Ant
Every time he closed his eyes to try to sleep, he saw the car sitting in the back of her parking lot.
He kept seeing the tension in Ruby’s shoulders when she recognized it.
He saw the fear in her eyes, and he was sure that had everything to do with her being pulled back into a life she’d fought tooth and nail to escape.
He rolled onto his side and checked the security monitor on his phone for the third time in ten minutes. The driveway camera showed nothing but shadows and trees swaying in the night breeze. It was quiet—too quiet.
His phone buzzed softly with a text from Bolt.
Bolt: You good?
Ant typed back without hesitation.
Ant: Got eyes on the situation. She’s safe. Any news about who the guy is?
Bolt’s response wasn’t immediate, and he worried that his partner was going to protest his doing this on his own, but he didn’t want anyone else involved in this mess.
Bolt: No, we’re still running his prints. He’s sitting in a cell downtown for the night. His alcohol levels were off the charts. You sure you’re the right guy to handle this?
Ant stared at the message longer than he should have.
Ant: No
His answer was the most honest he had been with himself in a long time. But he also knew that giving the case to Bolt would be taking the easy way out.
Ant: But I’m the one here. I want to do this.
He slipped the phone back into his pocket, not wanting to answer any more of Bolt’s questions. Nothing about this situation was cut and dry, and he wouldn’t want to be anywhere else but there with Ruby.
Sometime near dawn, Ruby stirred. She sat up slowly, eyes unfocused, panic flickering across her face until she took in the room and remembered where she was. “Ant?” she whispered.
“I’m here,” he said immediately.
Her shoulders seemed to relax a fraction. “I thought I heard something.”
“It’s just the house,” he replied. “You’re safe.”
She nodded, rubbing her arms like she was cold. “Why aren’t you sleeping?” she asked.
“Can’t,” he said simply.
“You need sleep too,” Ruby insisted. “Without sleep, you’ll make mistakes, and I don’t want you getting hurt because of me.”
He stood then, closing the distance but stopping well short of her space. “You didn’t ask for any of this, Ruby. And I’m not doing this because I feel obligated.”
She studied him, seeming to search for answers. “Then why are you doing this, Ant?”
Ant exhaled slowly. Truth pressed hard against his ribs.
“Because I’ve seen what happens when women don’t take their stalkers seriously,” he said quietly.
“And because that guy thinks money buys him access to your body. That makes him my problem.” Silence stretched between them—heavy, intimate, and dangerous in a way neither of them acknowledged.
“I should go back to my apartment after work today,” she said finally. “I need to check my place and make sure he’s gone.”
“You won’t be alone when you do,” Ant replied. “I’ll drive you. Or Bolt will. You don’t walk into that situation solo again.”
A faint smile tugged at her mouth. “You sound like you’re used to giving orders.” He almost smiled back—almost.
“I’m used to keeping people alive,” he said.
She pulled the blanket tighter around herself. “Thank you. For not making me feel bad about all this.”
Ant’s voice was low. “You have nothing to feel bad about, honey.” That hit a nerve. He saw it in the way her chin trembled before she caught herself.
“You should get some sleep,” he added. “I’ll stay up.”
She hesitated, then lay back down. “Okay.” As her breathing evened out again, Ant returned to his post by the door, eyes never leaving it.
He didn’t know what would become of things between him and Ruby, or where the lines would blur. But he knew one thing with absolute clarity—the man who thought Ruby owed him something had made the worst mistake of his life. And Ant would make damn sure he never got close enough to forget it.
Ant spent most of the morning keeping an eye on the door and watching Ruby sleep.
She wasn’t peaceful, as she tossed and turned, and he knew that had everything to do with the man stalking her.
He eventually gave up guarding the door and decided to make them both some coffee and breakfast. He had a feeling that Ruby would need both before he took her in for her shift at the hospital.
By the time he woke Ruby, Ant was already dressed and ready to face whatever the day wanted to toss his way.
He stood at the front window with a mug of coffee he hadn’t touched yet as his eyes scanned the driveway, the road beyond it, and the quiet stretch of woods that usually made his place feel secluded instead of exposed.
He saw nothing, but that didn’t mean anything.
He checked the cameras again, noting that they were still clear. He saw no unfamiliar vehicles, and no movement that didn’t belong. The absence of threat should’ve eased the tension in his chest, but it didn’t.
Behind him, the couch creaked softly as Ruby started to wake up. She stirred, sitting up with the blanket still wrapped around her shoulders. Her hair was a mess, her eyes tired but alert—the look of someone who slept but didn’t rest.
“You’ve been up all night,” she said. She wasn’t asking him a question—merely stating a fact.
Ant didn’t turn to face her right away. “I’m fine,” he lied.
She padded closer, barefoot on the hardwood floor, stopping a careful distance away from him. “You didn’t have to play guard dog. I don’t think he will find us here.”
He finally faced her. “We don’t know that,” he said. “And someone had to guard this place.”
She crossed her arms over her chest, and Ant let his eyes roam her curvy body. “That guy doesn’t scare me as much as he should. Once he sobers up, he’ll probably realize that he was an ass. I don’t think that we have to worry about him anymore.”
Ant frowned. “That’s not a good thing. He should scare you. He cornered you and demanded things from you he had no right to ask for.”
“It’s not as bad as you’re making it out to be,” she insisted.
“I’ve dealt with worse down at the club.
Sometimes, guys get handsy, and I deal with them.
