“Why?” She asked with confusion, sitting straight up.
“I took advantage. This will just confuse things,” he answered, pulling his clothes on.
Suddenly feeling self-conscious with her nakedness, Lateisha stood, grabbing her clothes from the floor and dressing quickly. Bryce was right, she was already confused.
*****
Bryce watched Lateisha dress from the corner of his eye. Why was he such an ass to her after what they just shared? It was amazing. But at the same time it was stupid. He couldn’t promise her anything, not right now. He was too busy, and had too much on his plate. Keeping the relationship all business was best. After the baby came, she could move out and do whatever it was that she wanted to do. Bryce wouldn’t care. At least he would try not to. He couldn’t. Sighing, he rubbed a hand over his stubbly face, the five o’clock shadow rasping as he went. Since he met Lateisha he wasn’t always as put together as he used to be and he wasn’t sure how he felt about that.
“If you’re ready, I can take you home,” Bryce said, turning towards Lateisha.
She looked smaller and more fragile than usual, her eyes were downcast. Bryce felt like an asshole, but making sure Lateisha knew now that what happened between them couldn’t, wouldn’t happen again, was important to him.
Lateisha shook her head and cleared her throat. “I’m fine. I’ll catch the bus,” she said, gathering her purse from the floor and heading to the door.
Fuck!
Why did he care so much? This was supposed to be a simple business deal but nothing about this was simple.
“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.