Steel Hearts - Patchwork Princess Ch. 02

Authors note: Hello, everyone. I started this story thinking to include it in the Halloween contest, but as usual, my inability to keep my stories succinct meant it became too big and long-winded to manage. To try and keep it manageable for me, I needed to split it into parts. I hope you enjoy the next instalment of the Patchwork Princess. As always, if you enjoy it, please comment and vote. If you hate it, please do neither, ~ellie.

Patchwork Princess Ch. 2

Holly had spent the afternoon alternately avoiding conversations about Teddy and hiding from her friends until they forcibly trapped her in a corner and made her talk. Still, she said nothing, but they knew enough of her early life to fill in the blanks. Arranged marriages were rare amongst MCs who, as a rule, treated women as collectibles to be swapped and traded as needed rather than kept and adored. No, their arrangement was not part of the MC but rather the older and more powerful underworld families. These families used their MCs as military muscle, couriers, and, at worst, assassins.

With new players from the eastern bloc countries demanding bigger and bigger slices of the action, the older families had learned to play nice together and solidify their pacts. Holly had been a sacrifice on that altar until a member from a rival MC had taken an interest in her and decided to drug and abduct her as the war engulfed her family. She was fortunate in that she had very little memory of the reality of her abduction and the days spent with the man who did it. Instead, her memories of that time revolved around pain and torment before waking up in the hospital and the long road to recovery she had travelled with only Carter from her former life for company.

"Oh gosh, I'm sorry, Magda, my mind wandered for a moment," Holly apologised. "If this street party we are trying to get permits for comes off, we'll be ordering a big shipment, but until we know for sure, I don't think we can squeeze much more out of this budget," Holly sighed and looked up from where she sat with Carter and Magda at her desk, only to find Teddy watching her. She checked her watch, noting that he had returned at five, just like she had asked.

"That's okay, my darlings. I will take this small order for now, and you can call me if your plans work out," Magda said. "I will bring in some more samples in a few weeks when I come in to deliver this order," she promised and farewelled the two young women, who stood to shake her hand and let Nicky show her to the front door after looking curiously at Teddy.

"So tomorrow, we come up with a plan to approach the other businesses in our street and see if we can get to someone on the council who can authorise having one lane of the road cordoned off," Carter said brightly. "Look, I know you don't want to talk about Teddy, but for what it's worth, I think you should hear him out. If nothing else, he's pretty to look at," she grinned as Holly's face fell. "Anyone who's been wanting you as long as he has isn't going to be concerned with your scars Holly. Besides, he's asking to date you, not throw you into his bed, unless you're planning to wear a bikini on the date; how would he see them," Carter asked. She should have known better than to call the guy pretty to look at, but Holly had to overcome the fact that her scars didn't detract from her beauty.

"Fine," she sighed, "But only so you will all leave me alone when he realises the girl he knew is just a figment of his imagination and that this fucked up version of her is not as likable," Holly said with a look of determination. "You can lock up since I have a date," she smirked and picked up her handbag, shoving her phone and daily journal inside. "Don't even try to pretend you weren't listening, Teddy," she accused the man standing in her doorway. "I'm going home to change. You can pick me up at six. Is dress casual, okay?" Holly asked, holding her hand out for the keys.

"Sure," he grinned and grabbed her hand as he handed over her keys. "But, if this is your attempt to dodge me, believe that I will hunt you down and find you," he warned.

"Your men have a key to my building and have messed with the security here. So I know you can find me and get to me. That threat only makes me surer that you have no idea how different the grown-up Holly is from the girl you knew," she muttered and snatched her hand back. "I need at least an hour to get home, shower, and change. If I don't, I will feel even more uncomfortable than I do now."

"There is no need to feel awkward with me," Teddy tilted his head and smiled softly. "I will give you whatever time you need as long as you agree to give me a chance to prove that we can still have what we were promised."

"We were kids, Teddy. We aren't the same people, and you can't expect me to be the silly girl who believed everything she was told. Give me 'til six-thirty then," her voice rose in frustration. With that final concession, she spun on her heel and left. He'd backed her car into the car park behind the costume shop, and as she slid into the driver's seat and started the car, she wondered why she never backed in herself.

