Surrogate For The Billionaire: A BWWM Pregnancy Romance (5 page)

“Oh!
Sorry, sir,” he yelped, rolling the partition back into place.

Lateisha
hung her head with mortification and shrugged her dress back on,
stuffing her bra into her purse. She tied the sash quickly without
looking at Bryce.

“Lateisha,
I’m sorry…” He started and she could hear his belt
jingling as he buttoned back up.

Lateisha
shook her head, “It’s fine.”

After
righting their clothes they scooted to opposite sides of the car and
remained silent for the rest of the ride back. When they arrived at
Lateisha’s apartment she whispered her thanks and slipped from
the car. She didn’t look back as she entered the building,
flames heating her face. How could they complete their contract; the
contract she already signed, after what just happened?

*****

Bryce
stared out the window as they approached their destination. He didn’t
want to turn and watch Lateisha slip from the car silently. What had
he been thinking? He was going to jeopardize what he wanted most
right now; a child. Bryce kept telling himself he didn’t have
time to date, or have a girlfriend. There were too many obligations
to fill with his company and everything else he had to fulfill. He
shook his head as he heard Lateisha whisper goodbye. Willing himself
to not turn around, Bryce gave a heavy sigh. At the last minute he
turned just as Lateisha was walking into her building. If letting her
walk away right now was the best thing to do, why did he feel like
such an ass?

“Can
you take me to the office, Gerry?’ Bryce snapped at his driver
with more venom than he meant. It wasn’t Gerry’s fault he
was in a foul mood. If anything he should be thanking Gerry for
interrupting something that could have ruined his goals.

“Certainly,
sir. “ Gerry answered with a questioning look in his eyes when
Bryce caught them in the rearview.

Bryce
looked away, not wanting to explain to himself, let alone someone
else, just how much he felt like a failure. At his age, Bryce’s
father not only had two children and a devoted wife but a
multi-billion dollar company. Bryce only had one and he felt like a
failure. It’s funny how the success he studied so hard to
deserve inheriting was the thing he cared about the least. What Bryce
wouldn’t give to have someone to come home to at night and a
tiny person who looked like him to snuggle with. When he was in
graduate school all Bryce thought about was the company. Lately all
Bryce thought about was a family.

Sighing
heavily for the second time, Bryce exited his car, giving Gerry an
apologetic nod.

“It’s
okay, sir. I’ll see you in a few hours,” Gerry replied.

Bryce
told Gerry he would call him and entered the now deserted building.
The only people in the building at this hour on a Friday evening were
Bryce and the night security guard at the front desk. Bryce waved and
said hello then headed toward the bank of elevators that led to the
top floor. Using his key card, Bryce pressed the number sixteen after
swiping it and rode the elevator up. He refused to think about
Lateisha, but the way she felt against him, the way she tasted,
wouldn’t leave his mind. Shifting uncomfortably and adjusting
his dress pants around his growing erection, Bryce stepped from the
elevator and headed toward his office. Maybe a few hours of honest
work would clear his mind. If not, he wasn’t sure what he would
do about the surrogacy situation.

*****

Lateisha
hurried into her room, hoping that Becky was still at work. She
stripped off the dress and threw it on the floor of her closet. Not
wearing a bra reminded her of what happened in the limo and she
groaned; partially from embarrassment and partially from unfulfilled
arousal. She needed another shower and to go to sleep. Tiptoeing past
Becky’s door, just in case, Lateisha went into the bathroom and
started the shower. Five minutes in she heard a door slam; Becky was
home. Waiting to exit the shower until she was sure Becky was in her
room, Lateisha shut the shower off and towel dried her skin. Just as
she was wrapping the towel around herself, Becky entered the
bathroom.

“So,
how was the ‘date’ with baby daddy?” Becky asked,
rolling her eyes.

Lateisha
frowned, “Just leave it be, Becky. I’m not in the mood.”

Becky
shrugged. “Fine, suit yourself. But don’t come crying to
me when it all blows up in your face,” she said and turned on
her heel, walking into her room and slamming the door.

Lateisha
flinched at the loud bang of the door slamming. She dressed quickly
and climbed into bed. Maybe sleep would help make everything clearer.
Maybe sleep would make her feel like this whole thing was a good
idea.

