Forgotten Sweethearts: A Romance Novel

by Bender, Melissa

  He couldn’t have looked any more of a mess, but he was definitely doing things to my heart. Those feelings were stirring up again, coming back to me.

  “I lo—” I stopped myself before I blurted something out and ruined everything. “I think they both tricked you into doing that.”

  He laughed loudly. “I agree. I have sand where sand shouldn’t be. I need another shower, and you two, need a bath.”

  The kids nodded, and we made our way back to the shore to grab their towels.

  “Gabby, don’t worry about anyone else, Just us, remember?” Brody reminded before we walked back inside the house to shower and bath the sandy, wet kids.

  Nodding. “I know, Just us.” It should be easy to do, focus on the good and leave the bad alone.

  “We should go for another walk later, just the four of us,” he suggested.

  Walking into the bathroom, I turned on the water for the kids. “Do you think we need to see a counsellor? Talk to a professional?” I wanted us to have the best shot at getting past all the hard times that we’d been through.

  He closed the door quietly behind him and leant against it. “No, I don’t think we do. I think we can do this on our own. I mean look at how close we’re becoming again.” He pulled me forwards. I fell into his chest, and the door thudded softly. “If you want to see one, then I’ll do it. I’ll go to one.”

  Shaking my head, “I don’t want to go back to how things were before. I hated it so much…” I shook away the tears. “The silence and then the fighting. I want to make it work. We will try on our own. If it’s not working, we’ll see someone.” We needed to try on our own again.

  “We will. We’re going to communicate more. That’s where we went wrong. I stopped trying to woo you,” he smiled, kissing the top of my forehead.

  “Woo me?” I asked, a growing smile.

  He nodded, stroking the fallen hair from my face. “I stopped trying to date you. I had you and just stopped. I should bring you flowers every day, write you love letters, and kiss you whenever I have the chance.”

  “Brody.” I fell in love with this man. “I stopped too. It’s not just you.”

  We both stopped trying, and maybe if we hadn’t, then we wouldn’t be here in this mess of a situation right now. We would be like another happy family instead of having to fake the perfect marriage for his family to see.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  “Mama, are you and daddy making a baby? Uncle Scott said you were earlier.”

  There was no way I was prepared for that question as I washed the conditioner from Lila’s hair. Brody was in the shower, and Noah sat opposite her with a beard of bubbles. “Brody?” I called out, asking for some help.

  He cleared his throat. “Ah… Not right now, I think you, two, are plenty for us, princess.”

  I smiled at the thought of another baby. It pleasantly surprised me that he hadn’t shot that down although there was no way we’d be having another baby just yet… if ever.

  Noah frowned. “How does a baby get in there, anyway? Do you no clothes cuddle with daddy?”

  I don’t think I had ever heard Brody cut off a shower so fast. I was stunned. Lila went to open her mouth, and I blurted out the first thing that came to my mind. “Stop talking and wash your hair, or we’re going home.”

  The bathroom door opened, Brody’s mother walked in, and he grunted as he wrapped the towel around his waist. Luckily, he was behind a frosted shower door that you couldn’t see anything from the waist down. His mother had no boundaries.

  “I’m naked,” he ground out. The kids giggled.

  “I gave birth to you. It’s nothing I haven’t seen before.”

  He smirked, and I knew exactly what he would be thinking, something dirty about having a much bigger cock than before. “It’s a bit messy in here,” water, sand and bubbles everywhere.

  “Oh, now, this is a picture if only I had the camera. Let me finish washing them up while you, two, go get ready for dinner.” Loraine took over and made herself right at home as Brody shook his head with a grin.

  “Thanks.” I stood up, watching as she took my place in the bath.

  We walked back to our room, and as soon as the door was closed, I spun around to see the blaze on my husband face. We were thinking the exact same thing.

  “Naked on top of me?” I basically shouted, raging with fury.

  “I’m going to kill Scott if he’s telling my kids this. It’s not his fucking job to do so!” Shaking his head, his anger subsided as he watched me starting to dress for dinner. “I wouldn’t mind naked cuddling until you moaned my name, though,” he smirked, pulling me into him. How did we just go from killing to naked cuddling? “Or baby making.”