As she drove out into the traffic, the scent of cinnamon cookies assailed her, bringing back childhood memories of being in Nan's kitchen. "Well, played, Teddy," she thought to herself, finding the scented cardboard cookie hanging from her rear vision mirror. It wasn't fair that the man had only gotten better looking over the last decade or so while she had nursed injuries that scarred her torso like patchwork and left her with a limp when she was tired. Her mind was on automatic pilot as she considered the conversation she'd had with Teddy earlier. He knew what had happened to her but had been told she'd died from the injuries. If only he'd known how much she wished for that death during her painful rehabilitation. She sighed and pushed those memories away, forcing her concentration back to the road as she manoeuvred into the heavy traffic of the inner-city suburb to her building.

She went through the motions of swiping her card at the garage entrance and parking in her allotted space in a bit of a daze because Teddy had truly messed with her head. He said that what had been between them so long ago was more than a crush or puppy love. After thinking of her as dead for so long, he now wanted the life they were meant to have together. He'd said he'd tried to walk away and leave her alone but couldn't especially knowing that she might have a stalker.

She walked into her apartment, threw her keys into the kitchen peninsula's silver bowl, and went to the bathroom. There were no full-length mirrors in her bathroom, and she was generally able to ignore her scars as she undressed and showered. They were part of her now, but it had taken years of surgery and skin grafts to deal with the damage she would never recover fully from. While she was proud of how strong she had been through the process, she hated the scars because they represented the loss of the life and people she had loved.

As usual, she showered and dressed quickly before facing the mirror to see that her outfit worked and brush her hair. She'd chosen skinny black jeans and one of her favourite steel blue and white tops. The top looked like the material had been watermarked, and she smiled, feeling good as she brushed out her hair. It was one of the few tops she owned that totally hid her scars while still allowing her to look like an ordinary girl rather than an uptight ice princess. She knew she should get Carter to help her make a pattern and sew a few in different materials. The only problem was that her friends would tell her that no one noticed the scars anymore and she shouldn't worry so much.

Her thoughts kept looping around her earlier conversation with Teddy and why giving in to the feelings his words elicited in her was not a good idea. That was not the life she wanted anymore. She was happy and healthy. She had a business and close friends. She didn't need Teddy and his security team and had no plans to pretend otherwise. Despite letting him and his friends beef up the security at her home and work, she had no intention of letting him into her private life any more than that.

She was reminded she hadn't checked out the secondary lock, so she turned off her straightener and put the hairbrush down before padding out to the dining room to find the information Kris said he had left for her. No sooner than she had picked up the printed information than she heard a chuckle from behind her,

"You know, if you had engaged that lock, I couldn't have gotten in here even with a key," Teddy chuckled in a low soft voice.

"I let you install security! I didn't give you an open invitation to come and go as you please," Holly yelled with the fear evident in her voice from the scare he had given her.

"It's six, and you weren't answering the door," he shrugged. "I told you that you couldn't hide from me again. Not until we have talked properly."

"We said six-thirty, but whatever," Holly groaned. "You may as well show me how this works now that you're here. Then I'll finish getting dressed."

Teddy guided her toward the front door with a broad smile and, taking advantage of the close proximity, touched her arms and hands as he showed her how to set and disarm the secondary locking device for her door. Holly knew what he was doing but couldn't bring herself to push him away once he was so close. Instead, she determined to keep him at arm's length for the rest of the night.

"Okay, I've got it. You can back off now," Holly said and put a hand on his broad hard chest to push him away with what little willpower she had. But instead, he curled his fingers around her wrist and held her gaze for a moment as if he was going to argue the point with her. Then without a word, he stepped back and let her move away from him.

"As soon as you're ready, we'll go," he said and returned to the loungeroom to wait. "You look great as you are, though. Just grab some shoes."