*****

The sun
was so bright the next morning Lateisha could see it through her
eyelids. Blinking awake, and then throwing her hand over her eyes to
cover the offending sun, she turned over, loath to wake up today. The
humiliation, as well as the way she felt when Bryce had his mouth on
her nipple, came back to her and she whimpered. How could she ever
show her face around him without thinking about that moment? Just as
she had decided to let herself doze off for a bit longer; she didn’t
have to work until noon, her phone rang. Growling with irritation she
grabbed it from the nightstand and answered it, without checking to
see who it was first.

“What?”
She barked, tired and sexually frustrated made for a terrible mood.

“Lateisha?”
It was Bryce.

Shit!

“Bryce!”
She exclaimed, sitting straight up in bed. The one time she didn’t
screen her calls she received a call from the one person she wanted
to avoid.

“That’s
me,” he said with a slight nervous laugh.

Lateisha
smiled, he was so sexy when he wasn’t even trying to be. No
those thoughts would just get her in trouble again.

“What
can I help you with at this ungodly hour of the morning, Bryce?”
Lateisha asked.

“It’s
ten am, Lateisha. I’ve been up since five,” he said with
a chuckle.

Lateisha’s
face heated. “Well we don’t all have multi-million dollar
companies to run in the morning now do we?”

“No,
I guess not. And it’s a multi-billion dollar company.” He
added with another laugh.

“Oh,
excuse me.”

“Anyway,
I’m calling to see when you will be available to start the
insemination process. As I mentioned last night, I’d really
like to get this on the road, so to speak,” Bryce said, his
voice growing serious.

Lateisha
paused for a moment. Did he really want to continue this process
after last night?

“Bryce,
I, well, I just thought that, I mean, after last night…”
Lateisha stumbled over her words unable to put together a coherent
sentence.

“It’s
okay, Lateisha. We both made a mistake. The dinner atmosphere made it
feel like a date and we both got carried away. That doesn’t
mean I don’t want to continue.” He assured her in a stern
voice.

A
mistake? Clearly Lateisha misinterpreted Bryce’s signals last
night. She was just at the right place at the right time. She wasn’t
anyone special. A pang, of what she wasn’t sure, sliced through
her chest but she maintained her composure.

“Right.
Okay then. I’m off tomorrow if you’d like to make the
appointment.”

They
discussed time and where to meet and Lateisha hung up the phone.
Sighing, she decided to get up and get ready for work. Bryce made her
feel like a slacker.

*****

The
next morning Lateisha set her alarm for six and even managed to get
up. The appointment was for eight, at her insistence, and she didn’t
want to be late. She made a point of telling Bryce to make the
appointment at eight so he wouldn’t think all she did was sleep
until noon; even if that’s what she did most days. Today the
sun was just as bright but for some reason her mood was not. Not
wanting to send Bryce mixed signals, she dressed in a plain white
shirt and dark jeans, choosing to pair it with black sandals. Nodding
at her appearance in the mirror, she grabbed her purse from the
dresser and headed downstairs. Becky was in the kitchen making coffee
and Lateisha hid the frown that broke out on her face when she saw
her. Becky would ask her where she was going so early and Lateisha
did not feel like this conversation.

“Good
morning,” Lateisha mumbled, reaching into the cabinet for a
bowl.

“Wow,
what are you doing up so early?” Becky asked, slapping her hand
over her mouth quickly when she realized what she had said.

“Ha
ha, ‘Lateisha is a lazy bum,’” she muttered without
answering Becky’s question.

“Teish,
I didn’t say that and you know it. I just don’t think
I’ve seen you up so early since nursing school,”

Lateisha
sighed, “Sorry, I’m a bit on edge today.”

“Why?
Where are you going?” Becky asked, pouring more coffee into her
cup.

Lateisha
turned away from her and headed to the fridge to retrieve the milk.
She took her time pouring some Fruity Pebbles into a bowl and pouring
the milk over them. Carrying it to the table, she sat down and began
to eat, still not answering the question.

“I
don’t know how you eat all of that sugary crap every day and
still stay so thin. And you didn’t answer my question,”
Becky all but scolded her.

“Fruity
Pebbles are bomb,” Lateisha said laughing. “And where I’m
going is none of your concern.”

