wedding do I even get to meet my new daughter in law? I mean, I would like to see her and make sure my grandchildren are not going to have any oddities. I want them to be healthy if they are going to carry on the O'Connor name and all."

Brody had enough. He was going to strangle his mother if she continued to talk. "Sure," he bit out. "How about tomorrow night, dinner at Jacques?"

Clarice stood up with a smile that lit up brighter than the Northern Star. "That sounds wonderful son. Say seven o'clock?"

"Yes, that will work," Brody replied already heading towards the door. He held it open and glanced back at his mother. "Now I hate to be rude mother but I do have quite a bit of work to finish before the afternoon is done."

"Of course, now don't work too late. You need to be home with that new wife of yours and work on making me some grand-babies. Remember, one boy and one girl," she told him tossing her bag on her shoulder. While passing by Brody she pecked him on the cheek and squeezed his shoulder. "Oh, I am so excited to hear this. I can't wait to meet her tomorrow. You two have a good night," she added and Brody could only smile.

She capered out of his office and he couldn't wait to close the door behind her. What in the devil’s name have I gotten myself into? Brody thought to himself worriedly. He vigorously ran his fingers thorough his hair in agitation. Well, there is only one thing that I can do, he muttered under his breath.

Opening the door, he stuck his head out in the hall and checked to make sure that his mother was in fact gone. Confident that she had left the building, Brody scurried down the hallway as fast as he could andstopped at the door that he had just left not even an half an hour earlier. Lifting his hand he started to knock when the door suddenly swung open revealing a teary eyed Olivia.

For a moment his heart skipped a beat knowing that he was the reason for her tears.

"What do you want?" she snapped, all of her earlier friendly co-worker pretenses now gone. She looked like she was about ready to slam the door closed in his face when Brody stepped forward and placed his hand on the door. Brody lifted the corner of his lips in to what he hoped came across as an honest smile and said, "Counselor, I have a proposition for you?"