Chapter 11 - Back to Michigan

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Hi Readers,


Your annoying Rogan is finally back!


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*Juliette Leclair's POV*


"Honey... honey, wake up," A gentle voice whispered into my ears. I squinted my eyes opened and muttered to the sight of the man I missed dearly, "Romeo...?"


"Do you miss him so much?" He questioned with a tone of dismay.


That's when I rubbed my eyes and realised it was Rogan who was speaking to me.God darn it... I'm back to my nightmare in this plane.


I swallowed a lump down my throat, feeling embarrassed that I have mistaken him for Romeo."We are landing soon," He said coldly.


That's quite an unexpected response from him, I thought he was going to throw me off with another quirky annoying response.


"Alright, this is me, I'm heading back to my apartment in Michigan now," I said as I wheeled my luggage to the taxi stand.


He grabbed on to my luggage and stopped me from leaving, "That ain't happening.""What do you mean?" I asked.


"We are going to live together, of course," He smirked.


"Wait a minute, I promise you I will still turn up for work at the Morgans, but I think it's fine that we stay separately from each other. After all, this was just a paper marriage, it isn't real, to begin with," I explained my stance firmly.


"That's not happening, unless you want the media to find out that we have not been living together, that this marriage is a fake one that would rock the partnership and the stocks between the Morgan and the Leclaire," He scoffed.


Shit... he is right... I guess have no choice. The least I could do is to try to avoid any contact with him in the same house.


I fall silent in agreement and he just took over my luggage and strides off with a victorious smirk to his car while I followed behind him.


Gosh... will this nightmare ever come to an end?


"Welcome to our new home," He chirped as he swung open the door to his apartment.New home? Seriously? This place of his smells nothing but like bad aftermath of a bachelor's party.


I retched at the disgusting sight of his apartment. I cannot believe my eyes, I always thought a rich boy like him would have at least some standard of living in his home.


"Oh lord, is someone dead in this house?" I blocked my nose from the waft of disgusting smell upon walking into his apartment.


He cackled upon my remark, thinking it was joke that I just made.


"No, I'm serious, how could one even live in this place?!" I exclaimed incredulously at the sight of unwashed utensils in the sink and his clothes littered everywhere on the floor.


"Come on, it's not that bad right?" He scratched his head and said.


"It is that bad," I snapped sense into him.


"So where am I supposed to sleep tonight?" I plastered a sarcastic smile at him after realising there is only one bedroom in his apartment.


"What do you mean?" He asked.


"If I take the bed, then where you going to sleep?" I questioned.


"On the same bed, next to you, of course," He dismissed my concern nonchalantly."Excuse me, I have agreed to live with you but I did not agree to share a bed with you!" I exclaimed incredulously.


"Come on, it's not like anything is going to happen," He shrugged his shoulders like it was no big deal.


I crossed my arms over my chest and stressed my stance firmly to him, "Fine, then I will take the couch then."


He sighed heavily before giving in to me, "Alright, I will take the couch and you can take the bed."


"Make yourself at home~," He gave me a grin before he started peeling off his clothes.


"Stop! What are you doing?!" I exclaimed in nerve-wrack mode at his action.


"Going to shower of course," He said.


"You should be taking off your clothes in the bathroom, not here!" I snapped.


"Pfft... Whatever," He snorted at me and then he heads into the bathroom.


I heaved a heavy sigh of defeat as I did a visual scan of the devastating hell hole that I was going to live in.


"Now where should we start?" I mumbled to myself as I start planning on where I should start cleaning up.


While that dork is in the shower singing away, here I am, scouring his kitchen clean, picking up after his dirty laundry and sending it into the washer for washing. Surprisingly, I didn't find any female lingerie lying around which I was expecting from a playboy like him.


Phew... Finally, a decent place to live in now.


I gave myself a pat on my shoulder for the great job that I have done.


"Woah! Did I just teleported myself to another house while I was showering?" The dork came out of the bathroom and exclaimed in delight.


"Excuse me! Put your clothes on please!" I immediately covered my eyes upon the sight of a half-naked man with just a towel hanging loosely around his waist.


I know I shouldn't have even take a glimpse of him, but darn... those muscles on him are undeniably sexy. I can't let this demon play with my mind, I have got to be strong!


"Don't act like you have never seen a naked man," He scoffed as I hear him putting on his clothes.


Darn it... he got me there. Yes, I'm a pathetic loser who has never shared an intimate moment with a man before.


Not knowing, what to say, I just fall silent.


He sniggered as he walked up to me, "Seriously? Don't tell me you are still a virgin?"


Of all things, that's was the one I wished he would never mention. Shit... I'm so embarrassed.
I swallowed a lump down my throat with my hands still covering over my eyes at the embarrassing question he asked.


"So you're a virgin?" His voice quivered with an incredulous gasp.


