Bryce wasn’t sure whether to believe her or not. “Did you manage to fix it?”
Lateisha shook her head. “Nope. I don’t have a spare. Well, that’s not true. I was riding on my spare and it blew out. My car is on the side of I-95. I had to call my friend Becky to pick me up. I felt even worse because she had to leave work in the middle of her shift.”
Bryce nodded, still not sure about her story. Seconds later a tall, slender, strawberry blond woman came through the door.
“Teish, call me when you’re done and I’ll bring you home.”
Lateisha shook her head vehemently, “I don’t want you missing more work for me. I’ll take the bus.” She waved the woman away dismissively.
“Fine, suit yourself.” The woman who must be Becky answered, shaking her head. “Call me if you need me.”
With that she turned and sauntered out of the building. Lateisha visibly relaxed, as if the disappearance of her friend gave her room to breathe. She looked at Bryce as if waiting for him to take the lead.
“The nurse will be back out in a moment,” Bryce told her, motioning for her to sit in the chair next to him.
“I’m so sorry,” Lateisha said hanging her head in her hands.
Bryce watched her. She seemed every bit the irresponsible college graduate but at the moment he knew he believed her, especially since she looked as if she was going to cry.
“Don’t worry about it. Car trouble is the worst,” Bryce said and she picked her head up and gave him a weak smile.
“Ms. Aaron, the doctor will see you now,” a tiny red-headed nurse said as she peeked her head out of the door leading to the exam rooms.
Lateisha stood, wiping her hands on her pants. Bryce watched her and wondered why she seemed so nervous. Without thinking, Bryce guided her with a hand to the small of her back. Lateisha turned and looked at him with a smile. Her smile took his breath away and he pulled his hand away quickly. This was a slippery slope and if he wanted this surrogacy thing to work he had to keep his distance. Sighing heavily, Bryce followed Lateisha into the exam room, wondering if maybe this wasn’t the right choice for him after all.
*****
Lateisha watched Bryce from the corner of her eye. He sat, his back ramrod straight, in the chair of the exam room. For a moment she was a bit confused as to why he came into the exam room with her, but the doctor assured her she would be clothed for the whole exam. They also wanted to take a bit of blood and a urine sample to make sure she wasn’t already pregnant. Lateisha almost laughed at the implication. You have to actually have sex to be pregnant and that was something she had not done in quite a while, despite the fact that she had just broken up with someone.
“Ready to get started?” The doctor asked, snapping Lateisha from her thoughts.
She nodded.
“Great! I’ll just do a physical of sorts and then have the nurse come in and take some blood.”
Ten minutes later, Lateisha was stepping into the bathroom with a little cup. After that was over the doctor told her it would take three days for her results and they would get back to her.
“I can assure you I am not pregnant,” Lateisha said laughing as she and Bryce walked out of the office.
He laughed, the sexiest sound she ever heard, “I believe you, but I would like to have all of the paperwork in order so there isn’t any issues with the lawyers later.”
Lateisha mulled that over for a minute. Did he suspect she would change her mind and try to take the baby from him? Before she could think further into it she decided to set him straight.
“Don’t worry. I don’t want children so there’s no fear that I will try to keep the baby,” she said, stopping at the curb to turn to him before moving on to the bus stop.
Bryce nodded again, his look pensive. He looked sexy when he was thinking. Lateisha wanted to smack the thought right out of her own head. She repeated the phrase, just a business deal, three times over in her head to clear any thoughts of a relationship with him before turning back to wave goodbye.
“I’m going to catch the bus now. I’ll be in touch once the doctor calls with my test results.” She turned to walk down the street to the nearest bus stop.
Bryce grabbed her arm, “Y
ou don’t have to take the bus. I can drop you at home if you’d like.”
Lateisha shook her head. “It’s alright. I’m used to taking the bus. My old Toyota has been in the shop a lot lately.”
Bryce frowned again but she waved off his worry. “I’ll be fine. Talk to you soon,” she shouted, practically running down the street before he could change her mind. Spending anymore time alone with him at this point would be a bad idea.
*****