Surrogate For The Billionaire: A BWWM Pregnancy Romance (2 page)

“Can
I help you?” Ms. Power Trip asked.

“I’m
looking for Mr. Henderson, he’s expecting me,” Lateisha
said trying to hold back the rude remark on the tip of her tongue. Of
course Ms. Power Trip knew she was supposed to be there, the woman in
the lobby called up.

“Right,
and you are?” Power Trip asked with a note of condescension.

Lateisha
frowned, biting back the comment for a second time. She needed this
money and didn’t want to jeopardize it because of some bitchy
receptionist.

“Lateisha
Aaron. I told this all to the woman down…”

The
blonde bitch held up her finger at Lateisha like she was a child,
“Yes. Well take a seat he will be right with you.”

Lateisha
took a deep breath and cursed under her breath. This was bullshit and
she didn’t have time for snooty, rich assholes. On the verge of
leaving she turned towards the glass double doors, poised to grip the
handle.

“Lateisha?”
A man said, the hint of a British accent just under the surface of
his deep voice.

Lateisha
turned, her face distorting with surprise at the person attached to
the voice.
That
was Mr. Henderson? He was at least
six-foot-two, with light brown hair grazing his forehead, hazel eyes
and the looks of a GQ model. Momentarily frozen in place by the
revelation that Mr. Henderson was not a sixty-five year old man,
Lateisha stood in front of the doors, her jaw practically touching
the floor. Why did she think he was an old guy? Maybe she was
thinking that because what kind of hot guy in his twenties would want
to have a baby by surrogate?

Finding
her voice, finally, Lateisha spoke up, “Hi Mr. Henderson, it’s
a pleasure to meet you.” Lateisha stepped up and offered her
hand.

“Please,
call me Bryce,” He said, shaking her hand with a tight grip.
“Please come with me,” He added, turning and starting
down a short hall and into another doorway.

Lateisha
followed, her anxiety temporarily dissipating as she watched his
tight ass bunch underneath his designer suit as he walked. Heat
flooded her body and she thought she must be going insane. This
situation was strange enough and now she was picturing the man whose
child she was planning on carrying naked. Shaking her head in disgust
at herself, Lateisha walked into the impeccably decorated office and
planted her ass in one of two chairs sitting in front of his desk.

“I’m
so glad you responded to my ad,” Bryce said, collecting forms
on his large desk into a pile. “Tell me a bit about yourself.”

Lateisha
swallowed with anxiety.
Here goes nothing,
she thought.

*****

Bryce
watched the woman fidget in her seat. She was young, at least several
years younger than he was, but her deep brown eyes captivated him. He
wasn’t sure what it was about her; she wasn’t model
gorgeous, but she had a light about her that made him feel drawn to
her. Bryce sat for a moment and stared at her as she smoothed her
hands down her white blouse. The contrast of her caramel colored skin
and the color of the blouse were stunning. Realizing that he was
staring, Bryce shook his head to get the distraction of his
attraction to her to dissipate. This was business, that’s all.

Clearing
her throat she began to talk, “I’m twenty-one, and I
recently graduated college with a bachelor’s degree in
nursing.”

“What
hospital do you work for?” Bryce asked, his pen poised above a
note pad ready to write everything down.

“I,
uh, I don’t work for a hospital,” Lateisha mumbled, her
voice lowering.

“Oh,
nursing home then?”

“No,
I’m not actually practicing right now. I work at McDonald’s
until I find something that fits my needs,” Her chin jutted out
stubbornly as she added the last part as if she were waiting for
Bryce to judge her.

He hid
a smirk, she sure was a spit fire, “Okay then. How many hours a
week do you work?”

Lateisha
answered his question, along with several others and Bryce was
relatively satisfied with her answers. Sure she didn’t make a
lot of money or live in a large place but he was going to be covering
her living and medical expensive while pregnant so that wasn’t
a problem. She talked extensively about how healthy her family was
and even had a living great-grandmother who was close to one hundred
years old. The only thing that troubled him was the fast food
restaurant. Bryce silently wondered if she ate a lot of the crap they
sell at that place. Keeping his baby healthy was important and he
didn’t think consuming massive amounts of junk food while
pregnant would achieve that. Lateisha was also quite directionless
when it came to work and her future and she seemed quite happy to
keep working at the fast food restaurant for the duration. Not that
it was any of his business but he wasn’t sure if that would
carry over to the way she took care of herself while she was carrying
his child.

