What was happening? Before she could think, Bryce took her hand and led her to a table. The butterflies returned at the touch of his hand on her elbow. It felt electric; his touch and the air around them. It didn’t help matters that their table was secluded from most of the other patrons. Bryce helped her into her chair, pulling it out and pushing it in once she sat. Her heart pounded against her rib cage. This wasn’t right, the way she felt. It was too much. Maybe this whole thing was a bad idea. Lateisha opened her mouth to tell Bryce just that when he leaned down, his lips crushing into hers. Then all thoughts were obliterated from her mind.
Chapter 3
For a moment, or maybe a few, Lateisha was lost in the kiss. She didn’t want to let go, she didn’t want to pull back. It felt good, it felt right. Then she remembered who he was, where they were and why.
“Wait,” she gasped, pulling back from Bryce.
“Oh,” he said, almost as if he was surprised at his own action, “I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright,” Lateisha said sitting back and straightening her dress.
“No, I crossed a line. I’m sorry. There’s no excuse for me,” Bryce said, sitting up straighter and adjusting his suit jacket even though he was perfectly arranged.
Lateisha shook her head. “Please don’t worry about it. The whole dinner atmosphere, it blurred the lines a bit,” she said waving his apology off.
Bryce nodded and picked up the menu. “Everything here is excellent. Have you ever been?” Then his eyes widened as he remembered Lateisha’s current money situation.
Lateisha sighed, they were five minutes into their dinner and already it was fucked up. How was she going to make it nine months this way?
Determined to redeem the ‘date’ she smiled, “Can’t say that I have. I’m more of a ‘you want fries with that’ kind of girl.”
Bryce’s face turned beet red but he laughed in spite of it. “Right. Well I’m afraid they don’t have fries here so you’ll have to order something a bit different for a side.”
Lateisha laughed a little too loud. Finally the ice was broken. Bryce told her which dishes were the best and when the waiter came he ordered them a bottle of wine and their meals. Lateisha could get used to being wined and dined. Of course, this was all business, as she liked to remind herself every chance she could get. They wouldn’t live ‘happily ever after’ in his Upper East Side penthouse. This wasn’t a fucking romantic comedy. Lateisha almost gave one of her unladylike snorts at the irony of her situation, but making the best of things was what Lateisha did best. After several minutes of silence, Bryce reached into his briefcase he had placed under the table when he sat down. He pulled a stack of papers out and set it on the table.
“Well, let’s get started,” he said, gesturing towards the papers.
“Right, the contract,” Lateisha replied. For some reason the talk of the contract brought her mood down.
Bryce seemed to have sensed it and his demeanor changed. Sitting up even straighter, if that was at all possible considering his posture was better than the Queens Guards, he began to shuffle his papers.
“Ok. So I have the contract for the surrogacy, the contract to keep yourself healthy and the, um, signing away of your parental rights form,” Bryce pulled at his collar as if he was choking from his starched white shirt.
Lateisha stifled a smile. This had to be awkward for him. Lateisha hated all of the seriousness and felt that she should lighten the mood. But she wasn’t sure how Bryce would take it so she closed her mouth tightly.
“I’ll let you look them over a minute before you sign,” he said, pushing the papers across the table.
Lateisha nodded. It was all too much. “You’re acting like I’m signing papers to have myself euthanized,” she said with a smirk.
Bryce choked on the water he had just taken a large gulp of. “I guess it’s not all that bad, eh?” He said after a massive coughing fit.
Lateisha covered her mouth with her hand to stifle the laughter bubbling in her chest. He was so buttoned up and proper that ruffling his feathers was so easy she barely broke a sweat.
“Not at all,” she answered, with only a hint of laughter, and reached for the papers.
While they waited for the food to come, Lateisha read through the papers. Everything was drawn
up by Bryce’s lawyers and seemed okay to her. The relinquishing of parental rights form stopped her short though. She hadn’t really thought this part through as well as she probably should have. This would be her child by blood, hers and Bryce’s. The thought made her stomach flutter but she pushed the feeling aside. It was business, they didn’t have a relationship. And besides, she didn’t even want kids. Did she? Shaking her head with disgust for herself and her traitorous thoughts, Lateisha picked up the pen from the table and signed the contract and the health clause.
“Can I wait on this?” She asked pointing to the parental rights form.
Bryce’s face went dark. “I guess so,” he mumbled, a frown forming on his face.
“I don’t mean to worry you but this is sudden and I haven’t really given thought to the part about it being my baby biologically. I’m not sure why. I’ll sign it, but I’d just like to mull it over a bit more before I do. Is that alright?” Lateisha explained.
Bryce nodded, the dark frown still on his face. Hopefully her own indecisive mind didn’t fuck up her chances.
*****