Unexpected Hero: An age gap forbidden romance, page 1
Unexpected Hero
UNEXPECTED DUET BOOK ONE
REDLEG SECURITY SERIES
JACKIE WALKER
Copyright © Jackie Walker 2024
All rights reserved.
Editor: Mindy Root
Proofreading by: Virginia Tesi Carey
Cover Design: KiWi Cover Designs
Photographer: J. Ashley Converse Photography
Cover Model: Dane Peterson
Disclaimer: The following book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and events included are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously for entertainment purposes only. Any resemblance to actual people or entities is purely coincidental.
Contents
Playlist
Author’s Note
Content Warnings, Tropes, & Kinks
1. Hidden truths are still lies
2. Well, well, well. What do we have here?
3. Don't go chasin' waterfalls
4. Daddy issues
5. No takesie-backsie
6. Up against the wall
7. Tomorrow Tomer will figure that out
8. Ain't nothing like the real thing, baby
9. Bask
10. An indecent proposal
11. See me
12. Talk me down or tie me up
13. Sunset has nothing on you
14. Superman and Lettie Lane
15. From the texts of Sugar Bear and Dominant James
16. You need to calm down (Lettie's version)
17. She's not gonna be Jesse's girl
18. That deserves a thumbtack to the nut sack
19. Big girls don't cry
20. In the middle of the night
21. Do vaginas accept emails?
22. Mission success but feels shitty AF
23. Nice night for a swim
24. Bold strategy, Cotton. Let's see if it pays off
25. Bending with the wind
26. In the arms of an angel
27. Two birds. One brother
28. Careful with that gun, or you'll shoot your dick off
29. Twerking and the Micropenis
30. Take me home, country roads
31. Bossiness is encouraged in here
32. Lesson time
33. You're my, my, my, my... lover
34. All my firsts
35. Clown makeup and camel toe
36. Wildest Dreams (Tomer's version)
37. Open up and say ahh
38. My girl
39. Postpone the sexiversary
40. Thank you. Come again
41. All hail the Queen
42. Netflix and chill
43. How dare he?
44. Just one look
45. Raise your hand if you've ever been personally victimized by Regina George
46. General drunk mess
47. Creeping at the Stumbling Sea Turtle
48. Please be a bad dream
49. The sins of the father
50. Without a trace
51. Karma is my boyfriend
52. The MFKL is getting longer
53. Butterfly
54. Brick by brick
55. Someone saved my life tonight
56. Never
Acknowledgments
Also By Jackie Walker
About the Author
Dedication
For my Junkies.
You’ve made my group the most inappropriate and unhinged place on the book of faces, and I fucking love you for it. So I threw as many of you into this book as I possibly could to thank you for being my happy place. Have fun reading about your shenanigans. (Don’t worry if you aren’t in this one. There’s a whole other book coming.)
And also… for Tomer and Lettie.
Here’s your fucking story, you loud ass fuckers. Well, part one. Because you’re so damn greedy one book just wasn’t good enough for you, was it?
Fuckers.
Meanwhile, Big Al and Madeline are gonna die of old age before I get to write their story.
Playlist
INSPIRED BY UNEXPECTED HERO
From the Ashes - Martina McBride
Yes I'm a Mess - AJR
Scared - Jeremy Zucker
Ceilings - Lizzy McAlpine
Paralyzed - NF
Enchanted - Taylor Swift
Bad Liar - Imagine Dragons
Kindly Calm Me Down - Meghan Trainor
Sway My Way (acoustic) - R3hab and Amy Shark
Heartfirst - Kelsea Ballerini
Butterfly - Jessica Mauboy
Save Your Tears - The Weeknd
Unfolding - Lucas Fogale
Don't Give Up On Me - Andy Grammer
Lover - Taylor Swift and Shawn Mendes
Stay In the Dark - The Band Perry
Wildest Dreams - Taylor Swift
Favorite Kind of High - Kelly Clarkson
Die a Happy Man - Thomas Rhett
Broken Parts - Clyde
Everybody Loves You - Charlotte Lawrence
Someone Saved My Life - Elton John
Lift Me Up - Rihanna
Available on Jackie’s Spotify
Author’s Note
This story begins a year and a half after the conclusion of Heartbreak Hero (that’s about six months before Forbidden Hero and a full year before Rival Hero).
This is part 1 of 2 in Tomer and Lettie’s story and ends with a cliffhanger.
Part 2 (Unexpected Hero Redeemed) will take place after the events of Rival Hero.
The next page includes content warnings, kinks, and tropes. If you’d like to avoid spoilers, click here to skip to Chapter One.
Content Warnings, Tropes, & Kinks
***This page contains light spoilers***
Read at your discretion.