"I won't be long," she said and returned to her room. Silently she berated herself for letting him get to her. He was pushy and dominating, but somehow, he didn't get her back up the way men with those qualities usually did. There were so many reasons why this was a bad idea, but the more she thought about it, the less those reasons seemed to matter. He said he knew what had happened to her. Would he be prepared for her scars? No one was ready for that, even the people she thought she'd prepared for it. Resigned to the fact that this would go nowhere, just like every other relationship in her life, aside from her girls, she relaxed and adopted an attitude of giving no fucks and told herself not to give in to the tempting memories of happier times.

Just in case he expected her to get on the back of a bike, she pulled on her boots and placed a hairband around her wrist. She hoped he didn't, but she would deal with it as it came because she hadn't thought to put that proviso on the date. Lastly, she added a little mascara and eyeliner to the tinted moisturiser she had used on her face. And added a tinted lip balm that gave her lips the slightest bit of a dusky pink colour. Deciding that was as good as it got, she went out to meet with Teddy.

"Alright, you're up. Entertain me," Holly announced as she exited her room.

"I will do my best," Teddy chuckled. He got to his feet and took her hand in his as he headed for the door.

Holly was surprised that he hadn't brought a motorcycle but opted for a dual-cab Amarok. The Ute was so big she felt like she had to climb to get into it, and he chuckled at her as she awkwardly pulled herself up using the 'oh shit' handle and swung her ass into the seat before turning to wriggle in more comfortably. It wasn't even that she was very short. On the contrary, she thought her five-foot-five status was pretty average for a girl.

The drive was smooth, and although they were initially hampered by traffic while close to the city, it thinned out as they listened to the radio rather than worrying about the awkward chatter during the drive. So, it was to her surprise that she recognised a childhood haunt as they got close to their destination. Teddy backed into a deserted parking area along the esplanade surrounded by mangroves, making it seem very private despite its proximity to the road.

"What's going on?" Holly asked with a frown. "If you plan on killing me and hiding the body in the mangroves, you probably shouldn't have told my friends that you were taking me out tonight."

"Not planning on killing you," Teddy shrugged. "Not yet anyway," he chuckled and opened his door, getting out and walking to the rear of the vehicle releasing the stays of the tray cover and the tailgate as he walked the perimeter of the tray to expose the plethora of blankets, pillows, and cushions in the rear of the Ute.

Holly slid from her seat partway and jumped the rest as she got out to see what he was doing. Her eyebrows shot up as she realised he was creating a nest with an esky in the rear behind the pillows.

"You made a picnic?" she asked.

"Not quite, but close enough. We need to talk, and this way, we get no interruptions," he said easily, as if what he was doing made perfect sense. "Come around the back, and I'll help you up," he encouraged.

Holly bit her lip as Teddy's large hands encircled her waist, and he lifted her easily to the tailgate and then held her there, his hands flexing on her waist as if debating something while he watched her face. She thought he might have kissed her then, but instead, he followed her up, forcing her to move back into the cushioned tray of the Ute. He'd seemed to have put a lot of thought into this date, if she could even call it that. It was more like a forced conversation; she supposed that here was better than a noisy restaurant for what they had to say to each other.

"Teddy, I'm not sure this is such a good idea," Holly said quietly, unsure if she was relieved or disappointed that he hadn't kissed her.

"Oh," he asked. Then he leaned in close enough to brush his cheek against hers as he reached behind her to a basket and withdrew two wine glasses. Then he sat back and opened the esky producing one of her favourite bottles of sparkling wine. He'd coaxed quite a bit of general information about her preferred food and wine from Carter, who seemed to be on his side in his quest to forge a relationship with Holly again. "Why isn't this a good idea? We need to talk, and this was one of our favourite places to do that when we were younger."

Holly frowned but looked around, including hanging her head over the side to look across the street. Not quite directly across the street but a little way away, she could make out the sign for Bart's Takeaway shop, and she shook her head. Gosh, she'd almost forgotten about the number of times they had come to this place alone and with their parents to eat and walk along the esplanade or mudflats of the bay.

"Wow," she breathed. "You think you can overwhelm me with good memories and make me more likely to consider letting you or anyone from my past back into my life?"