"Are... are you done wearing your clothes?" I tried to dig myself out of this embarrassing situation.


"Yea, I am done," He said.


I lowered my hands and opened my eyes and there he was, still half-naked with a towel wrapped around his waist!


Before I could even snap at him once more, he started flashing at me as he pulls off the towel around his waist, "Ta da!"


"Ahh!!!" I squealed as I quickly turned away from him.


"What is wrong with you?!" I exclaimed in angst.


He started laughing away as he explained, "Relax, would you? I have already got my shorts on. I was just fooling around with you."


Oh my lord, my faint heart. I swear I'm going to die from a heart attack because of this man at this rate that we are going.


"We're going to have to set rules here if we are going to live together," I exasperated in a serious tone.


"What rules?" He asked.


I shot up my fingers and stated sternly to him, "Rule number 1, no walking around in the house without clothes on. Rule number 2, no littering of clothes or rubbish on the floor. Rule number 3, you're going to do the dishes straight right after every meal and not let it sits there till it turns stale. Rule number 4 and the most important rule of all, we should always keep a safe distance from each other."


"Okay," He agreed without resistance and this definitely surprised me.


"Well, I'm glad that you have agreed to stick to these rules. May we have a pleasant cooperation," I offered a handshake to seal the deal with him.


He returned my handshake with a plastered smile. I could sense that he was getting annoyed by my dampening no-fun rules, but it is what it is.


"Are you alright with a pizza take-out for dinner?" His stomach growled as he reached for his phone.


"There is still an abundance of food in your fridge. Why would you buy so much food and not eat it?" I questioned.


"I didn't buy them, it's my mother who pays this lady to stock up on my groceries weekly," He explained.


"You're in your 30s and you still need your mother to pay someone to get you groceries?!" I exclaimed incredulously at how spoiled he is.


"I did tell my mother to stop doing it, but she insisted so if that's what can take a worry off her mind, I wouldn't stop it," He said.


"I don't understand if you can have someone paid to do your groceries, why isn't there anyone paid to do the cleaning of your house?" I asked.


"Well, there have been a few who came for this job, but they all resigned not long after, they just couldn't keep up with the mess," He stuck his tongue and laughed.


I can totally understand the misery he put these people through.


"I have to say, I'm impressed that you got my house cleaned up in such a short span of time," He complimented.


"I did it for my sanity," I gave him a sarcastic plastered smile.


"We're not doing pizza. I will just whip up something from the fridge," I said to him.


"Woah, I'm all in, chef," He sat down across the table island and waited for me to serve him dinner.


I rolled my eyes and threw him a bag of onions to peel, "You're not going to have something to eat unless you put in some work."


"What's this for?" He asked.


"Peel and chop it," I said impatiently while I got myself busy with the meat.


He sulked a little before he grabbed a chopping board and a knife reluctantly.


A minute later, I heard him sniffling away. I turned around and realised he was tearing.


"Did you rub your eyes with your hands?" I laughed at the sight of a grown man tearing away.


"Ah... shit," He cursed as he tried to raise his hand to wipe the tears off his face.


"No! Stop!" I grabbed his hand and stopped him immediately.


"Don't touch your eyes with your hands when you are cutting onions," I explained.


"Just sit here and don't do anything," I said and then I rushed to get a hand towel soaked in warm water.


"Place this over your eyes now, this will help to soothe the burning," I said as I carefully placed the towel over his eyes and pressed it gently.


"Are you feeling better?" I asked.


"I think so?" He said.


"Let me take a look," I said as I peeled the towel off his eyes and held his face as I examine for any redness in his eyes.


It was only a few seconds before I started to realised he had me locked in his gaze. Every languid blink of his enigmatic eyes is just so bewitchingly magnetising...


"I thought you said we should adhere to rule number 4?" He smirked.


I immediately retracted my hands in embarrassment.


What the hell was I even thinking?!


"This is an exception because I had to save you from your stupidity," I retorted as I took the onions over from him. I can't trust this playboy to do anything.


"Just go get yourself busy with your own thing, I will let you know when dinner is ready," I shooed him off.


"Nah... I enjoy watching you cook," He smiled.


"What's there to watch?" I felt a shiver of creepiness to have him linger his eyes on me as I cook."It's been long since I last felt like I'm back at home. My grandmother used to cook for me and Romeo when we were young, but she is not around anymore," His eyes turned melancholic as he gazed far into his thoughts.


"I'm sorry..." I can't help but empathise with him when it comes to the passing of a family member.


He shook his head and said, "You don't have to."


"Alright, you can sit here and watch for all you want, but it's going to be boring, I'm telling you," I gave him a heads up.


He didn't say anything in response, a smile just etched across his face along with his glistening eyes that were lit up in delight.


Darn... for a moment, I thought that was cute.


Focus! Juliette, focus!


