Friends With Extra Benefits (21 page)

The male jurors' eyes all got lost in Natalie's
crotch area as the fabric of her leotard struggled to cover all her
important parts. Most tilted their heads, caught up in a dream-like
state. Glancing at them, Josh held back a smile.

Jillian scoffed, and Victoria held back a laugh
as Josh walked slowly over to the flip chart. He asked, "Are you
doing okay?"

"I'm fine," Natalie replied.

Josh flipped back to the large image of the book
cover as he said, "And once again, here is the book cover, so an
accurate comparison can be made."

Most jury members' eyes moved between the cover
image and the live demonstration, although a few of the men never
looked away from Natalie's crotch as the leotard appeared to be
slipping away right before their eyes.

The judge took a deep breath as he glanced
quickly to the flip chart, and then his eyes traveled slowly down
Natalie's lithe body. He sighed while a dreamy smile spread over
his face. Shaking his head, he fought his way back to reality,
painting on a more appropriate professional expression.

Brian found himself staring at the
demonstration, as well. For a moment, his mind drifted back to when
Jillian had performed that move for him bare-ass naked, and while
she held that sexy position, they had actually done it. Closing his
eyes, he pictured the way her calf rested against his shoulder as
he was making love to her on that spectacular day. It was a sexual
experience he would never forget.

He pulled himself from the fantasy just as
Jillian turned to him and rolled her eyes. Brian shook his head in
disgust, and they shared a grin.

Glancing at her attorney, Jillian found him
staring at Natalie's body along with every other owner of a penis
in the room. She scoffed and then bumped her knee into his under
the table.

Stanley's eyes shot to Jillian's angry stare. He
shook his head and yelled out, "I object."

The judge gave Stanley a confused look as all
eyes in the courtroom went to him. "On what grounds?"

"I, uh... to the inflammatory nature of this
demonstration."

Maxwell shook his head and grimaced.
"Overruled."

All eyes returned to Natalie. Josh's stare
traveled down her body slowly. After ten seconds of drinking in her
amazing body, he fought his way back to Earth and said, "Okay, Miss
Brookhart. Thank you."

Natalie slowly returned her ceiling-pointing leg
to the floor and looked up at the judge with a gentle smile.

The judge stated, "Let's take a ten minute
recess while Miss Brookhart changes." He leapt out of his seat and
rushed to his chambers. He was glad he was wearing a big freaking
robe.

Brian stood with Jillian outside the courtroom.
Leaning in close, he whispered, "When she was doing that, all I
could think about was you in that position when we did it."

"Really?" Jillian grinned.

"Yeah, I had to stop myself from thinking about
it, because I was getting worked up."

Jillian wiggled her hips. "God, I just got wet
myself." She put her hand on his waist. "Maybe later you can help
me work off some of the stress of the trial."

They shared a grin until Jillian's smile faded.
"Hey, have you seen Rob yet today?"

"No, I haven't."

"He was supposed to be here by ten."

Stanley Parrish walked up to Jillian and said,
"Can we have a word?"

Jillian nodded then looked at Brian. "Try to
find him okay?"

Brian said, "I will."

Brian headed down the hall as he dialed Rob's
number. The call went directly to voice mail, so he left a message.
When he turned back to Jillian, Stanley was heading away from her
and into the courtroom.

Brian walked back to Jillian. "He's not picking
up. I left him a message."

She gave him a concerned look.

He added, "But I'm sure he's on his way."

"Yeah, maybe he's in traffic." She shook her
head. "Stanley tells me I'm being called next. I'm not sure I can
do this."

"You'll do fine."

She stared up at him. He opened his arms, and
she slipped inside.

Josh stood glaring at Jillian as she sat
nervously in the witness chair. He paused a moment. "Ms.
Grayson..." He grinned. "... or should I call you Mrs. Nash?"

She squirmed in her chair. "I'm keeping my name,
you know, for my career and—"

"Ms. Grayson, isn’t it true that the Rebecca
character in your novel is wholly based on my client, Natalie
Brookhart?"

"It is not."

Exhaling deeply, Josh flashed the jury a
skeptical look before returning to Jillian. "Rebecca in your novel
is an ex-ballet dancer, and Natalie is a ballet dancer, isn't that
correct?"