“Before
we agree to anything,” Bryce added, “I’d like for
you to get a physical by my doctor just to determine if you are
healthy enough to carry a baby and there are no underlying medical
issues that will cause an issue with a pregnancy. After that we will
meet again and sign all of the paperwork, depending on the results.”

Lateisha
nodded. “Okay sounds good,” She said standing and
adjusting her black slacks.

They
shook hands again and Bryce handed her his business card. “If
you have any other questions for me, don’t hesitate to email or
call.”

Bryce
silently hoped she would check out and he would finally be able to
become a dad.

*****

Lateisha
started out of the office and Bryce followed behind. She turned with
confusion, opening her mouth to say something and then closing it.
Being polite and proper seemed important to him and she needed that
thirty-thousand.

“I’ll
walk you to the lobby if you don’t mind? I have a dinner
meeting anyway.” He said.

That
was when she realized he was carrying his briefcase and had shrugged
into his suit jacket. When did he do that?

“Sure.
I don’t mind,” Lateisha replied, standing taller and
trying not to fidget with her uncomfortable dress clothing.

They
filed into the elevator and Lateisha pressed against the wall on the
right side. Instead of moving further away, Bryce stood next to her,
his arm brushing her shoulder. Lateisha ignored the feeling of
electricity that shot through her at the contact. Bryce Henderson was
not the type of guy she usually went for. He was too buttoned up and
proper. Besides, this was a business deal and she didn’t want
to complicate it with sex or whatever it was she felt for him.
Lateisha broke the contact, leaning further into the wall of the
elevator. Bryce shifted a bit to the left, seeming to need the
distance as much as she did. Lateisha didn’t risk looking at
him, afraid of what he would say or do. The elevator reached the
lobby and they both went for the doors at the same time, their bodies
brushing against one another again.

“Sorry,”
Lateisha muttered, stepping back to let Bryce go through.

“Ladies
first,” he said, and Lateisha couldn’t help the flutter
her stomach gave at his accent and the way his hand rested on the
small of her back, leading her from the elevator.

Get
yourself together,
Lateisha thought mentally kicking herself. She
was going to ruin her chances with this surrogacy and the money she
desperately needed. She could barely make ends meet as it was with
the job at McDonald’s and her job prospects were pretty much
non-existent; not that she was looking all that hard. Lateisha sighed
and started towards the door, overly aware that Bryce was behind her
as she exited the double doors to the sidewalk.

“Well,
I’ll be in touch about the doctor’s appointment,”
Bryce said, gesturing to the town car in front of him as if that was
his ride.

“Right,
just let me know,” Lateisha answered, more flustered than she
wanted to be.

Bryce
waved and then slid into the car. Lateisha turned to walk the
opposite way down the street. A horn beeped and she jumped. The town
car was stopped at the curb right next to her. Bryce rolled down the
deeply tinted windows, his face slowly coming into view.

Lateisha
almost laughed at the absurdity. She felt like she was Carrie in
Sex
and the City
and he was Mr. Big.

“Can
I help you?” She smirked, propping her hand on her hip.

Bryce
chuckled and Lateisha’s heart flip flopped. It was the sexiest
sound she ever heard.

“I
didn’t mean to startle you. I just wanted to ask if you needed
a ride. After I got in the car I realized how rude it was to just
leave you standing on the sidewalk.” Bryce said, gesturing for
her to get in the car as he slid across the seat to the opposite
side.

“I’m
headed downtown to work,” Lateisha said with embarrassment. The
last thing she wanted was for him to take her to her job at the fast
food place.

“That’s
not too far out of my way. Hop in, I’ll take you.” Bryce
insisted, pushing the door opened and scooting back to the other
side.