Becky
cocked an eyebrow at her, “Shit, Teish, It’s today isn’t
it? He’s going to put a baby inside of you today.”

Lateisha
grimaced, “That sounds crude, Becky. It’s a medical
procedure. It’s not like I’m going to have sex with him.”

Becky
nodded, “I’m a nurse, and I know how it works. But this
whole thing just rubs me the wrong way.”

“Well
then I guess it’s a good thing you aren’t going to be his
surrogate then,” Lateisha snapped, standing and tossing her
cereal bowl in the sink and storming out of the house.

This
was hard enough for her as it was, she didn’t need Becky to
make it worse.

Sitting
in the exam room, alone, waiting for the doctor was so nerve wracking
for Lateisha. She nervously tapped her foot against the little ledge
of the exam table, trying to keep her mind off of what was going to
happen. Well, what
might
be going to happen. The doctor told
her she needed an ultrasound to determine if she was ovulating or
about to ovulate before they could do insemination. The doctor said
it was promising that she had her period two weeks before but that
not all women had twenty-eight day cycles. Lateisha, despite being a
nurse, knew nothing about all of that. She was trained as an ER or
trauma nurse but did some specializing in geriatrics and pediatrics
and none of that involved the reproductive system.

Running
a hand over her tight curls, Lateisha sighed. This was taking
entirely too long and her nerves couldn’t withstand it. She
retrieved her phone from her purse and texted Becky.

Lateisha:
I’m so sorry. I’m just a bit frazzled about all of this.

Becky:
It’s okay. I was a bit of a bitch.

Lateisha: You were, but I love you anyway.


After
she cleared the air with Becky, she decided to check on Facebook to
see what was up with her high school friends. Twenty minutes later
she realized they were doing better than she was, even the ones
without college degrees. Cursing silently under her breath, she put
away her phone and frowned. Maybe after all of this was over she
would focus more on her career. Maybe.

“Lateisha
Aaron?” The doctor came in and shook her hand, “I’m
Dr. Gates.”

“Yes,”
Lateisha answered, relieved that someone finally came in. “The
nurse told me that you have to perform an ultrasound and exam first?”

“Yes,
I’d like to make sure you aren’t too late in your cycle
before we do this. I’m surprised you and your husband didn’t
come in for a checkup first before you decided to do IUI,” The
doctor replied, motioning for Lateisha to lie down.

“Oh
he’s not my husband, we, I mean I…” Lateisha
paused, unsure of what to say. “I’m just carrying a baby
for him, that’s all,” Lateisha said with a little more
sadness in her voice than she should have allowed; than she should
have felt.

The
doctor nodded but didn’t respond. It was for the best she
didn’t because Lateisha wasn’t sure what else she could
have said. Lateisha lay back and stared at the ceiling during the
exam. When the doctor was done she rolled in the ultrasound machine
and checked to see if Lateisha was ovulating.

“Well,
I have good news!” The doctor exclaimed, clicking the machine
off.

“I
can’t wait,” Lateisha said dryly.

The
doctor chuckled as if it was the most hilarious thing she heard all
day. “You are just about to ovulate so the insemination should
go off without a hitch.”

Lateisha
nodded as the doctor left the room to inform Bryce.
Here goes
nothing.

*****

Bryce
sat in the waiting room brooding. He wasn’t sure why he was so
surly this morning, except for maybe sexual frustration after what
happened the other night. Lateisha looked gorgeous again this morning
when he walked into the doctor’s office and saw her sitting
there. She was dressed plainly but it didn’t matter. To him she
looked like a million, or possibly a billion, bucks. Growling with
frustration, Bryce rubbed a hand over his face, unhappy to find
stubble forming. He didn’t know why he skipped his shave this
morning but being here on time to meet Lateisha felt more important.
Now he was regretting how scruffy he looked. With his hair still in
need of a cut and his face full of stubble, Bryce didn’t
recognize himself in the mirror across the room. Shaking his head he
sat back, only to see the doctor come through the exam room doors and
head toward him. Bryce stood up quickly, bumping his knee on the
chair’s arm as he went. Stifling a curse, he stood up straight,
pushing his unkempt hair back from his forehead.