  My eyes opened as he said that. I knew he was teasing from what he had heard moments back in the bathroom. Babies were great, but a band-aid baby wasn’t going to happen.

  Trying to pull away from his grasp, I smiled and shook my head. “Nope, we need to get dressed, and you need to…” and his lips roamed my skin. I forgot what I had been saying to him, letting out a breathless moan instead. “Quickly; has to be, oh God, quick.”

  My back pinned against the wall. His hands cupped my face as he dove right in and kissed me passionately, growling over my mouth, as he tasted my tongue on his own. “God, you’re so incredibly sexy, Gabriella.” My name slipped from his breath so easily.

  “Brody…” and soon, we were soon lost in each other.

  Something smelt delicious in the dining room of the beach house. Everyone was seated at the table as Brody and I entered the room. His mother walked over, holding a baking dish and beaming. “Sit, you two. I made your favourite, Brody.”

  “You don’t even try to hide who your favourite child is,” Scott muttered, rolling his eyes at her.

  Jessie agreed, seeming happier than earlier, “True. Brody’s always going to be her baby boy.”

  Big mistake mentioning “baby” since Lila’s eyes lit up. “Mama and daddy are trying to make me a baby sister. Uncle Scott said they have lots of sex.”

  I wanted to die as Jessie began to giggle, looking anywhere but us. “Uncle Scott needs to shut his mouth around my kids,” Brody said, an underlying of anger in his tone as he spoke staring directly at him with a smile.

  Scott winked back. “Where’s the fun in that? They asked what you were doing earlier, and well, I couldn’t lie to their innocent faces; plus, payback for telling my daughter that I was really a woman.”

  Oh, Lord, the day Brody had convinced Tulip that her father was really a woman was epic. She believed him, and it took a very long time for Scott to convince her again that her uncle was full of bullshit.

  “Please, stop speaking to my children about babies and how they’re made.” I looked towards Noah and Lila. “When you want to know more about babies, you ask your daddy or me. For now, you eat please.”

  Brody smirked, but he and Scott hadn't finished bickering. “You deserved that. Stop being a sook and get over it. It was almost five years ago.”

  I felt Brody’s fingers against mine, taking my hand beneath the table and resting it on his lap. Holding tightly, it made me smile. It was something he did at school. Jessie raised her brows at us. “Something is different with you two,” she said, pointing towards us but talking to everyone else. “I can’t figure it out, though.”

  “They’re showing affection. It’s sickening,” Scott muttered.

  “Nothing wrong with that,” I shot back quietly. It was about time we did it.

  His eyes glanced up, and he gave me a smile. “No, nothing wrong with that, at all.” Only, I knew the hidden message sent through that reply. It almost made me sick.

  “It’s because daddy isn’t divorcing!” Lila announced.

  For crying out loud, did children ever have a filter? This was the last thing we needed to deal with today. Everyone was silent, and just staring; then, Jessie burst into laughter. Brody squeezed my hand as I felt like I could just burst into tears.
>
  Clearing his throat lowly, Brody pointed towards Lila with his finger. “We aren’t. Please eat your dinner and stop talking.”

  Everyone seemed to take the hint in not asking anything about what Lila had blurted. I would speak with her later tonight about keeping everything private. I stared down at the plate of salad. The mood to eat was gone as I pushed some leafy greens around my plate.

  His lips hit my ear with a heated whisper, “Eat, or I’ll spank.” I instantly blushed at the thought.

  “Seriously, I’m going to throw up if you don’t stop that. It’s like watching you in school again,” Scott snorted, pushing his cutlery aside. “That was bad enough, lovesick teens.”

  I was getting so fed up with him. Giving him a kick underneath the table with my foot, he shot me a surprised look, and I glared more. Did he not see that I loathed the sight of him? It was a struggle to even be near him after what had happened. “Just because you were the dork who refused to cut that god awful mullet… No wonder the girls refused to date you.”

