Surrogate For The Billionaire: A BWWM Pregnancy Romance (8 page)

“Lateisha, wait!” Bryce yelled, jogging to catch her
before she entered the elevator.

“What?” She asked, the sheen of unshed tears in her
eyes.

“At least let my driver bring you home. I’ll have him
come to collect you and your things to move into the penthouse
tomorrow morning.”

Lateisha sighed heavily, turning her head up to the ceiling for a
moment. “I didn’t realize you still wanted me to move
in.”

Bryce moved closer, and despite everything he just told himself he
cupped her cheek. She flinched and backed away. Bryce dropped his
hand.

“You could still be pregnant. If we find out that you aren’t
in two weeks, you can move out and I’ll void the contract,”
he said, regret gripping his heart. Why was it so hard to let her go?

Lateisha nodded. “Okay. But can I ride home alone. I need some
time,” she said with pleading eyes.

Bryce nodded and she turned and stepped into the elevator. He had a
horrible feeling he just lost her forever and until now he didn’t
even know he wanted her.

*****

Lateisha waited until she was in the back of the limo before she
cried. Why did she give in and let her body get away from her mind?
Bryce looked disgusted with what happened afterwards. It was probably
that he couldn’t believe he lowered himself to have sex with a
woman without direction who worked in a fast food restaurant. He said
it himself right before. She wasn’t good enough for him, but
she must be good enough to carry his baby. Fighting back another sob,
Lateisha covered her mouth. This wasn’t like her, she didn’t
cry; especially not over a man. But Bryce wasn’t just any man.
Lateisha did what she had to do to get by, just like her mother
taught her. But lately all she wanted was to see Bryce. That
revelation set off a new round of crying and it went that way until
she got home. Lateisha thanked Gerry as she stepped out and he told
her he’d be back tomorrow. Lateisha groaned at the idea of
moving in with Bryce but knew she didn’t have a choice. Once
this baby was born, she was gone. For some reason the idea of leaving
Bryce left her heart aching.

Slipping into her apartment, Lateisha checked to see if Becky was
home. Relieved that she seemed to be out for the night, Lateisha
showered and slipped into bed, hoping that when she woke up the silly
notion of being with Bryce was dissipated from her head.

*****

Lateisha’s move in to Bryce’s house went without
incident. He gave her a room on the other side of his penthouse,
probably so he didn’t have to see her. But it was just as well
for her, because then she didn’t have to be reminded of that
disastrous night. The days seemed to go by quickly, with work and her
new found job hunting and before Lateisha knew it, two weeks had
passed. Today was her day off and the scheduled appointment with the
doctor to see if the insemination took. Bryce was going to meet her
there from the office. Besides a few hellos and goodbyes they hadn’t
spoken much over the past couple of weeks and despite her resolve to
keep calm, Lateisha was nervous. Butterflies assaulted her stomach as
she entered the office, her eyes immediately finding Bryce.
Pretending to be calm she walked up to him and sat down, a seat
between them, and nodded in his direction.

“Hello, Lateisha,” Bryce said properly. Lateisha noticed
his newly short hair cut and freshly shaved jaw. The old Bryce was
back, Mr. Prim and Proper. For some reason that made her sad.

“Hi,” she mumbled, looking down at her phone so she
wouldn’t have to talk to him.

After several minutes of awkward silence, the nurse called her back
to take a pregnancy test. She had to pee in a cup and get blood
taken; the blood draw to confirm the results of the pee test.
Afterwards, she waited in an exam room. Glad to be out of Bryce’s
scrutiny, she opened her email and began to search through job
listings. Frustration built and she decided to close the web browser
after a few minutes of finding nothing. Maybe nursing wasn’t
for her? Nothing about the job was appealing and she mentally kicked
herself for wasting four years in college and accruing countless
student loan debts on a career she didn’t want. Lateisha’s
mom was a nurse and told her it would be a great, well paying and
stable job for her. Unfortunately Lateisha hated it and would have
much rather went to culinary school, but her mother told her that was
a bad idea. Of course she ended up working with food anyway, in the
crappiest way possible.