"If you say so."

A few members of the jury held back a giggle,
but Josh was not amused.

With an edge in his voice, he asked, "Ms.
Grayson, in your novel is Rebecca an ex-ballet dancer?"

"Yes."

"And are you aware that Miss Brookhart once
studied ballet?"

"Yes," Jillian replied sarcastically.

He continued, "In your novel, the Rebecca
character was dating your Brice character, and you wrote how she
attended his tennis match and then disappeared in the middle of it.
Is that correct?"

"Yes, that's right."

"And Miss Brookhart actually attended one of
your husband's tennis matches and, in fact, did disappear. She was
also dating him at the time. Isn't that correct?"

Jillian widened her eyes. "She was dating him
and half the men on campus."

Almost everyone in the attendance roared with
laughter. The judge cracked a smile until he caught Josh's angry
stare and banged his gavel hard against the wood block. The room
fell silent.

Judge Maxwell said, "Quiet! I will have order in
this courtroom."

Josh cleared his throat. "Ms. Grayson... and one
of those men she was dating was your son, Rob. Is that
correct?"

Jillian glanced down at the floor then back up
at Josh. "Well, yes."

"And there is a character in your book named
Ryder, based on your son, who dated the Rebecca character. Isn't
that correct?"

"Yes, it is."

Josh smiled. "I'm going to take you through a
few of the plot points and you just answer yes or no if these
events are, in fact, in the book." He asked snidely, "Can you do
that?"

She fought back an evil look as she replied,
"Yes."

"Mr. Nash admitted to Natalie that he read a
diary entry he believed to be about him, and in your novel Brice
admitted the same fact to Rebecca. Is that correct?"

Jillian grit her teeth quickly then composed
herself. "Yes."

"Miss Brookhart can get into the ballet position
known as 'developpe leg devant ala derriere,' and in your novel,
Rebecca gets into that same position. Is that correct?"

"Yes."

"Mr. Nash met Miss Brookhart at a Super Bowl
party, and in your novel, Brice and Rebecca meet at a party. Is
that correct?"

Jillian gave him a tired look. "Yes." She folded
her arms and leaned back defiantly in her chair.

Josh stared at the jury while wearing a
shit-eating grin as he said, "Miss Brookhart drove to Miami during
Spring Break to see your son, Rob, and in your novel, the Rebecca
character drives—also during Spring Break and also to Miami—to see
your Ryder character. Is that correct?"

Jillian remained back from the microphone as she
said softly, "Yes." Josh returned his eyes to Jillian and waited
with his eyebrows raised. "Could you repeat that?"

She leaned in and said loudly, "Yes, it is."

"All right... And Ms. Grayson,
even the title of the novel,
The Leg
Thing
, is, in fact, derived from the name
of Miss Brookhart's ballet move."

"Well, yes, but—"

"You stole her likeness without her permission
didn't you?" Josh interrupted.

"I did not!"

"Now, isn’t it fair to say that your entire
novel is based on true events surrounding Miss Brookhart's life,
and you made no attempt to secure a release from her to use these
events or her likeness?"

Folding her arms, Jillian stared Josh down. "It
is not fair to say."

"Well, then, how do you explain the title and
the ballet move and the diary and the tennis match and everything
else that—"

"There is one thing
that
is
based on
your Miss Brookhart," Jillian interrupted as her blood
boiled.

"Yes, what's that?" Josh asked.

"My Rebecca character is an anal whore, and so
is your client." The crowd gasped, and the judge gave Jillian a
surprised look. The jury stared gape-mouthed at Jillian as she
breathed heavily while glaring down at Josh as if she wanted to
snap his neck like a twig.

Natalie looked up, appalled, pointed at Jillian
and screamed, "You little bitch!"

Judge Maxwell slammed his gavel into the block
twice. "Miss Brookhart, you will not speak in my courtroom unless
you are in the witness stand."

Natalie stared angrily at Jillian. The judge
asked sternly, "Miss Brookhart, do you understand?"

