Fine or Punishment (Twist of Fate Book 1)

by Mira Margrave

  Swallowing thickly before licking her lips, she responded, her neck craning to look at the nosy old lady. Mrs. Burke could obviously smell something was going on and curiosity was killing her. It was time to throw her off the scent. Just to spite her, if nothing else. "Mrs. Burke, I'm flattered but I think you may be a bit too old for me." This time it was Sheila who snorted. At least one librarian here had a wicked sense of humor.

  “Don't be silly." Mrs. Burke scoffed, unamused. More disappointingly, she was also undeterred. "I'm asking because I'm curious about your intentions. We know for a fact that Violet is a lesbian. You wouldn't want to give her the wrong impression by bringing her coffee if you're not actually interested in her, now would you?"

  She must have noticed something in Candace’s expression because she switched gears in an instant, recognition flashing in her eyes. "Or did you already know that? Maybe you know exactly what you're doing because something had happened al-"

  Okay, that was a bit closer to the truth than Candace liked. It was time to shut it down. Just as Candace was about to interrupt her and gently invite Mrs. Burke to butt out her business, another voice joined the conversation from somewhere behind Candace. A familiar one.

  “Good afternoon, everyone." The greeting was chilly, making Candace's spine tingle with excitement in response. One lovely night together and she was already conditioned to respond to Violet's firmly delivered words.

  She turned around, ready to smoulder, but her slowly spreading smirk twitched when she noticed how positively murderous Violet looked. It took her a second to realize most of it was directed at Mrs. Burke so she allowed herself to take in a deep steadying breath.

  "Ah, Violet." Mrs. Burke continued, unperturbed. "We were just talking about you." Violet’s jaw clenched as she came closer, fingers squeezing her leather gloves so hard they turned white. Almost as white as the pristine coat she wore. Coupled with that blonde hair, it would make her look almost angelic if she didn't look so deadly at the moment. Candace squirmed, half aroused, half worried.

  "Have you?" Violet finally spoke, voice now somehow even colder. It held absolutely no trace of surprise which meant she must have heard the end of Mrs. Burke's interrogation. Well, shit. That couldn't be good. She'd already been worried about people finding out about her little secret and Candace guessed this would do nothing to calm her.

  "Oh yes. I was just asking Candace here about why she'd bring a cup of coffee for you." Mrs. Burke said, shoulders shrugging way too innocently. Candace wondered why she was so coy around Violet when she had no problem shaking her down for information. Perhaps Violet's ferocious, I'm-barely-containing-my-anger look had something to do with it.

  And now she turned it to Candace. Double shit.

  "Yes, why would you do that, Ms. Kane?" Violet gritted out. Triple shit. She used Ms. Kane without a single trace of the previous adorable embarrassment. Candace needed to think fast. She was guessing that speaking her truth and saying 'I was hoping to charm you into spanking me again with yet another heavy flirting session' wouldn't be a good idea.

  "Oh I was just- it’s just a..." She flailed for a second before an idea sprung to her mind. "It's a bribe! I needed to find a couple of rare books and I was hoping you could order them in for me. Interlibrary loan. That's what I need." She hoped they wouldn't ask about which books exactly she'd want because she had no idea what to say. Her heart was beating fast under all that attention though she knew it was ridiculous to get this worked up. But Violet seemed extremely closed off so she decided to play along until she could talk to her in private.

  "I see." Violet said, looking a bit mollified, making Candace relax a fraction. She did good? She checked out Violet's posture again. She did good. "Why don’t we step outside for a minute and you can tell me all about those books. Sheila, is that ok?" Candace turned to her side, watching Sheila already waving them away, hiding a smile.

  "Oh yeah, hun, you're early again anyway. You have twenty minutes till you need to start so go right ahead." Violet smiled in her direction, lips thin, and motioned Candace toward the door. Candace turned away, but as soon as she took the first few steps she heard Mrs. Burke murmuring behind her back.

  "I wonder why she couldn't ask you to order those books, hmm?" The last part ended with a mockingly inquisitive sound—high pitched, accusatory and absolutely ridiculous.

  Totally busted. So much for being all covert.

  She turned to Violet, catching how her features darkened and slipped quickly through the opened door, her hands uselessly clasped over the damn hot chocolate. It was more lukewarm chocolate at this point and she seemed to be getting further away from her planned flirt-and-embarrass session. This day wasn't at all going how she hoped it would.

  Now outside, she squinted against the blinding sun, twitching in surprise when the library door slammed shut behind Violet. Before Candace could even speak, she felt long fingers clench around her elbow and lead her across the street and into the town park.

  The main street in front of the library was quiet in the early afternoon, but the park was even quieter. It was close to two in the afternoon, making it both too early and too late for the local moms with children. As they slipped into the shade of the tall trees, boots crunching over the gravel path, Candace looked around. Their only company was an older couple walking their dog. At least they'd be able to talk here without inquisitive old-ass ladies listening in. And talk they should because Candace was getting weird vibes. Not that she minded being manhandled by Weston again. She could stand to have a bit more of that, actually.

