Chapter 15
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
KAIZLEIGH
"Thirty-two thousand dollars."
Billion looked up from his phone.
"What?"
"The watch."
"What watch?"
"The one the guest left at the hotel."
He frowned.
"What about it?"
"One of the housekeepers found it."
"Good."
"Nyrobi."
His eyes lifted again.
"The girl from the hospital?"
"Yes."
He put his phone down.
"And?"
"She turned it in."
"That's what she was supposed to do."
"I know."
"So why you telling me like she saved somebody life?"
I rolled my eyes.
"Because Tia said she called it in immediately. Didn't even know it was a Rolex."
"That's good."
I looked at him.
"That's it?"
"What you want me to do throw her a parade?"
"No."
I laughed.
"I'm just saying."
He watched me.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"Billion."
"You keep bringing this woman up."
"I've brought her up twice."
"Three times."
"When was the third?"
"The hospital."
"That don't count."
"Why not?"
"Because I met her there."
"Still brought her up."
I threw one of the couch pillows at him.
He caught it.
"Shut up."
He laughed.
I picked my laptop up.
"What you doing?"
"Looking."
"Again?"
"Yes, again."
I signed into the surrogate portal.
Billion went back to his phone.
I opened another profile. Then another. Then another. And same feeling. Nothing….
I closed the laptop.
Billion slowly looked over at me.
"Don't."
"I ain't say nothing."
"Your face did."
He smiled.
I leaned my head back.
"I don't like this."
"Then stop."
"I want a baby."
"That ain't what I'm telling you to stop."
"I know."
He put his phone down.
"What don't you like?"
"I don't know these women."
"That's what the matching process is for."
"I know, but it feels weird."
"Having somebody you don't know carry our baby?"
"Yes."
He nodded.
"I get that."
I turned toward him.
"What if we knew her?"
"Knew who?"
"The surrogate."
His eyebrows pulled together.
"You mean find somebody ourselves?"
"Maybe."
"Who the hell you know that's volunteering to carry somebody baby?"
"I don't know."
"Exactly."
I sat there.
Then Nyrobi crossed my mind…. Again.
This time I didn't push it away as fast. Billion must've seen something change in my face.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"Kaizleigh."
I looked at him.
"What about Nyrobi?"
He stared at me.
"What about her?"
"I don't know."
"Nah. You definitely know something because you just threw that girl's name in the middle of a conversation about somebody carrying our child."
"I know how it sounded."
"Do you?"
"Yes."
He sat forward.
"You barely know her."
"I know."
"She works at our hotel."
"She works for Tiffany."
"At our hotel."
"I know that too."
"Then what are we talking about?"
"I'm not saying let's ask her tomorrow."
"Good."
"I'm saying..."
I paused because even I knew how crazy it sounded.
"I like her."
"You like everybody."
"No, I don't."
He laughed.
"Okay, you right."
"Exactly."
I moved closer.
"Think about it. I met her before she knew who we were. She wasn't trying to impress me. She wasn't asking me for anything. She was sitting in that hospital worried about her mama."
"That don't mean she's qualified to be a surrogate."
"I KNOW that."
"Then slow down."
"I am."
He gave me a look.
"Kaizleigh."
"I am, Billion."
I sighed.
"I'm not saying she can even do it. I don't know her medical history. I don't know if she'd want to. Hell, I don't even know if she wants kids."
"Or if she already has them."
"Exactly."
I hadn't thought about that.
"But that's why there's screening."
"Baby."
"What?"
"You talking about screening this girl and she don't even know she's being considered for shit."
I covered my face.
"Okay, when you say it like that, it sounds crazy."
"It IS crazy."
I started laughing.
He laughed too.
"Alright. Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself."
"Maybe?"
"Shut up."
He pulled my hands away from my face.
"I'm not telling you no."
I looked at him.
"You're not?"
"I'm telling you we need more than a feeling."
"I agree."
"And we don't play with that girl's livelihood."
"Absolutely not."
"If we ever even bring this shit to her, it can't be her thinking she gotta say yes because she works at our hotel."
"I wouldn't do that."
"I know you wouldn't."
He sat back.
"And before we ask anybody anything, I'm talking to the agency and an attorney."
"Okay."
"We find out if using somebody we know changes anything."
"Okay."
"And if they tell us it's a bad idea, we leave it alone."
I nodded.
"Deal."
He picked his phone back up.
I sat there another few seconds.
"Billion."
"What?"
"Would you be comfortable with her?"
He looked at me.
"I don't know the woman."
"I mean from what you've seen."
"I've seen her twice."
"Three times."
He stared at me.
I smiled.
"Hospital counts now?"
He laughed.
"Get away from me."
This shit was now consuming me.
Three days later, Billion walked into my office holding a folder.
I looked up.
"What's that?"
"You started this shit."
My eyes widened.
"You called?"
"I did more than call."
He placed the folder on my desk.
"I had our attorney speak with the agency."
I sat up.
"And?"
"And using an independent surrogate isn't automatically off the table, but nobody is promising us shit. She'd still have to meet medical requirements, go through screening and have her own attorney if it ever got that far."
I opened the folder.
There were pages of information inside.
"So we can ask her?"
"We can ask if she'd be willing to learn about it."
I smiled.
"Same thing."
"No, the fuck it ain't."
I laughed.
He pointed at me.
"And that's exactly why I'm handling the conversation."
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me."
"Why?"
"Because you'll have this woman pregnant by the end of lunch."
I busted out laughing.
"I will not!"
"Kaizleigh, you went from seeing her at the hotel to damn near reviewing her uterus in your head in three days."
"Oh my God."
"I'm lying?"
"Yes!"
He stared at me.
"Okay, maybe a little."
"A lot."
I looked down at the paperwork.
The laughing slowly stopped.
"Are we really considering this?"
"Looks like it."
I ran my hand over the folder.
"What if she says no?"
"Then she says no."
"And we keep looking."
"Exactly."
I nodded.
"When do we talk to her?"
"Not yet."
I looked up.
"Why?"
"Because I want Tiffany involved."
That made sense.
"She's her employer."
"Exactly. I want it clear that this has nothing to do with her job. She says no, she keeps working. Nothing changes."
I smiled.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"Kaizleigh."
"I love you."
He frowned.
"What that got to do with anything?"
"Because you think about shit I don't."
"Somebody has to."
I rolled my eyes.
"There you go."
He leaned down and kissed me.
"I'll call Tiffany."