Natalie shook her head. "She can't call me—"

"Ms. Grayson can say whatever she likes while
she's on the witness stand." Maxwell made a face and shook his head
as he glanced at Jillian. "Even if it's to her detriment." He
returned to Natalie. "Keep your mouth shut now, Miss Brookhart, or
I'll have you removed."

"Yes, Judge." Natalie sat back in her chair and
stared at Jillian like she wanted to pick up the fight right where
they left off in St. Barts.

Judge Maxwell said, "Continue, Mr. Roth."

"Ms. Grayson, so not only did you create a
character solely based on Miss Brookhart, but you also chose to
paint that character in an unflattering light."

"That's not true. The characters in my novels
are usually a combination of my imagination with bits and pieces of
some people I know, have observed, or may have heard about."

Sighing loudly, Josh looked back to Jillian.
"How can you explain all the similarities between Natalie and the
Rebecca character in your novel?"

"Coincidence."

"Coincidence," Josh replied as he nodded his
head just staring back at Jillian. He turned to the jury and
scoffed before repeating, "Just a coincidence."

"Yes," Jillian shot back confidently.

"The diary..." Josh held his fist up and counted
the items off one-by-one on his fingers while speaking loudly with
a sarcastic tone."... the tennis match, the dating of the son, the
trip to Miami... all coincidences."

"That's right."

Josh studied the jurors' skeptical expressions.
He repeated snidely, "Okay." He grinned then turned back to
Jillian.

"Wasn't it true that you were upset when Mr.
Nash left Miami with Miss Brookhart after he had begun an affair
with you while vacationing in your home?"

"We were not having an affair!"

"Not having an affair."

"No, we weren’t."

Josh narrowed his eyes. "So, do you generally go
skinny dipping with men you are not sleeping with?"

Jillian's mouth flew open as she stared back at
Josh. She glanced at Brian, and he shrugged his shoulders,
confused. She returned her gaze to Josh. "How did you—"

"Answer the question."

"We were not sleeping together."

Josh grinned. "So, after you smoked that joint
together, you were not swimming naked in your pool?"

Jillian narrowed her eyes at Josh before
glancing to Stanley for some assistance. He stared back at her,
helplessly shrugging his shoulders.

Glancing down at his legal pad, Josh began,
"It's all in the deposition testimony of a Miss Victoria Tamer...
she is a friend of yours, is she not?"

Jillian glanced to Victoria who returned an
apologetic look and mouthed the word, "Sorry."

Josh repeated, "Is she a friend of yours?"

Jillian paused and then said without a hint of
emotion, "She was."

Several members of the jury chuckled and even
the judge managed a smile.

Josh continued, "Remember, you are under oath,
Ms. Grayson."

After closing her eyes for a moment, Jillian
stared back up at Josh.

He began again, this time in a tired voice,
"After you got high with Mr. Nash, isn’t it true that you swam
naked with him in your pool and were so in love with him and
jealous of Miss Brookhart that when he returned to college, you
began to write a novel based on my client as an attempt to make her
pay for stealing your—"

"All right, the novel is based on her!" Jillian
interrupted with her blood boiling over. "She's a man-hating,
manipulative little bitch. Her name was changed, the college was
changed... no one would have known this had anything to do with her
if she hadn't filed this lawsuit."

Jillian took a quick breath. Everyone stared at
her in complete shock as she continued her rant. "I can't stand
her. She's a money grubbing, lying, spoiled little—" Jillian caught
Stanley Parrish's horrified glare, shut up, and closed her eyes
tight.

Widening his eyes, Josh glanced to the jury. He
turned back to Jillian. "Thank you for your candor, Ms. Grayson."
He smiled brightly as he headed back to the table. "I believe I'm
finished with this witness."

The judge looked at Stanley. "Redirect, Mr.
Parrish?"

"No, Your Honor," Stanley replied
sheepishly.

"You're excused, Ms. Grayson."

Jillian appeared woozy as she stood and made her
way back to her chair. Josh slipped in next to the smiling Natalie,
and they shared an evil smile. Natalie leaned over to Josh, and he
moved his head closer to her. She whispered in his ear, "I've never
wanted to suck a cock more than I do yours right now."

He turned to her with his eyes opened wide.

The judge announced, "Mr. Roth, you can call one
more witness before we break for lunch."