  "Ok, I want to hear everything." Weston said, stopping abruptly and withdrawing her hand only to slip her arms beneath her breasts in a no-nonsense gesture, looking decidedly pissed. "What did you tell her? How much does she know?" Her eyes were piercing and demanding and it was absolutely not a good time to be having flashbacks to their first night. Candace knew that. It was still hard to resist the urge. She prevailed valiantly, shaking the images from her mind.

  "Nothing!" She said, pouting when Violet immediately looked doubtful. "I told her absolutely nothing. You came in just as she was starting to really dig in." Violet weighed that for a second then seemed to relax by a fraction. Candace felt a bit stung by that so she piped in again.

  "What did you think I was going to say? 'Oh I'm just trying to get her to spank me again, Mrs. Burke'. Or 'I'm hoping she’ll bend me over her desk again'? Honestly Weston, give me some credit. My aim may be to embarrass you each time we see each other but I have some finesse.” She winked at Weston but the woman was still looking tense as hell.

  "I doubt either of us truly knows what will come out of your mouth next, Candace." She snarked back and, fine, that wasn't completely untrue. Candace pouted again and after a short resigned sigh, Violet continued to speak.

  "I’m glad you gave her nothing though." She nodded in Candace's general direction, her eyes downcast, before turning away and moving into a slow walk. "Not that she needs any help. Or provocation."

  "Do we care, though?" Candace piped in carefully. When she saw Weston fix her with another unamused look, she lifted her hands in defense. "I mean she's a chatty old lady. There's plenty of those around. Who cares what she thinks?"

  "The whole town does." Violet cut her off, voice firm. "If you gave her something to talk about, it'd be all over town in hours. She's in the same knitting club as my mother. My father's her dentist, for God's sake. If she actually had any idea what had happened that night, I'd never be able to show my face around town again."

  Oh damn. Well, she had a point there. Hiring a sex worker would ruin any reputation, even in a town way bigger than this. Plus, the embarrassment Violet felt wasn't helping either, Candace would bet.

  Thinking how best to respond, she took a sip of her hot chocolate, elbow brushing with Weston's as they veered further into the park. "Well I'm not going to tell her anything. And you obviously won't. So the secret's completely safe." She offered Violet the other cup as a
peace offering, smiling when Violet took it after a second of deliberation. She took a cautious sip before humming in surprised approval then took a longer, greedier one. Oh yeah, chocolate was always the shortest route to a lady's heart. "It'll be fine.” She continued, voice deceptively steady. “It's not like she'll go for her dentist appointment and tell your dad you want me to call you daddy."

  It was rewarding to watch someone splutter just as she did with Mrs. Burke. Even when she got lashed with a venomous glare as Violet tried to keep her composure. She did look less tense and Candace would swear she saw a smile being hidden as Violet shook her head and licked her lips again.

  Violet let out a long suffering sigh but her shoulders had relaxed a lot since they left the library. Candace counted that as a victory.

  "And you wonder why I was worried about you talking to people. With a mind that filthy it's a wonder you didn’t let anything slip.”

  "I couldn’t keep that one to myself, I'm sorry. It was too good not to share." Candace said, making a show of looking chagrined. Weston wasn’t buying it, and who could blame her? She knew better by now. "I'll be good from now on, I promise." Another glance in her direction, this one even less convinced. Sadly for Weston, Candace kinda liked not being able to get away with anything with her.

  "At least you had the good sense of keeping your top tier filth to yourself back there. I suppose I should be grateful for that at least." Weston said and Candace was tempted to reply that she was keeping it all for her favorite librarian but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Her attempts to lighten the mood seemed to have some effect, but Weston still looked withdrawn and off kilter. She needed to understand why.

  She scratched the back of her neck awkwardly, trying to figure out how to frame her questions. Serious conversation was never one of her strong suits. For Weston, though, she was willing to try. "You know, for a moment there, I thought you came out recently or something. With the way she talked about you and your reaction to—"

  Violet shook her head immediately, tongue slipping out to flick over her lower lip. Distracted for a second, Candace forced herself to focus on the response. Serious. Conversation. Absolutely no filth allowed.

  “Oh no, I came out in high school. My friend Jade and I decided to do it together. It was quite the scandal at the time.” She said, but her tone was neutral, exposing nothing. Candace decided to dig in deeper.

  "How bad was it?" She asked carefully but Violet shook her head again.

  "Not too bad at all. I mean, there were some people who had a problem with it and weren't shy about saying it, but you get idiots everywhere. Most of the town took it in stride, actually."

  Sweet Jesus. Candace cringed, trying to imagine what it must have been like to have a whole town weighing in and debating on your sexuality. All while you're in high school, too? Candace had enough trouble coming out in her mid-twenties to her family, for God's sake.

  Violet Weston was apparently a total badass.

  "Was Mrs. Burke one of the idiots?" Candace guessed but she was wrong yet again. This time she was glad for it.

  Eyes looking ahead, Violet smiled. "No, she was one of our staunchest supporters. Every time someone felt the need to talk badly of either me or Jade she'd know just what personal tidbits to bring up to make them shut up." She paused for a second. "I just hated it though, being the center of attention. Being the town spectacle. Having conversation stop when you enter the room and then reignite as soon as your back is turned.” She looked off to the side, eyes unfocused with memory. “Mrs. Burke is just a symptom, she's not the problem." The corners of her lips turned down in pure disgust.