"You let Nicky back in. So why not me?" he chuckled.

"Nicky has no desire to kiss me or see me naked," she blurted and realising how vain that sounded, she blushed and looked away.

"I'd like to be able to act wounded by that accusation," he said with a note of seriousness. "But the truth is I do want both of those things, and I don't want you under any illusions that I would be happy if you friend-zoned me."

"You don't understand. You can't want that, trust me. I told you I'm fucked up after what happened. Not just metaphorically, Teddy, I have physical scars, and they aren't pretty to look at," she tried to explain.

"I know. I told you that I know what happened to you," Teddy said. "It's you that doesn't understand, Holly. I have loved you for forever. I tried to find you when you disappeared, tried to get to you. I expect my determination was what made your grandmother tell me that you hadn't survived your injuries. I couldn't even let that love go when I was told you were dead. Then, when you reappeared to bury her and were so standoffish and aloof, I tried again to let you go, but I couldn't. I've done that twice, and it didn't work, even when I believed there was no hope."

"Teddy, it was years ago. Things change. People change. We aren't the same children our parents decided would make a good match. I won't hold you to that decision, and it's unfair that you would expect me to hold up my end of a bargain our parents made," Holly appealed to his rational mind over his sense of duty. "Is that why you're doing this? Out of some weird sense of duty?"

"Not at all, but let's slow this down a little. We will have heaps of time to argue after we have eaten. I believe our dinner has arrived, right on time," Teddy smiled at her.

"Hey, Hols," Dean said as he came around the side into view. "Got some of Bart's finest for you. Enjoy," he grinned and handed the paper-wrapped parcel to Teddy.

Teddy poured them a glass of sparkling wine as Holly unwrapped the parcel to find a fisherman's basket of crumbed and fried seafood alongside potato scallops and chips. There were even wedges of lemon and small tubs of tartare and aioli. It had been a while since she had splurged on fried food like this, and she snapped up a small piece of calamari and popped it into her mouth, making a small moan of appreciation as she took her glass of wine from Teddy.

Teddy's eyes heated as he heard her small moan. He knew he was rushing her but couldn't help it. She was alive and sitting here beside him! He'd known her practically his whole life until she was taken from him. Not one of the women he had dated while she was gone had measured up to the ideal she had set. He didn't care that they had both been teenagers at the time. His body, heart, and mind all seemed attuned to hers, except he knew if he said that out loud, he would sound like a stalker instead of a protector, so he had to be careful how he approached the beautiful but guarded woman and encouraged her to fall for him all over again.

"Tell me about this idea for Halloween that will help you keep your business open for another year. I might be able to help. I have plenty of connections these days. You're not the only one who grew up. I could help you if you would let me," he said.

"I have let you help me with the security, haven't I? So, what makes you think I would say no to help with the Halloween plans? I'm not a moron or some independent feminist Nazi that I would ruin my plans by not accepting help when it's offered," she huffed. "As long as you understand that accepting your help is not an automatic invitation to date me or jump into my bed. If that were the case, my bed would have gotten very full over the years."

"And has it been full over the years when you were gone?" Teddy asked seriously.

"Are you asking if I've been happy to show the patchwork of scars on my body off to everyone except you?" she challenged. "No, I'm not a nympho who sleeps with every guy who does her a favour," she sighed.

"That was a dumb question. I'm sorry," Teddy immediately apologised. He didn't usually feel jealous. However, the thought of her with another man had made him so angsty that his mouth had opened without thought. It wasn't like he had been a monk over the past decade. He had no right to judge her. "Tell me about your Halloween plans, please?" he asked again.

They talked about her idea for a street party. There was so much doom and gloom with everything fun being cancelled during the covid crisis that it would be nice to have a street party even if they had to cap numbers. The Ekka went ahead this year with restricted numbers. This would be no different. The fact that the Ekka was the state fair that many farmers and station owners counted as their one big showing for the year was the reason it had still gone ahead wasn't lost on him, though. In Holly's estimation, her street party was just as badly needed for the local business to survive.