“You just stay right here,” he ordered. “I’ll get this stuff into the building, and then, I plan on taking you home and getting you naked—except for those boots.” She smiled and almost squealed her delight, causing him to chuckle. He shook his head at her and started for the building.
She watched as he headed toward the unfinished doorway, and Ruby felt it again. That creeping, crawling sensation along her spine. Something was wrong, but she couldn’t put her finger on what it was.
“Ant,” she called.
He turned slightly. “Yeah?”
“I—” She couldn’t finish what she was saying before the world exploded around them. The blast ripped through the building with a deafening roar, heat, and pressure slamminginto Ruby like a physical force. The ground shook as the air punched from her lungs. A violent crack of wood, glass, and something metallic seemed to tear apart all at once as Ruby hit the gravel hard. For half a second, her brain refused to process it.
Then terror surged, and her world felt as though it came back into focus. “ANT!” She scrambled to her feet, coughing, as her heart slammed wildly against her ribs. Flames licked inside the structure, and debris was scattered across the lot. Her mind snapped into clarity with horrifying speed. This was not an accident, and it wasn’t random. It had to be him—her stalker.
“He’s here,” she whispered to herself. She realized that he must have been waiting for the right time to strike. He had planned this, and now, she was at his mercy. And if he had rigged the building to explode, then he was watching. He had to be, but Ruby didn’t stop to think about the danger that he posed to her. She didn’t stop to assess the situation. Hell, she didn’t stop at all. She ran straight into the smoke.
“Ruby, WAIT?—!”
Someone shouted behind her. She wasn’t sure who it was. Her ears were ringing so badly that she couldn’t tell if the voice belonged to a man or a woman. It might have been Banshee, or maybe Bolt, but the sound barely registered in her muffled brain.
Inside the building, the air was so thick that it nearly choked her. Dust and chemicals stung her throat as she breathed in the toxic air. The skeletal frame of the clubhouse groaned ominously, parts of the ceiling already sagging. She knew that she didn’t have long before the entire thing would collapse on top of her and Ant. She couldn’t allow that to happen.
“Ant!” she screamed, her eyes burning. “ANT!”
A section of drywall lay shattered near the entrance, and her pulse spiked violently. If she wasn’t wrong, that was the samedrywall that Ant had carried into the building right before it exploded.
“Ant, answer me!” she shouted. She stopped to listen for just a few seconds but heard nothing. Until a cough broke through the silence. She heard deep, ragged breaths coming from the room just to the right of her.
Ruby’s head snapped toward the sound. Through the haze, she saw him half buried beneath fallen beams and splintered boards, blood streaking down his temple, as he tried to push himself upright.
Relief and horror collided in her chest all at once. “Oh my God—” She dropped beside him instantly, doctor mode obliterating the panic that welled up inside of her.
“Don’t move,” she ordered, her hands already scanning him for any signs of injury. “Talk to me. Can you hear me clearly?”
Ant blinked, dazed but conscious. “Yeah, I can hear you.”
“Do you have any ringing in your ears?”
“A little,” he admitted.
She touched his face gently, checking his pupils. “Stay with me,” she ordered.
Smoke thickened as something above them cracked. “We need to move,” he rasped.
“I know,” she breathed. She tugged against the beam that was pinning his leg. It didn’t budge. Ruby’s adrenaline surged.
“Help!” she yelled. “I NEED HELP IN HERE!” Footsteps thundered towards them as Bolt and Banshee burst through the smoke seconds later.
“Jesus Christ—” Bolt dropped beside them. “We got you,” he promised Ant.
Together, they lifted the beam just enough to help Ant slide free. He gritted his teeth but didn’t cry out in pain. But judging from the way his leg was positioned, he had to be in a good deal of pain.
Ruby hooked an arm around him. “I’ve got you.” They staggered toward the exit as the building groaned again, fire beginning to creep along the interior walls.
The outside air hit Ruby’s lungs like salvation. She barely had time to breathe before a voice sliced through the chaos. It sounded like it was mocking her as she searched the area, trying to find where it was coming from.
“You really should’ve danced for me when I asked.” Ruby froze. Every cell in her body turned to ice. She knew that voice. It made her feel sick every time she heard it. She saw him across the lot, standing near the tree line, smiling at her. Her stalker was back, and the look in his eyes said something terrifyingly clear. This was never about the money that he had paid her for a lap dance. This was about her, and now, she knew that he’d do anything to get to her—including hurting the man she loved.
ANT
Ant watched as Ruby’s stalker taunted her from the tree line and then disappeared from sight when Banshee and Bolt took off after him. Bolt shouted at her to get him to the hospital, and he wanted to protest, but couldn’t get the words out. Before he knew it, he was being shoved into his truck by Ruby and driven into town.
