A Wrong Surrogate for the CEO-Chapter 60: Unexpected outburst

Lara was discharged a few days later.

The energy between her and Curtis was weird for the rest of her stay, and none of them spoke about his confession at the hospital.

He drove her home, and she was relieved to have finally left the hospital.

Lara winded down the window and stuck her hand out in the air.

"It’s so good to be back. You have no idea how much I have missed fresh air. So clean," she said with some sort of awe in her voice as she took deep breaths, and a smile slipped past Curtis lips.

"Stop exaggerating. And put your hand right back inside," he said as a response, and she rolled her eyes at him.

"You’re such a kill joy," she said, her lips curling into a pout as she was did what he said, placing her hand back on her lap.

He said nothing, but she went on regardless.

"And I am not exaggerating. The air is different when you’re a newly released patient from the hospital," she insisted.

Curtis raised his eyebrows at her words.

"You do realise that I spent the same amount of time as you did, right? We literally got discharged together," he countered.

Lara eyed him slightly.

"That does not count. You were there as a caregiver. I was the patient, not you," she said right back.

Curtis shrugged, unable to stop himself from laughing as he shook his head.

He couldn’t believe himself, having a conversation about hospitals with a woman. The talk itself was weird, but what surprised Curtis was the fact that he liked it.

He liked it so much that he was sure that if she knew how much he liked the baseless conversation they were having, she would probably freak out and not speak to him again.

Comfortable silence stretched between them, and as he drove, Curtis could not help but steal glances at her.

She was so beautiful, and he wished, for what was probably the millionth time, that she was his.

But she was not. And she didn’t return his feelings.

The thought doused him like a bucket of cold water, and he shook his head to rid himself of his thoughts.

What was he thinking, smiling at her words? Why was he even making an effort to entertain her quirks?

If she wanted to wave her hand in the air out of the car window, she was welcome to do so.

She had no business with him, apart from the babies growing in her belly. And once the pregnancy was due, Lara would birth his kids.

They would break the contract between them and end the faux marriage once and for all.

Once of all that was done, Curtis would compensate her very handsomely. She would remain comfortable for the rest of her life, and he would finally have kids like he had always wanted to.

A win win for the both of them.

Curtis reminded himself not to stray from the path. Everything was laid out. There was no point in trying to change the outcome by nurturing feelings for her.

The sooner he got rid of those distracting feelings, the better.

Lara touched his arm, and his thoughts went up in flames.

He glanced at her with an unreadable face, and she frowned back at him.

"Is everything okay?" she asked, and there was a soft whisper of care in her words.

"Yes. Why do you ask?" he responded curtly.

"Because I have been talking to you for the past few minutes and you haven’t been listening. You just...zoned me out just like that."

Curtis next words was biting.

"Do I have to listen to you rant about unnecessary stuff all the time, Lara? I don’t. And you know it. So drop the habit. It’s annoying."

The words took Lara by surprise that her jaw dropped open.

"What?!" she gasped, unable to believe her ears. She had said what she said teasingly, and she had expected him to respond in kind.

Lara did not expect Curtis to snap at her like that. It was so... unexpected.

"Is...is anything wrong, Curtis? Why are you angry?" she tried again, and without thinking about what she was about to do, Lara placed a hand on his arm again.

The touch was supposed to be comforting, but it sent sparks to Curtis’s head, and he slapped her hand away in a harsh manner.

"Don’t touch me. What the fuck is your problem?!" he snapped.

Lara reeled away from him as if his skin was made of fire and he had just burned her.

"Did I... do anything to upset you?" she asked.

He glared at her, and she instinctively shrinked away from him.

"Forget it, Lara. Just...leave me alone. Know your place," he said in a grave voice, and something broke in Lara’s chest.

What was his problem? He had been in a good mood when they left the hospital. Hell, he had even smiled at her when she was talking about how happy she was to have left the hospital.

But now, now he was mad at her?

What the hell?

The sudden shock she felt from his unexpected reaction slowly faded away and anger replaced it.

Lara turned to face Curtis.

"Stop being such a whiny, mean bitch, Curtis. Tell me exactly what crawled up your ass. I am not a fool. Is it something I did?" she asked, keeping her voice cold.

"You are not that important to me, Lara. There is nothing you can do to make me angry. Not everything is about you!" he retorted back sharply.

Lara snorted derisively.

"You know what, I don’t even want to know anymore. Continue feeding yourself lies. I thought we were friends, but apparently not. Keep your anger away from me please. You can take it out on anyone you want. Just not me. I have enough self respect, thank you very much."

And she turned her back to him.

Lara’s words hit Curtis in the face. It was as though she had just slapped him.

He glanced at her, but she wasn’t looking at him anymore. A powerful wave of guilt slammed into him, and the cracks in his chest widened.

He wanted to take his words back. Curtis badly wanted to tell Lara that he didn’t mean any of what he said.

He wanted to make her know that his attitude was a defense mechanism. That he didn’t know how to react around her now that she knew how he felt about her, and that made him want to... protect himself.

He wanted to tell her that he was sorry, but the words refused to make an appearance.

So they drove home in silence, and Curtis felt as though he was drowning.