Lateisha
sighed; she didn’t feel like arguing. She gripped the door and
pulled it open, sliding onto the leather seats and clutching her
purse to her stomach. Glancing at Bryce, Lateisha’s stomach
flipped with nerves. He turned and smiled at her waiting for her to
give him directions to her job. She rattled it off from memory and
sat back against the leather seats. Lateisha never felt this
flustered or confused about anything. How would she get through nine
months with him if she could barely manage a car ride down town?

By the
time they reached Lateisha’s job her stomach was a mess of
jitters. They rode the seven blocks in silence, and Lateisha wasn’t
sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

“This
is it,” She said pointing, reaching for the door handle before
the car even stopped.

She
needed some air.

“I’ll
be in touch about the appointment,” Bryce said, flashing his
thousand watt smile again. Lateisha melted on the inside but tried to
fight it.

“Of
course. Talk to you soon,” She replied stepping from the car
quickly.

Lateisha
didn’t look back; afraid she would see disgust in his eyes.

Lateisha
wiped a greasy gloved hand over her forehead. The kitchen felt like a
furnace tonight and her shift was still three hours from being over.
She scooped the fries into a cardboard basket and dropped them into a
bag. Next went the burger, so greasy it was seeping through the
paper. Grimacing with disgust, Lateisha knew she would never eat
McDonald’s again. But she could sure go for some Taco Bell
right about now. Her stomach grumbled with hunger and she glanced at
the clock for the fifteenth time in a half hour. Still three hours
left. Frowning with frustration, Lateisha snatched the bag from the
stainless steel counter and brought it to the pickup window. She
smiled when the woman handed her the money and passed her the bag; it
wasn’t the customer’s fault she wasn’t happy with
her job.

For the
next hour, Lateisha worked hard, wishing for a moment to relax and
regretting taking someone else’s shift at the last minute. That
meant four hours of extra work. Stifling a yawn, Lateisha spoke into
the head set.

“Can
I help you?” She asked for the two hundredth time that day.

“Uh,
yes, I’d like a number three,” The man said. The voice
sounded awfully familiar.

“What
kind of drink?” Lateisha asked from memory. She focused on
putting the order into the computer as the man spoke, the familiarity
of his voice causing her mind to spin. Who was it?

“I’ll
just have a Coke,” He answered, the pronunciation of the
sentence proper and almost British.

Lateisha
froze mid type. It was him; Bryce. Despite her best efforts, Lateisha
was mortified.

“Pull
around please,” She said, wishing to disappear.

A last
frantic look around in an effort to find someone to take over the
window was met with shrugs and shaking heads.

Dammit!

She did
not want Bryce to see her like this. Sure he knew she worked at a
fast food restaurant but that didn’t mean he had to see it
close up; the hair net and silly hat specifically. Lateisha shuddered
as she gathered the food and placed it into a bag. Pushing the window
open she looked down at Bryce, his smiling face looking up at her
from the Town Car. She resisted the urge to pat the hair net, not
wanting to draw attention to it.

“Hello,”
he said, the hint of British accent making it sound like
hallo.

“Hi,”
Lateisha said with chagrin, her hand reaching up to the hat; so much
for not drawing attention to it.

Bryce’s
eyes followed the movements of her hand and Lateisha stifled a
cringe. Quickly removing her hand, Lateisha handed him the bag. Bryce
passed her a few bills and she made change.

“I’m
sorry to drop in on you unannounced. I just wanted to see you.”

Lateisha
frowned. “What?”

“Where
you work I mean,” he added quickly, a strange look passing over
his face. Before Lateisha could identify it, the look was gone.

“Right.
Well this is it. Lovely isn’t it?” Lateisha joked, waving
her hand around like she was showing him a mansion.

Bryce
chuckled and Lateisha ignored the flutter in her stomach. This was so
wrong on many levels.

“That
it is,” Bryce answered, looking at her oddly. He shook his head
and his face changed, as if remembering something. Or remembering how
he knew her maybe. “I spoke to the doctor. I’ve made an
appointment for you tomorrow at ten if that’s alright?”

Lateisha
nodded, “I don’t work until four so that’s fine.
Why didn’t you just call?”