the highway.” Lateisha
said slightly out of breath.
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.