  "The gossip died down once I went to college and when I came back, it was almost a non-issue. I just don't want to be the talk of the town again. I loathe people butting into my business." She twitched as if she was jerked from her rant by another thought and when she looked at Candace again, her eyes were almost sheepish. "I guess that sounds a bit overly dramatic now that I say it out loud."

  Candace was quick to reassure her. "Not at all." She said. "You're a very private person. I get that." She more than got it. She was even feeling sheepish herself. Of course Violet would be hesitant to have her personal life examined yet again. By the sound of it, it took years for her to feel like she wasn't the town circus attraction. And that was if you ignored the mortifying way they met. How long did it take for Violet to convince herself to even try something like that? Take such a big risk? Once it blew up in her face, it was perfectly natural to slink back and lick her wounds.

  Dammit, Candace really made a mess of this in her enthusiasm, didn’t she? Her mood took a downturn from sheepish to downright feeling guilty as fuck.

  "I'm sorry, Violet." Candace said finally, fixing the surprised librarian with an earnest look. "I know I must have only made it worse, barreling around and leaving packages and roping toddlers into helping me. I should have been more careful."

  "You probably should have." Violet snarked back, this time shooting her a smile that was subdued but sincere. "But I could have been clearer about this too. I had an inkling you weren't in the habit of second guessing yourself and I did very little to dissuade your attempts." That was also true. Violet may have been skittish but she was definitely interested, Candace was sure of that. The way she reacted to Candace's flirting left no doubt about their attraction. Plus, their connection the first night wasn’t so easily forgotten.

  Still... That didn't change the fact that she had a clearer image now. If Violet was having second thoughts, for whatever reason, Candace couldn’t ignore that. Her heart sank a bit and she forced a reciprocating smile.

  "I’m really not." Candace admitted. "I'm a code monkey; I spend most of my day staring at a screen. And my favorite way of relaxing is staring at a book." She waved offhandedly over her shoulder back at the library. "I don’t meet a lot of people face to face and stuff doesn't usually happen socially unless I go out of my way to make it happen. So I may have been a tad overexcited when an opportunity fell into my lap." Her grin showed some teeth, and Violet shook her head, amused. "I get why you'd keep stuff close to your chest, I really do. And I know how sometimes… that means you start feeling shameful about it. About things that aren't embarrassing at all." Eyes widening, Violet looked at her, her cup stopping halfway on the way to her mouth.

  Candace could have played it off–made a joke about spanking or hiring sex workers. After all, she had an inkling both of those things were true–Violet’s dirty little secret she didn't plan on sharing ever—too mortifying to even think about. But Violet had exposed a bit of herself this afternoon. Candace wanted to return the courtesy and share as well. No matter how bad she was at expressing it.

  "I-I didn't come out in high school, let’s put it that way." She laughed awkwardly and Violet's eyes gentled immediately as she understood, making Candace's fingers drum along the paper cup as she struggled to continue. "Would have liked to have my own Mrs. Burke back then, with all the dirty info to keep me untouchable."

  "You can have her now." Violet said, her eyes still softer than Candace had ever seen them, and Candace couldn't help but let out a bark of laughter. She appreciated that. She'd take humor over rehashing old wounds any day of the week.

  "Nope, I couldn't possibly steal her away. She's all yours." Candace said, her grin flashing once but not sticking for long. She knew what she had to say next.

  "She'll be easier to handle now, though. Because... because I'm gonna back off and give you some breathing room." She watched Violet's reaction like a hawk, catching startled surprise followed closely by a flicker of disappointment. That was promising, at least until Violet looked away. "I’m sure gossip will die down once I stop my magnificent courtship and you can go back to your normal life. Regularly scheduled program. Same old, same old." She kept talking to give Violet a chance to interrupt her and butt in, but the librarian just kept walking slowly. One step, then another, her head now bowed and fingers picking at the lid of her c
up. She looked conflicted, but she wasn’t disagreeing.

  Candace's heart dropped to her knees. Well, that was that, she guessed.

  There was something there between them, she knew that but Violet obviously wasn't sure. And she knew what a sure, in command Violet looked like, how she went about getting what she wanted. As much as she wanted to be told to shut up, the denial wasn't coming.

  God, this day was really determined to kick her in the gut, wasn't it? Quadruple shit.

  "Thank you. For understanding." Violet said finally, her eyes on the gravel path in front of them. "I didn't expect you to be so..." She trailed off before shaking her head once again and continuing. "I'm sorry for underestimating you, Candace."

  Pleased, Candace nodded even though she knew Violet couldn't see her. At least she had that. The day wasn't a complete bust. Whatever this thing between them was, it was time to put it on cool down.

  Besides, learning a bit more about Violet was pretty sweet on its own. The woman didn't seem to have a bad side.

  Candace fought off a sigh and decided that she had had enough of feeling sorry for herself. Maybe it was time for her to get back to her own regularly scheduled program of being insufferable.