The door creaked open and pulled Lateisha from her thoughts.
Assuming it was the nurse her heart sped up. Despite all that would
happen if she was pregnant, she wasn’t hoping it was negative
and that scared her a bit. But it wasn’t the nurse, it was
Bryce.

“Hey,” she said, waving weakly.

Bryce smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes and sat down in the
chair next to the exam table.

“Lateisha, I…” he started.

Lateisha held up her hand to stop his sentence. “It’s
okay, Bryce. I’m fine. I don’t really feel like talking
right now.”

Bryce sighed heavily and looked away, running a hand through his
hair. Lateisha almost laughed because he messed up his perfectly
gelled hair and a short lock fell over his eye. Without thinking she
reached over and brushed it away. Bryce gasped, grabbing her wrist as
he did. That was the first time they had touched since the night they
had sex in his office. Lateisha’s breathing picked up, the spot
where he held her arm throbbing with awareness. Electricity sizzled
between them and for a long while they stayed like that, staring each
other in the eye. Lateisha wasn’t sure what this feeling was,
or why Bryce was the one that evoked it in her but she knew it was
dangerous. If they kept up this way, dancing around one another only
to fall again and again into the passion, they would break each other
in the end. It was too much, and too intense. But if that was true,
why did Lateisha not want to let him go? Not now and not after she
had his baby.

*****

Bryce looked at his hand wrapped around Lateisha’s dainty
wrist. He longed to bring her hand to his mouth and kiss the palm.
But that would be a disaster. It would only lead to what happened
that night in his office and Bryce wasn’t sure that was a good
idea. They were from different backgrounds, they had different goals,
it wasn’t meant for them to be together. If that was the case,
why did everything feel so right with Lateisha? Sighing with
frustration, Bryce finally let go of Lateisha’s wrist and
leaned back into the chair. He could see her chest rise and fall in
panting breaths and knew his own mirrored it.

“Lateisha,” he said again; not sure what he was going to
say but knew he needed to say something.

She shook her head and looked at her hands. Seconds later, before
Bryce could attempt to speak again, the nurse and doctor came into
the room.

“Congratulations, you two. You’re going to have a baby!”
The doctor exclaimed and stood back waiting for them to react.

Bryce looked over at Lateisha, who was staring at him with surprise.
This was it, she was having his baby. Bryce wanted a child to call
his own for so long and never imagined the woman that came with it.
Suddenly raising this baby without Lateisha didn’t seem right.

Lateisha couldn’t get the look of surprise off of her face at
the doctor’s news. Everyone in the room was staring at her
waiting for her to respond but she couldn’t. How did a person
respond to something like this? She was having a baby with a man, but
even though biologically it was hers, the baby wasn’t
hers.
Something about that made a large lump form in Lateisha’s
throat and she had to clear it to make it disappear. Why was she sad?
She didn’t want children. A scary thought niggled at the back
of her mind but Lateisha was afraid to even think about it. Arranging
her features so as not to give away the way she felt, Lateisha
cleared her throat again to speak.

“That’s great! I’m so happy for you, Bryce.”
She stood, and wrapped him in her arms.

He stiffened and Lateisha released him, only he didn’t let her
go. She pulled back, and their eyes met. The look in his eyes was
back, and she wasn’t sure how she felt about it. The need to
pull away from him was strong but he wasn’t letting her go.
From the corner of her eye she could see the doctor and nurse looking
at them strangely. What was he doing?

“Bryce?” She whispered, looking him dead in the eyes.

“I’m so sorry.” He finally spoke, releasing the
grip he had on her.

“Well, we will give you two a minute. When you’re ready
come to the front desk and we will make a few prenatal appointments,
etc.” The doctor said, hurrying the nurse from the room.

Great, now we are scaring the office staff with our strange
relationship
, Lateisha thought.

She looked at Bryce, who had backed away from her and was gathering
his briefcase to leave.

“I meant what I said, you know,” Lateisha started,
moving towards him. “I’m happy you’re going to get
your baby.”

“Our baby,” Bryce said, which was followed with a look
of shock on his own face. “I mean, if it wasn’t for you,
there wouldn’t be a baby.”