  Brody laughed, not noticing the resentment I held for his brother. “Told you he wanted to be a woman.” His hand then moved to my thigh, sliding up and squeezing. I tried not to think about his fingers being so close as they made their way inner.

  Loraine laughed as she set her wine glass down, almost spluttering out her red. “Oh, goodness me, I had forgotten all about that. I am still trying to forget about those acid wash skin-tight jeans and muscle tops, my God.”

  So long was awkward sex and divorce talk, it was all now all about Scott and his punk rock phase during his late teens. After dinner, we took a walk just the four of us down to the beach. The kids had a bucket each as they searched for seashells and crabs.

  I wrapped my arm around Brody’s waist as he pulled me against his side with his arm around my body. “I could have strangled our daughter tonight.” I was laughing.

  “Agree with you there. We need to talk to her about talking about our family life with everyone else,” he said with a sigh. He pulled me and grabbed my waist. “Gabby…” he began. “I never stopped loving you. I just lost my way.”

  Was he saying what I think he was about to say? Oh, the hell with it. I was done holding back. If I couldn’t say this to my husband, then who the heck could I say it too? “I think I’m falling in love with you all over again.”

  A smile of relief came across his face. “Me too. It’s like seeing you for the first time. I’ve missed your smile.”

  “I’ve just missed you.”

  “We fell into a routine, Gabby. We became boring, and it was never about us anymore. It was everyone else. We forgot about each other.” I had sat and thought about this before. I completely agree. I do agree. We were so set in a routine with sex and everything else. There was never an effort put into it.

  I nodded agreeing with him. “I know.”

  I wouldn’t be that woman anymore. I had to show him that I loved him more. I couldn’t just expect him to romance the hell out of me. Men need romance too, and I was going to start showing him just how he made me feel. Whether it be lunch every day with him at work or just a romantic dinner at home, I was going to do those little things that I used to do again. It was a two-way street, and if we were both trying, I’m giving this my all.

  “I’m sorry about how things were, it’ll change. I promise. I will change,” he said more determined.

  “Mum, Dad, come look at this!” Noah called out.

  “It’s very disgusting!” Lila added, poking whatever it was with a small stick she picked up.

  Wrapping my arms around his neck, I nodded and placed a kiss to his mouth. “Me too. It will change.”

  The kids looked excited as we walked over. I assumed it would be a crab. Instead, Noah pointed to the remains of a fish. I scrunched my nose as Lila done the same while she drew a circle around it.

  Brody then smirked as he stood back up, telling Noah and Lila about fish and a ridiculous story about how it died from jumping out of the water and sunbathing. “I think the kids look tired. It’s getting late.”

  “It’s not even nine,” I laughed, then gasped with a squeal as I felt his hand on my ass and giving it a naughty pinch. “Ouch!” I spun around, laughing.

  “I didn't mean for us to sleep. I’m far from tired.” Then his smirk turned playful, and I shook my head backing away. Oh no, he wouldn’t. “Run, baby, I’m coming for you,” he grinned, rubbing his hands together and getting ready to pounce.

  “No! You’re so much faster than me. It’s not fair,” I ran, giggling and squealing at the same time which only slowed me down even more. “Brody, don’t you dare?”

  “Mama, he’s going to get you!” Lila squealed, pointing behind me as her father’s heavy footsteps were almost up to my ass. “Faster!”

  His arms were wrapped around my waist, pulling me backwards with legs in the air as he lifted me up and then lost his footing. Both of us fell into the sand and laughed incredibly hard. My stomach hurt from the amount of laughing I had been doing while Brody also laid there with a roar of hearty laughter coming from his chest.

  Pushing myself up with my hands, I smiled down at him. “You’re such a big oaf.”

  “A what?” he said, brows shooting up as slowly his laughter died down. “Did you just call me an oaf?”

  Nodding, “Yep, I sure did. You got a problem with that, big guy?”

  He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me back down against his chest, he shook his head grinning. “As long as I’m the only big oaf in your life, then I’ll gladly take that name.”

