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“Thank you, Your Honor,” Tiffany beamed. “Mr. Sharpe?”
Tiffany tried her very best to monotonize her voice and fix her face to appear objective.
I mimicked her. “Yes, Ms. Levine. Chris had invited me to his sister’s graduation party. He had bought an apartment from me to give to you and wanted me to stop by with the keys as well as hang out a bit and catch up.”
At the mention of the apartment, I saw her wince, and her cheeks puffed up with sadness as she lowered her eyes. My heart took a hit in response.
Clearing my throat, I continued, “I’d never met his sister before. I didn’t even know what she looked like but when I laid my eyes on the stunning redhead across the garden, she made the flowers around her pale in comparison to her beauty. And when Chris invited that same redhead over and introduced her as his sister, I knew I was a goner.”
My head was down as I spoke because well, we already got in trouble for flirting. However, when I raised my head without thinking, I was hit with the image of Tiffany’s parted lips. She was staring at me in shock as she blushed so hard, it was impossible to hide. She kept me frozen in her gaze.
“I knew Chris wouldn’t approve, so I told myself I wouldn’t go there,” I said, breaking the trance between me and her to look at Chris, who was clenching his jaw so hard, I could see the bones in his face standing erect. His entire face was red as well, but his eyes held no admiration for me. It was hard to watch him while speaking, so I lowered my eyes again.
“A little later on, Chris got too drunk to drive home on his own, so I got him a cab, and he asked me to keep an eye on his sister for him. I should’ve told him no because by that point, I was already attracted to her, and I knew it was too close for comfort. But I told myself I wouldn’t act on it because I was a man of discipline. Upon my return, I spotted Tiffany’s stuff laying on an empty seat by the outside lounging area and figured she might have been missing it, so I sought her out. If I’m being honest, it was just an excuse to see her again.” Raising my head unconsciously once more, I caught Tiffany staring at me like she wanted to eat me up on the spot.
Shaking my head to keep myself from flirting back, I grinned. I didn’t want us to get in trouble again because my desire for her was so strong. My heart raced just as it did that night when I was already a complete fool for her and was fighting it so hard.
“She’d had a drink for the first time that night.” I grinned before catching Chris’ burning gaze. “I guess she must have had one too many; she was a bit tipsy when I found her trying to get into her car with her friends. They said they were on the way to a club. Her friends were talking about it being her first time. They all seemed too tipsy to drive as well. So, I suggested they go home and maybe hit the club another night. I offered to put them in a cab because they were in no state to drive. I’d had one drink, and I was trying to set a good example, which is why I didn’t drive them home myself.”
My brows kicked up at the whole ‘trying to set a good example’ part, knowing the Levines must have been thinking how full of shit I was.
“They were adamant that they wanted to go to the club, and Tiffany was upset because she felt like Chris left me there to spy on her. To prove that I wasn’t trying to spy on her, I accepted their invitation to go to the club with them. I wanted to be there because Chris asked me to keep an eye on her, and I didn’t want anything to happen to her. It being her first night at a club and all. And let me not bullshit you, it gave me an excuse to be in the company of the beautiful woman I was attracted to but knew I shouldn’t approach. I tried to convince myself that I was there on Chris’ behalf. But honestly, it felt like luck was giving me a chance to be next and to her so I could get to know her a bit more, even if it had to be from a distance. Man, that night was wild.” A grin escaped me. The memory of finding her friends in the sex room of the club hit my funny bone.
However, the memory of finding her in that room and having to restrain myself hit me in the groin. “That night was wild,” I repeated. My voice had grown husky and when I looked at Tiffany, she gulped.
“Anyway, her friends were, um, distracted. And she was ready to go home, so we left together, in a cab which took us back to the garden where the graduation party had been held to pick up our cars. I’d offered to drive Tiffany’s car back to her apartment for her, then go back for my own car. I hadn’t consumed anymore drinks during the night and by that time, my one drink was out of my system. But when we showed up there, Mr. and Mrs. Levine halted our plans. Tiffany was afraid of getting in trouble with her parents, even though she was twenty-one and old enough to drink. But we agreed to let Mr. and Mrs. Levine know that she had left her car behind so they could take care of it. She didn’t want to go back to her parents’ house drunk, so I offered to drive her to the apartment Chris had bought for her, since it was in the building I own. And yeah, that was how we met,” I said, shifting in my seat.
Tiffany bit her lip and lowered her gaze to her paper, clearing her throat. “Right. Thank you, Mr. Sharpe. You were the perfect gentleman that night,” she said.
“Objection,” her mother started before Tiffany cut her off.
“It’s not speculation. I was there,” she responded, with an eye roll.
Her mother quickly closed her mouth, adjusting her skirt before sitting, looking as if she wanted to crawl into a hole.
I smiled at Tiffany with my eyes; we both knew where the rest of that night ended up, and a gentleman would’ve never slept with a lady on the first night they met. So perfect gentleman? Eh. Not so much but man, did I try.
“Your Honor, that’s all the questions I have for Mr. Sharpe for now,” Tiffany said, her cheeks red as she walked away trying not to smile.
“Okay, Ms. Levine. Cross?” The judge called to the opposing counsel, and Mrs. Levine stood.
Shaking my head, I suppressed the need to roll my eyes as she approached the podium. She was still Tiffany’s mother, even if she did disown her and was the reason for the pain I watched Tiffany endure this week.
“Well, you’re quite the charmer, aren’t you, Mario Sharpe?” Mrs. Levine began.
“Objection, argumentative,” Jared spoke through his microphone.
“Sustained,” the judge responded.
“I’m sorry, Your Honor,” Mrs. Levine whispered even though I could tell it pained her to say it by the way her lip kicked up on one side.
“So, what I heard from your testimony, Mr. Sharpe, and do correct me if I’m wrong,” she started. “...was that you met Ms. Levine at her party, knew it would upset Chris if you pursued her, knew you should have stayed away from her, but you had no self-control and found any lame excuse in the world to be around her. Is that right?”
“I wouldn’t put it exactly like that,” I responded.
“Mr. Sharpe, please answer the question,” she countered.
Well, apart from the fact she stated the question in such a contemptuous manner, it was basically what I said earlier. Exhaling, I nodded. “Yes.”
