“We will run a quick physical, draw blood, and sign you off for active federal clearance,” she explained. “We do these all the time for the Arsenal and FBI.” He watched her hands as she typed—steady and skilled. “Just routine,” she said quickly, as though she was trying to rush through everything. “You’ll be cleared by this afternoon.”
He leaned back on the exam table. “Funny thing is, I’m not used to being examined by someone I’ve seen dance on a stage before.” Yeah, there was no way that he was going to be able to drop the subject—even after Banshee and Bolt both warned him to. There was something about Ruby that both rubbed him the wrong way and turned him completely on at the same time.
Her shoulders stiffened—but she didn’t stop working. “I told you,” Ruby said, her voice controlled, “that wasn’t me. You’re mistaken. Maybe I just have one of those faces and look like someone else you know.”
“You sure?” Ant tilted his head. “The Velvet House, off Highway 23. It was just a few days back, and I could swear that it was you on stage that night. You’re not someone that I’d easily forget.”
Ruby kept typing, jaw ticking. “That must’ve been someone else.”
“I saw your eyes,” he said quietly. “Hard to forget those eyes.”
She finally turned to him—expression firm. “I don’t care what you think you saw. I put myself through medical school, Ant. I worked harder than most. And I didn’t dance my way through it, even if this person you’re talking about and I have the same eyes.”
He held her stare, trying to decide if he believed her or not, but he didn’t buy it. Ruby reached for the blood pressure cuff and motioned to his arm. “Let me check your vitals.”
He offered his arm as she sat close enough to feel her hands brush his skin. “You know you already did all of this, right?” he asked. “You took my pulse too, and I’m guessing that’s what you entered into the computer while you were trying to ignore my questions.
“Well, I can’t be too careful. You’ll be working for the FBI, so taking your vitals twice might be a good idea. We wouldn’t want you falling in the field or anything, just because I didn’t do a thorough job,” she said. He could tell that he was flustering her, and he had to admit that he liked seeing her that way.
“Valentine’s Day is next week.” He said it like it was an observation. She didn’t even bother to look at him, so he decided to take it a step further. “You got plans?”
Her focus stayed on the blood pressure cuff. “Nothing special. Probably working and doing rounds. I really don’t celebrate Valentine's Day.”
“You should let someone take you out,” he said. “A woman like you shouldn’t be spending that day alone.” She glanced up at him—and for a moment, he saw something unguarded in her eyes. It was something softer—loneliness. It was something that he knew. Ant knew loneliness better than he wanted to admit.
She masked it quickly. “I’m not interested in dating right now.”
“Or just not interested in dating me?” he asked quietly.
Ruby finished the blood pressure reading and stepped back. “Your vitals are fine. I’ll have a nurse come in to take your blood and will send your bloodwork to the lab.”
She tried to turn around to leave, but he saw the fear behind her eyes. It wasn’t the kind that trembled, or the kind that fought to stay hidden. Ant stood slowly from the table. “You don’t have to be scared of your past. Everybody’s got one.”
She held his chart to her chest like armor. “I’m not scared. Because there is no past to be scared of.”
Ant let a slow smile rise. “Now that’s a hell of a dance, Doc.”
Ruby’s voice lowered. “Leave it alone, Ant. Whatever you think you know—it won’t do either of us any good if you say it out loud.”
He stopped at the door. “What about saying it in private?” She didn’t answer, and he knew she wouldn’t. But the truth was already out—silent, heavy, undeniable.
He only had one more thing to say. His voice was calm, almost kind. “Valentine’s Day,” he said. “I’ll be around. In case you change your mind.” Ruby swallowed hard—but didn’t look away. And that was how Ant knew that she had something to hide. And this time, he knew that he wasn’t wrong.
RUBY
Ruby didn’t realize she was shaking until she locked the door to the on-call room and slid down against it. The room was dark and empty with just a narrow cot, a chair, and a metal cabinet that smelled faintly of antiseptic and old coffee. It was a place meant for exhausted doctors to grab ten minutes of sleep between emergencies. Ruby was an exhausted doctor, but she didn’t have time for a nap—not with Ant snooping around her life.
She pressed her forehead to her knees and breathed in deeply, letting the breath out slowly, while counting to five in her head. That usually helped to quiet her anxiety, but for some reason, this time it didn’t help. Ant’s voice echoed in her head. It wasn’t loud or threatening. No, it was worse because he seemed so calm and certain, and Ruby knew that no matter how much she protested, he was sure of the truth.
He was so sure that she worked at the Velvet House, and no matter how many times she denied it, there would be no changing that. The problem was that he hadn’t been guessing. Ant knew that it was her under that wig, dancing on stage, and that scared her to death.
The problem was that she didn’t remember seeing Ant around the club, but she really didn’t fraternize with the bouncers. Hell, she didn’t really talk to anyone there. Ruby learned to keep to herself, mostly. She went to work, put on her costume, and danced on stage until it was time for her to go home. Occasionally, she’d get hired for a private lap dance, which would help break up the long nights. They weren’t too bad, as long as the client kept his hands to himself. Otherwise, they’d be asked to leave by the owner, and she’d have to hear about controlling her clients—as if that was even possible.
Ruby squeezed her eyes shut, and the past crashed over her like a wave that she had spent years trying to outrun. Pole dancing wasn’t something that she was proud of, but she’d choose to do it all over again, because it was paying her bills. She didn’t mind the music that vibrated through the club as she danced for the men who tucked dollar bills into her garter with their greedy hands, always trying to take more than she was offering them. She usually told herself that that life belonged to Scarlet—not her. But now, those two worlds were colliding, and that terrified her.
That was how she had survived med school. Scarlet paid tuition when the scholarships ran dry. Scarlet worked double shifts when loans capped out. Scarlet learned how to smile while dying inside. She knew how to make men believe they had power while she counted down the minutes until she could leave. Ruby Monroe, MD, was built on Scarlet’s sacrifices. And somehow, Ant seemed to know it.
She dragged her hands down her face, her breath hitching as something hot burned behind her eyes. “Get it together,” she whispered. “You don’t have to be that girl anymore.” But that wasn’t true. She was always going to be that girl. Ruby had a mountain of bills to pay, and she knew that dancing was the only way to get them paid. So, Scarlet was going to have tostick around, and she was going to have to work her ass off to convince Ant that she wasn’t Scarlet.