If you’d like to skip ahead to Chapter One, please click here.
KINKY SHOPPING LIST:
Dom/sub, Sex Club, Virgin Deflowering, Intro to BDSM/Kink, Bondage/Rope Suspension, Praise, Praise, More Praise, Voyeurism, Exhibitionism, Masturbation, Spanking, Sex Toys, Throat Fucking, Face Riding, Sex Tape Making & Watching.
TROPES:
Age Gap
Virgin Heroine & Experienced Hero
Forbidden Love (Boss’s daughter)
Stalker “light” (think of it as an unleaded stalker romance)
Secret Identity
Sexual Liberation after Religious Upbringing
Neurodivergent Main Characters
Wounded Hero
CONTENT / TRIGGER WARNINGS:
Childhood Neglect & Abuse - There is one flashback detailing the neglect, then it’s mostly fade to black of the physical abuse. If this is a trigger for you, simply skip the majority of chapter four. The flashback/dream is designated in italics.
Purity Culture, Religious Trauma, and Sexual Shaming - This happens off page (in the past), but she is dealing with it in the present, so it comes up periodically. The hero helps her reclaim her body gloriously.
Abduction via Date Rape Drugs (roofies) - The drugging and abduction happen on page to one main character (it isn’t perpetrated by the other main character).
Trafficking / Sexual Assault - The assaults happen off page, fade to black; but she does have some scenes that take place inside the trafficking prep house where she’s interacting with the other girls and such. (The perpetrator is not the other main character).
Death of a Parent - Mostly fade to black and not heavily detailed.
As always, I did my best to handle these topics with the utmost care out of concern for my readers. If you have any questions, I’m happy to discuss them with you. Email me at AuthorJackieWalker@gmail.com.
Chapter 1
Hidden truths are still lies
LETTIE
Liars. Both of them.
Ever wonder what it’s like to learn your entire life is bullshit? Speaking from experience, it’s awful. And what makes it worse is that somewhere deep down, I always knew something was off about my parents.
Or my grandparents, as it would appear.
I was raised in a haze of deceit.
Disgust unfurls from deep within me as I stare into the gaunt face of Lionel Holt — the only father I’ve ever known — while listening to his tearful confession.
“Lettie, I’m beggin’ ya to try to understand —”
“Understand?” I squeak, my voice shaky. “How could I ever understand something like this? You both lied to me for my entire life.” My arms wave around as if they’re trying to grasp a shred of stability from among the crumbling walls of my reality. “The people who raised me have been lyin’ to my face. Every single day of my life. And not about something piddly. You lied about who I am. Who you are. This is who we are as a family.”
A farce — that’s who we are as a family.
His wrinkled chin quivers, and I begin to regret my outburst. Especially with his failing health.
I launch to my feet to pace around his bedroom. His regular bed was replaced with an adjustable hospital bed a few days ago.
With forced control in my tone, I ask, “Why are you telling me this now? What am I supposed to do with this information?”
“I couldn’t die with this secret in my heart. You deserve to know, and unless somethin’ changes, your mama ain’t ever gonna tell ya. It’s been tearin’ me up for so long, Lettie. We never wanted to hurt ya. You are everything to us. This don’t ch
My angry glare cuts off his words. “It changes everything. And don’t call her my mama since she obviously ain’t.”
I’m so upset my Podunk accent and god-awful grammar rage out of control.
Dragging my palm through my hair, I tug my ponytail at the ends. Tears pool in my eyes, but I quickly blink them away, determined not to cry.
My parents are not my parents.
It’s like I’m suddenly starring in a cliché soap opera instead of trudging through my boring life in the microscopic town of Climax, Georgia.
“Papa…” I start but then choke the word back. Because he’s not my papa. “Can I even call you that anymore?”
“Of course you can. I’m still the man who raised you, Lettie bear. The man who read to you at night. Who made sure you had all you needed. Who loves you more than anything in the world. I am your father.”
Not the time to think about Darth Vader, so I quash that unwanted ADHD interjection.
Unable to stave them off, my tears flow freely. “Why did you hide this from me?”
He takes a haggard breath, and the monitors beside his bed register the change in oxygen levels. Oddly, it’s easier to stare at the machines than to look at his face.
I’ve never felt such bone-deep betrayal before. I had no idea my chest could hurt this much from words alone.
As if knowing the cancer was about to take him from me wasn’t bad enough. Now this?
It’s not fair.
“We had our reasons, Lettie. Your mama had the best intentions. When she suggested we hide it, I went along with it. We had just lost our only daughter when we made the decision. You can’t imagine that heartache, and I pray you never know such pain. But we were given such a beautiful gift in you. And we loved you so much. I know we weren’t perfect, but we did the best we could.”