I can hold my own, Ant.” The words landed heavily between them.
He knew that she was capable of taking care of herself, but there was something about Ruby that had him wanting to step in and help her.
He wasn’t sure why that was, but thinking too much about it right now wasn’t going to happen.
Ant set his coffee down untouched. “We’re going to your place.
It’s better to check things out in the daylight.
We can check the parking lot for any sign of him.
Then, we’ll check your door to make sure nothing’s been tampered with.
If you want to grab some more clothes and essentials, you can, but you’ll have to do it fast.”
“And if he’s there?” she asked. Bolt had the guy held overnight for driving while intoxicated, but when the courts opened downtown, he’d be let out on bail. There would be no way that they’d be able to keep him in custody.
Ant’s voice didn’t change. “Then he would have made a very bad decision. But I don’t think that will be a problem. Bolt had the guy held overnight, and he should still be behind bars.”
She watched him closely, like she was measuring what he wasn’t saying. “You can’t just handle it. Don’t you have rules to follow as an FBI agent?”
“I can just handle it,” he replied. “And I never was one for following the rules, honey.” That seemed to satisfy her—for now. “We’re going to need to head out in ten minutes. Can you be ready to go?” he asked.
“I can,” she agreed. He could see that worry on her face, and Ant wished that there was something that he could do to ease it, but he couldn’t.
The drive back to her apartment was quiet.
Ruby sat with her hands folded in her lap, her gaze fixed out the window.
Ant looked in the rearview mirror every few seconds, as though he expected someone to be following them.
The entire ride made her nervous, and right now, she needed to keep her head on straight because she had an hour until her shift started down at the hospital.
The parking lot was empty, and Ruby took that as a good sign. There was no sedan parked crooked in the back of the lot. No shadowed figure sat behind any windshields watching for her. There was just the morning sun bouncing off windshields and the normal hum of a place waking up.
Ruby let out a breath she’d been holding. “He’s gone.”
“For now,” Ant said. “He should still be in lock up. Let’s grab a few of your things, and I’ll still be able to get you to work on time.
” They both got out of his truck and approached her building together.
Ant checked the door frame, the lock, the windows—subtle things most people never noticed. Everything looked untouched.
Inside, Ruby moved slowly, like she expected the space to feel violated even if it wasn’t. She set her bag down and leaned against the counter. “I hate that he made my home feel unsafe,” she said quietly.
Ant nodded. “That’s what guys like him do. They don’t need to touch you to take something from you.”
She looked at him then. “You didn’t treat me like I’m fragile. Everyone else seems to be waiting for me to break, but not you.”
“I don’t think you are going to break, Ruby,” he admitted.
“But you didn’t tell me to just be careful either,” she added. “You acted and took me back to your place to keep me safe.”
He shrugged. “Careful doesn’t stop predators.” Something shifted inside of her. She felt this strange respect for Ant, mixed with something warmer, and a lot more dangerous.
She cleared her throat. “I should get ready for work.” Ant hesitated.
Every instinct in him wanted to say don’t go.
He wanted to beg her to stay with him, and let someone else cover her rounds, and give him time to figure out who this guy was and why he followed her home from the club. But he knew better.
“I’ll drive you to work,” he said. He wasn’t really asking, but Ruby still protested.
“You can’t be my chauffeur all day, Ant. Besides, I don’t need the rest of the hospital talking about me and some hot guy who dropped me off.”
“You think I’m hot?” he asked, bobbing his eyebrows at her.
She giggled, “You’re missing the point,” she insisted. “You can’t just drive me around town. I can go to work, and after, I’ll meet you back at your place,” she offered. She was compromising with him, and he admired that.
“Fine,” he breathed. “But you call me when you’re done,” he said. “I’ll walk you to your bike. And if anything feels off—anything—you don’t second-guess it. You call me.”
Ruby nodded. “You’re not my keeper. I can handle myself.”
“No,” Ant agreed. “I’m your backup.” She smiled faintly at that. “When you get done kicking ass, I’ll take over.”
As he turned to leave her to pack, she stopped him. “Ant?” He paused, waiting for her to continue. “Last night you didn’t ask for anything. You had no expectations, and for that I’m grateful.”
He met her eyes. “That’s not how this works, Ruby. I’m not doing this so you’ll owe me. Hell, I’m not really sure why I’m doing this, but it’s not so you will do anything in return.”
Her voice was soft. “Then how does it work?” Ant didn’t have a clean answer. The truth was messier than either of them probably wanted to admit.
“It works one step at a time,” he said. “And we don’t pretend danger disappears just because no one is sitting in the parking lot, stalking you.
” She didn’t say anything, and he didn’t wait around for a response.
“I’ll be in my truck. Just come down when you are ready, and I’ll take your bags back to my place.
” She watched him go, and Ant felt the weight of that gaze long after the door closed behind him.
As he walked to his truck, phone already in his hand, he sent a single text to Bolt.
Ant: Keep your eyes open. I’m betting the situation isn’t done, and Ruby is going to work.
Bolt: We need to talk. I’ll call you in a few.
Ant didn’t like Bolt’s message. He had a feeling that things were about to go sideways, and he wasn’t sure that letting Ruby work her shift at the hospital was the best idea.
Whatever the man in the parking lot thought he was owed, he seemed hellbent on collecting.
He’d just have to make sure that didn’t happen.
Because Ant knew one thing for sure, Ruby wasn’t alone anymore—he’d make sure of it.