  Grinning over his lips, my fingers drove through his hair. “Just you, nobody else.”

  Our mouths met, skimming over one another as he ran both hands through my hair, brushing it out of my face. “Nobody else, just us, baby.”

  Just us.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  “Best way to start the day.”

  “So you say,” I pointed out, my legs still shaking. “Now, that you’ve finally tasted pussy, I might say you’re addicted.”

  “Addicted to yours.”

  Pushing myself back up from the bed, I shook my head, walking up to him still naked, and kissed his mouth which was still glistening wet. Tasting myself on his tongue, I pulled away. “How about some actual breakfast?”

  “We’re on holiday,” he said. I raised a brow at him, waiting for another answer. “But I do miss your food.”

  My heart warmed and not because I was still in a post-orgasm phase. “I’ll make you breakfast.” I smiled, not bothered at all as I kissed his cheek and began dressing. I stopped halfway because of the loud, piercing scream coming from the main house.

  Brody frowned, rushing to pull his shirt on. “Was that Lila?”

  It took a moment to register her sobbing. With that, we were both running up to the house, Brody taking two steps at a time until he was inside. I wasn’t far behind him.

  Running into her bedroom, she was standing in the middle of her room crying. “She said you left us here,” she sobbed, even more, taking a leap forward and clinging to my legs.

  “We’d never leave you. Who said that?” Brody asked, kneeling beside us and rubbing his palm soothingly against her back.

  Noah coming forward, he crossed his arms over his chest. “Aunt Rose said if Lila didn’t eat her breakfast, then you were going to leave her here. It’s shit food, dad. We don’t like it!”

  Brody sighed. “Don’t say that word, and I will take care of your aunt.”

  Standing up, he was pissed. With a glower, he stormed off down the hallway, and soon, we could hear his hot-headed temper directed towards her. “Don’t you ever and, I mean, ever speak to my children that way. You have her in bloody tears!”

  “Relax, Brody, I just told her if she didn’t eat, she couldn’t leave the table. How was I meant to know that she would scream like that?” Rose sighed, “If you let them stay with other people, then they wouldn’t be so demanding for only their mother’s cooki
ng! They’re too spoilt,” she replied to him.

  I walked in to witness Brody tossing out the bowl of muesli. No wonder they wouldn’t eat it. “Uh, Rose, please don’t feed them that again. They’re children. If they want bacon, eggs or pancakes, that’s fine with us.”

  “Oh, I forgot. You’re Italian, so it’s normal to eat two or five croissants for breakfast, probably smothered in butter and jam.”

  Whoa, that was much uncalled for. “Um, that’s not really Italian,” I pointed out. “And five? Really?”

  I shook my head as everyone began to leave the room. It was just Scott and me since Brody took our children to our room for breakfast before we took a walk and then came back for a swim.

  I returned to their room. On my knees, I went through the mess of a suitcase as I looked for Noah’s swimming shorts.

  “Enjoying the holiday?” Scott asked, startling me. He was there, smirking and leaning against the wall.

  “Leave me alone,” I warned, my words low and harsh as I balled my fingers into my fist. “I mean it.”

  Chuckling, he shook his head as I stood to leave, blocking my path. “We’re practically related. We’re family. I can’t do that.”

  “I’m going to tell him. He has a right to know.” This secret was killing me. Brody needed to know the truth about his brother.

  Scott’s eyes narrowed and shut the door behind him. “If you open that mouth of yours, look out. He’ll never look at you the same again. Remember that he’s going to look at you and be so hurt. You lied to him for so long.”

  Guilt ate me away. I hated him. “Go away from me. I mean it!”

  Hiding my tears, I stormed off and tried not to cry as I walked back to the others. All I could think about was whether Brody would hate me or would he be able to understand that I was too ashamed to tell him the truth about his brother and me.

  As soon as I walked in the room, Brody pulled me against his chest, and I hadn’t felt guiltier in my life. Instead of saying anything, I wrapped my arms around his body and held him back just as tight. As soon as this trip was over, I was going to tell him the truth about what happened between his brother and I even if it were nine years ago.