Resentment grabs me by the throat, threatening to shut my airway.
He’s about to die.
I don’t have the luxury of time to come to terms with this before I need to say goodbye.
My so-called parents divorced a while ago, and Mama and I aren’t on good terms. Soon, I’ll be all alone in the world.
With only the memory of a life chock full of lies to keep me company.
Unless I’m not alone.
A seed of hope implants itself in my gut. My birth mother died shortly after having me, but what about…
“Papa, what about my birth father?”
His face sours, and his lips pinch tight. He simply shakes his head, unable to hold my stare.
My chin wobbles. “He didn’t want me?”
Papa looks at me through shimmering brown eyes. “Nah, sweetie. It ain’t that. He went to Afghanistan to fight. I don’t think he knew you existed before…” His words trail off, sadness surrounding us both.
“He was in the military?”
“Yeah. The Army.”
“He died when she was pregnant with me?
He nods solemnly.
“So I probably don’t have siblings.”
“No.”
Returning to my seat beside his bed, I settle into my cold new reality. Both parents dead before I was even a week old.
And twenty-four years later, I’m about to lose another one.
He reaches out to me, palm facing up. The tubes from his IV are tangled around his arm. I grip his hand and squeeze gently, careful not to aggravate the bruises visible through his paper-thin, aged skin.
“I’m so sorry, Lettie bear. Will you be okay?”
I nod, sucking in a cleansing breath. “I will. It’ll take some time, but I’ll make peace with it eventually. I love you, Papa. But I really wish you had told me sooner. It’s not like I would have loved you less.”
“After I’m gone, don’t let this ruin the relationship you have with your mama. She loves you.”
A hundred snarky replies die on my tongue, all of them with the same sentiment.
She has a funny way of showing it.
Are you sure about that?
If that’s love, I’ll pass.
You don’t treat someone you love the way she treated me.
But I hold them back because he doesn’t need to worry about me and Mama. It’s not his fault she’s grown cold these last few years.
Knowing I’m not her real daughter sheds light on some of her treatment of me. The little snide comments that reeked of resentment. The periodic outbursts. Nothing I did was ever good enough.
Now I know why. Because I killed her real daughter.
With my free hand, I wipe the remaining tears from my cheek and offer a watery smile to the man who raised me.
Right then and there, I decide I’m done talking about it. I’d rather make the most of our limited time together by reminiscing about happier days.
“Papa, do you remember that time Stella came over with them fake arms for Colonel Sanders?”
My bestie Stella has always been a troublemaker.
Papa’s weathered face brightens in response to my abrupt subject change, his smile slowly spreading. “I thought your mama was gonna have a heart attack.”
I snicker into my hand. “From running after the chicken or from how mad she was at me and Stella?”
“Both.” His chuckle turns into a cough, making my heart pinch. He shakes it off, then asks, “How long did she chase the bird before she finally caught her?”
“About an hour, I think.”
“I still say the damn chicken liked it.”
A snort laugh escapes me. “Of course she did. It made her look tough.”
There wasn’t much to do in Climax during summer breaks. Stella came over one day with nothing more than some string, two plastic arms she’d taken off an old baby doll, and a hilariously bad idea. She tied the arms together with a string. With my help, she threw the contraption over the back of Colonel Sanders — our female chicken — so the arms hung down on both sides. The damn hen looked like she was ready to tussle.
Mama was fit to be tied. She doted on her sweet baby chickens more than she ever did on me. Needless to say, she was not amused with the Colonel’s new accessories. She’s never had a sense of humor, though. Mama, not the bird. On the contrary, the hen had a terrific sense of humor. Case in point, how she loved wearing her fightin’ arms.
Papa and I trade stories for the next hour or so until he grows tired. As he sleeps, I sit by his bed, holding his ever-weakening hand.
The next few days pass in much the same manner. Laughs, tears, and lots of hand holding.
And waiting for the inevitable end to his suffering.
Stella comes over once a day to check on me. She sits with him while I shower and freshen up.
Then I’m back in my seat. Right by his side. Just like he’d be for me if the tables were turned.
Even if he’s not my birth father, he’s still my daddy.
Day by day, his naps grow more frequent.
His breathing becomes more labored.
His voice eventually fails as his body prepares to do the same.
And when he takes his last breath, I’m there.
Holding his hand.
With one final kiss on his head, I say goodbye.
Two weeks later, I stand at his grave site.
Alone — inside and out.
All the mourners have left. I asked Stella to wait for me in the car. The grounds crew excused themselves to give me privacy. The pastor stood with me for a while before he realized I wasn’t going to reciprocate his sentiments of Lionel Holt being in the Promised Land, smiling down on us.
