A crowd had begun to gather, but the security guards in the front ushered people away from them. “You have to believe me, Lateisha. I’ve never so much as touched Rachel let alone was engaged to her. She’s just my pushy assistant. I thought she was harmless until today.” Bryce stopped, gasping for air. One of the security guards handed him a cup of water and he gulped it down.
“Why should I believe you? She was all over you and she knew about the baby. She said when you were through with using me for what you wanted I would be thrown out like the trash.” Rage began to build in Lateisha again and she stood, ready to leave Bryce panting on the love seat alone.
He reached for her. “Please sit down and let me finish.” Lateisha sat. “After you stormed out, Rachel told me she slept with the security guard, Dale Winters, in order to obtain security footage of you and me having sex in my office. She wanted to use it to bribe me and to force you away from me. She thought you and I were having an affair, Lateisha. That’s what she meant. No one else besides John knows about our baby. And that’s why I had her arrested today.”
Lateisha’s mouth gaped open like a cod fish. She was wrong, about everything. The man she loved wasn’t engaged to someone else and playing her. He was sitting right in front of her, dripping wet with sweat and beet red from running to catch her before she left. The part that made her convinced he felt the same way about her as she did about him was that Bryce never let down his prim and proper, raised in Britain, rich boy act for anyone. But here he was, covered in sweat with wild hair, sitting in the lobby of his own building, oblivious to those that surrounded him and explaining to her why she shouldn’t run away from him. Lateisha’s chest ached with how much that meant to her, and what she did next showed Bryce exactly how much. Ignoring the periphery of people that security was holding back, Lateisha scooted closer to Bryce and wrapped her arms around him, her mouth seeking his and cutting him off mid sentence. Instead of balking or pulling away, Bryce pulled her closer, deepening the kiss. That’s when Lateisha knew he loved her too.
Seven months later...
Ripping the last bit of wrapping paper from the gift, Lateisha stood, her hand flying to her aching back. She looked down at the pile of gifts around her and smiled. Her baby shower had been the best occasion she ever experienced. Besides her wedding. Moving her hand from her back to her rounded belly, Lateisha stooped to start gathering the remains of the unwrapped gifts and shoved them into a bag.
“What are you doing?” Bryce asked, snatching the trash bag from her hands.
“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m cleaning up.” Lateisha growled, snatching the trash bag back from him.
Bryce held up his hands and stood back, he knew at this point it was better not to argue and let her just continue. “Later, you will be complaining about your back and don’t expect me to rub it.”
“I do and you will,” she replied with a wink.
Gathering the remnants of wrapping and tissue paper and shoving them into the bag, Lateisha thought back to the day when Bryce and she stopped pretending and finally declared their love for one another. After Rachel was led away and the crowd dispersed, Bryce and Lateisha, arm in arm, made their way into the limo that was waiting with Gerry at the curb.
“I’m so sorry, Bryce. I just thought…”
Bryce held up a hand to stop her. “Rachel was a good actress but she was crazy and luckily for me, my dad wired that office from top to bottom with surveillance cameras.” Lateisha grimaced with disgust.
“But not the bathrooms!” Bryce added quickly and her face relaxed again.
“I still want to apologize to you for how I behaved.” They stopped outside next to the limo, the cool fall air whipping around them. “I’ll be honest and tell you I was scared. I wanted you and the baby and it terrified me,” Lateisha admitted.
Bryce leaned in and kissed her passionately on the mouth. “I think I wanted you from the moment you walked into my office in your cheap pants suit.” Bryce chuckled and Lateisha’s face heated.
“Where do we go from here, Bryce?” Lateisha asked, anxiety about the future bubbling in her gut.
“We get married.” Bryce said grabbing her hands in his.
Shock made Lateisha gasp. “Are you sure?” She knew she wanted it, more than anything she had ever wanted before. But she had to know he wasn’t just doing this because of the baby.
“I’m more than sure. I’m going to call my lawyer and rip up those damn surrogacy contracts. Then I’m going to have him get us a marriage license to sign as soon as possible. What do you think about getting married this week?”
Lateisha’s head was spinning but she couldn’t think of anything better. “Yes! I’ll marry you this week.”
They stepped into the limo and Gerry closed the door, settling the partition in place once he entered. Bryce placed the call to his lawyer and within fifteen minutes he had planned their wedding.
“I never even asked if you wanted a big white wedding.” Bryce said at the last minute before they exited when the limo stopped in front of their building.
Lateisha shook her head. “I don’t. I just want to be with you.”
They took a minute to discuss the few guests and decided they would wed in the beautiful courtyard behind the Henderson building in two days. Giddy and floating, Lateisha followed Bryce inside of the building, feeling as if she were in a dream. Last week she was worried she would lose him and their baby and now they were getting married.
They hurried inside, still clutching each other’s hands. Once in the elevator, Bryce closed in on her, his mouth slamming against hers.
“I’ve been waiting to kiss you again until we got back to the penthouse but I can’t wait much longer.”
Lateisha moaned as he lifted her up, her legs encircling his waist and her skirt riding up. She could feel his hard erection pressing against her thin silk panties, the crotch of which was soaked through with her desire. They devoured one another with their mouths, their tongues entwining and sucking, mimicking the motions of sex. It wasn’t enough and Lateisha wanted more. Her hands roamed down over his strong back and he turned, pressing her back against the cold mirror on the elevator wall. His muscles rippled and moved under her finger tips as her hands made their way to his waistband. Yanking his shirt free of his slacks, she pulled it up in the back, trying not to break contact while undressing him. Bryce leaned back far enough for her to undo a few buttons and pull the shirt over his head. Before bringing her back to his chest he smirked and then grasped the lapels of her shirt and tugged, buttons flying everywhere.
Lateisha gasped. “That was an expensive shirt!”
“Paybacks’ a bitch, baby,” he said, his voice husky with desire.