I Married My Stepbrother

We kept our affair a secret for five years.

- Harriet Rose-Gale/Hannah

Standing in the kitchen doing the dishes, I could sense him edging closer and closer.

I felt my stomach tingle with excitement and my skin came out in goose pimples.

‘Jules, I’ve got something to tell you,’ Dean, 47, said. ‘What is it?’

I replied.

But instead of telling me, he slipped his arms around my waist and pulled me closer.

Then, he leaned in and kissed me passionately on the lips.

It felt so right that I just couldn’t pull away.

‘I’ve got feelings for you,’ Dean eventually said.

‘Well, I think I just gathered that,’ I joked.

The truth was, I had feelings for him, too – but for years I’d been denying it.

In so many ways, Dean was my perfect man. He was handsome, loving and developed into something more romantic, and it felt like there was no going back.

‘We aren’t doing anything wrong, we aren’t really brother and sister,’ Dean reassured me.

‘But what will everyone say?’

I asked.

We both knew that some of our friends and family might hate the idea of us becoming an item, so we decided to keep our blossoming relationship a secret.

I was worried that our kids could be bullied at school. I could imagine the playground taunts.