"Here you go," I pushed the plate of pasta over to him. He stuck his fork in and send a big bite of it into his mouth like a famished kid.


"Woah, slow down, nobody is fighting for food with you," I cautioned him.


"Hmm... this has got to be the best pasta I have ever tasted!" He exclaimed as he munched off."Really?" I picked up my fork and took a bite too.


Well, I have got to say I am impressed with my culinary skill. Honestly, it does feel good to receive such an affirming compliment from the way he savours my food.


"Seems like getting married isn't a bad thing, after all, I have got myself a wife that could cook this well and clean up my place... This finally feels like home," He said as he leaned back on the chair in contentment.


"I'm not your legit wife, let me remind you this again, this is just a paper marriage. One day, when I leave this place and you will have to manage on your own," I retorted as I needed him to remember that I definitely have no intention of being with him for the rest of my life.He falls silent once more and then he finishes his last bite and heads for the sink to do the dishes.


Was I being too mean? I probably shouldn't have said that after he just told me about his grandmother.


"I mean... it's not like a man of your calibre can't get yourself a real wife right?" I said to him sheepishly as I tried to atone for my crudeness.


"I look just like Romeo, so does it make a difference if you are with me then?" He turned to me and questioned me.


"How is this even linked to what I asked?" I threw him an incredulous look.


"Never mind," He washed his hands and then he heads off to the couch to sleep.


Fine...


I headed into the bedroom after I washed up. After a long tiring day of Rogan, I could finally catch some sleep away from him.


As I tossed and turned in bed, the scent of Rogan could be smelled off from the bedsheet.Darn... it actually smells good...


I couldn't help thinking about how he had to curl his tall frame uncomfortably on the couch, then the guilt started to build within me.


I guess we could share a bed? I mean we are adult after all, I trust that he can follow the rules that we have both agreed to.


I walked out to the living room and nudged him.


"Hey," I whispered out to him gently.


He rubbed his eyes open, "Yea?"


"I was thinking you could share a bed with me, as long as you follow the rules," I said with much reluctance.


He threw his arm behind his head and smirked suggestively, "Let me guess, someone couldn't get a hold of herself at this hotness?"


"Forget it, take it as I never asked," I snapped at him as I turned away.


Why did I even bother feeling guilty for this dork in the first place?!


He pulled me back towards him and I immediately shake my arm off from his grip.


"Rule number 4!" I cautioned him.


"Okay, I'm sorry, I was just kidding. I'm glad you asked because I'm having a hard time trying to catch sleep on this couch. I would very much like to be back on my bed," He apologised sincerely.


"Alright," I responded and headed back into the bedroom.


I turned myself away from him as I got into the covers. Honestly, I would be lying if I said I wasn't bothered about having a man sleeping next to me. All my nerves felt tensed upon feeling the presence of him next to me. It took me a while before I could finally fall into sleep.


Not long after I fell into sleep, a sudden bolt of thunder jolted me awake in fear as I squealed out loud.


"What?" Rogan slurred as he got shaken up from his sleep by my squeal. I was embarrassed but when another flicker of lightning came across, I immediately curdled myself up to Rogan to brace myself for another thunderous strike.


Rogan sniggered a little before he rubbed my shoulder and whispered gently to me, "It's okay, I'm here."


As much as I didn't want to succumb to Rogan's embrace, but lighting and thunder in the middle of the night are just my Achilles heel and undeniably... I did feel safe in his arms...


*The next morning*


I yawned as I rubbed my eyes open to a heaviness across my chest and the face of my nightmare that was right in front of me.


How the hell did Rogan's arm end up laying across my chest?! How the hell did we end up so close to each other on the bed?!


As I jolted myself from the bed, my kick ended up sending Rogan tumbling off the bed.A loud thud followed by a groan ensued as Rogan picks himself up from the ground, "What was that for?"


I gathered the sheets up myself and interrogated him, "You took advantage of me, didn't you?"He rubbed his back and retorted, "Says the one who broke rule number 4 last night.""What?!" I exclaimed.


"You curdled up to me last night after a strike of thunder, you don't remember?" He said as he scratched his scruffy bed hair.


A flashback of what happened last night came racing through my mind.


Shit!


He seems to have seen through me as he raised his brows at me and smirked, "Seems like someone broke the rule. I think it's important to establish consequences when enacting rules, don't you agree?"


"What... what consequences?" I stuttered.


"For every time you break a rule, you will have to kiss me," He said as he tapped on his lips.Eeew... No!


"I would rather eat shit than to kiss you!" I retorted.


"I would gladly pull one out for you in the bathroom now, you better hold your words," He laughed away as he said.


"You... you crazy idiot!" I threw a pillow at him and then I jumped out of bed and rushed to the bathroom before I embarrass myself further.


"Juliette...! You're the death of me!" I cursed at my reflection in the mirror in frustration.Just how long more can I hold up to

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