The Rented Husband (Southern Nights Series)

Chapter 16

                Olivia was having a hell of a time holding onto her temper, a temper that rivaled her father’s.  He had some gall to sit here and lecture her on love and compare her relationship, albeit a fake one to her sisters.  

                “You punched him Daddy,” she fiercely whispered.  “Not once, but twice.  You punched my husband twice.  What do you expect him to do - kiss your ass?”

                Yes.

                “No,” he brooded and breathed out heavily.  “Can’t you see Livy?  He’s not good enough for you.  Look, just let him go, divorce him and we‘ll figure out the rest in due time,” he said, looking pointedly at her stomach.

                Olivia’s eyes widened to the size of two extra large pizzas.  “You have got to be kidding me,” she started, shaking her head slowly back and forth.  “You did not just say what I think you said Daddy.”

                 “What?  Divorce him?  Yup, I sure did and I’ll say it again.  You‘re too good for him baby, and as your father I feel that I should tell you the truth.”

                Olivia rubbed at her now throbbing temples.  What she had planned to be an easy going vacation was quickly turning out to be a National Lampoon’s re-run.  “Do me a favor Daddy,” she told him with her eyes closed.  “Keep your opinions to yourself.”  

                Turning, she dropped her head and walked away from her father.  She had heard enough.

                 “Olivia, don’t you dare walk away from me,” he called out to her retreating back.   To his utter disbelief, she kept walking.  “Olivia,” he called again, “We aren’t done with this discussion young lady.  You wait ‘til I tell your Mama.”  Olivia turned the corner and was gone. 

                He swiveled around at the bar and brought his fist down on the counter.  “Damn it,” he swore.  It’s not supposed to be like this, not with Olivia, not with his baby girl.

                The bar tender placed a glass of golden liquid in front of him.  “Female problems?” he asked congenially.

                Ted snorted and picked up the glass, tossing it back and draining it in one deft swallow.  Looking back at the bartender, he thumped the now empty glass back on the bar.  “That’s an understatement.”

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

                She knew he was a hard ass, sometimes a pain in the ass but she never pegged her father as a jackass until today.  Today, he made a fool of himself and for the first time in her life she was embarrassed to call him her father.

                Stepping off of the elevator, she strode down the hall towards the room that she and Brody shared.  True, this was all just a big ruse but it was the presumptuous and overbearing attitude that her father had that really set her mood afire.  

                Pulling the key card from her back pocket, she swiped it in the slot and pushed open the door.  Walking in the room, she saw Brody roughly tossing his belongings back into the suitcase that he had just unpacked no more than an hour earlier.

                Hearing the door open, Brody didn’t even stop to see who it was; he knew just like he always knew when she entered a room.  It was Olivia.  She carried an aura about her that was so powerful, even he couldn’t resist it.