Turmoil and emotion clogged Lateisha’s throat again. The
thought that plagued her when the doctor announced that they were
having a baby resurfaced; could it be that she wanted this baby
because it was hers and Bryce’s?

*****

Our baby?
Bryce thought, mentally kicking himself.

What was he thinking? That’s the problem, he wasn’t
thinking. When the doctor told them that Lateisha was pregnant, all
Bryce could think was ‘we’re having a baby’. But
they weren’t, not really. Lateisha was having a baby to give to
him and then she would walk out of his life forever. A pang gripped
his gut but he ignored it. This was business; he didn’t have
time for complications. From the corner of his eye, he watched
Lateisha as he bent to gather his briefcase. She looked sad. He
stood; ready to comfort her against his better judgment, but when he
looked at her again the expression was gone. Had he imagined it?

“Are you ready?” She asked, pulling the door open.

Bryce nodded and followed behind her to the reception desk. Lateisha
made three of her next appointments and one for an ultrasound in a
month and they headed out the door.

“Do you need a ride?” Bryce asked, secretly hoping she
would take him up on it this time.

Lateisha shook her head. “I have to work, I’m going to
take the bus right there.”

“If you’re sure…” Bryce began; he didn’t
like her taking the bus alone in the city.

“I’m okay. I just need some time to myself.” She
turned and walked away from him before he could ask her why.

*****

Lateisha shook her head as she boarded the bus. The change she
deposited clinked its way into the machine and she walked down the
narrow aisle and found a seat. Why did she tell him that? Bryce made
her speak too freely about what she was thinking, even when she tried
to hide it from him. Frowning, she opened the baby app she downloaded
while waiting at the bus stop. She put in the date of the IUI to find
her due date; it was the same as the one the doctor gave her; April
fifteenth. Fighting the urge to rub her belly, she tucked her phone
back into her purse and stared straight ahead. She didn’t
really have to work, she only told Bryce that so that he wouldn’t
insist on driving her back to the penthouse. Knowing Bryce he was
headed back to the office and wouldn’t be back until eight
o’clock or later, so Lateisha had no worries that he would find
her at home when she told him otherwise. Resting her head back on the
seat, Lateisha closed her eyes for a moment, exhaustion gripping her
like a claw, and thought about her situation. Despite her feelings
for Bryce, Lateisha knew she had to remain professional, or she would
lose more than just a baby, she would lose her heart.

*****

The next four weeks passed in the same fashion as the previous two,
Lateisha went to work and came home, searched for jobs and went to
sleep. She rarely saw Bryce, and when she did they mostly just
exchanged pleasantries. While not showing a baby bump just yet,
Lateisha was sporting some mean nausea and exhaustion. There were
days where getting through work was a struggle for her because she
was either too tired to move or too nauseous to serve food. Vomiting
in the break room bathroom became a normal lunch time routine. That
particular day, after vomiting upon arrival, and after lunch,
Lateisha was taking fifteen with a cold paper towel on her head and a
large Coke in her hand; the carbonation helped to ease the nausea.
Barely looking at her phone she dialed Becky’s number from
memory.

“Hey, girl.” Becky answered on the second ring, her
cheery voice piercing through Lateisha’s pounding head.

“Hey,” she answered, removing the now warm paper towel
and tossing it in the trash.

“You sound awful,” Becky mentioned with a laugh.

“I don’t feel so hot either,” Lateisha swigged her
soda and almost threw it back up.

“Morning sickness?” Becky asked, an edge of disdain in
her voice

Ever since Lateisha moved into Bryce’s penthouse and told
Becky she was pregnant, Becky had been angry with her. They still
talked almost every day, but their relationship was definitely
strained.

Lateisha sighed, “You don’t know the half of it.”

“It’s a good thing he’s paying you,” Becky
grumbled.

Lateisha balked, never once in the last six weeks had she thought
about the money. Odd but all she wanted was for Bryce to be happy.
She decided not to answer Becky’s smart remark and they talked
for several minutes about random things. Lateisha hung up and took
another sip of soda, slower this time. Her nausea was easing for now
and she was starving. Unfortunately she still had another hour left
of work.