Drop Everything Now by Alessandra Thomas Read Free Book Online Page A

Oh. It was probably his girlfriend. Of course a guy like Ryder had a girlfriend. A girl like me stumbling into a guy like him in Las Vegas was something straight out of a cheesy romantic comedy. I should have remembered when I first laid eyes on him that my life was more like a depressing art film.
    “Also, to be honest, most of the job is just looking hot, so you shouldn’t have any problem.”
    Wait. Had he just called me hot? My eyes shot up to his face, trying to catch a look of embarrassment or regret at speaking so bluntly but his expression was blank.
    Jesus. He was telling me I was hot—and not even trying to hide it.
    “Okay, so,” he said, clearing his throat. “A place to stay.”
    “You seriously found something?” I asked. “I haven’t been able to find anything halfway decent, mostly because I don’t know how long I’m going to be here and...”
    He smiled. “Wow, your brain really does go a mile a minute, doesn’t it?”
    “Well, yeah. I mean, I have a lot going on. Is there something wrong with that?”
    “No, no. It’s just that every single girl your age I’ve met around here is just…you know…living it up. I’m not used to girls thinking about real-life stuff.”
    “Oh,” I said. He’d just named the reason I had never loved Vegas—lots of flashiness, lots of show, with nothing much genuine underneath. I’d always assumed everyone who worked here was the same in that way. “Well, I guess we should go and see it then.” I started toward the entrance, but he brushed his fingers to my arm to stop me. There it was again—that shivery heat running through my body when his skin touched mine. For another moment, visions swarmed through my mind—split-second fantasies of all of his skin, pressed against all of mine.
    Holy shit. I really needed to get back on the dating scene. Obviously, it had been way too long since I’d gotten any.
    “No,” he said, “I’m driving. The employees park out back.”
    “Oh,” I said. “Sorry.”
    I followed him on a winding path through the casino floor, past the café, and through the EMPLOYEES ONLY door. We walked past some lockers, through a small break room with a couple refrigerators, and out onto an expanse of asphalt full of mostly beat-up-looking cars and blazing with the last rays of setting sunlight. I squinted and put my hand up over my eyes.
    “The brightness takes some getting used to,” Ryder laughed. “Especially when you come from the land of the clouds.”
    He led me toward a dust-covered, silver pickup truck, popped open the door, and held his hand out to help me into the cab. I tossed my bag up onto the seat first, then took it. Goddamn, he had such good hands. Strong, with long fingers that weren’t delicate. At all.
    The pickup roared to life when he turned the key, and he looked at me sheepishly. “She used to purr, but now it’s more like a growl.”
    I laughed. “Well, you have a car, at least,” and then promptly kicked myself for sounding whiney. “I mean, it’s a great car.”
    He smiled and reached up to rub the scruff on his jaw. I had to stop looking at this guy, or I would end up jumping on top of him.
    As the truck rumbled through the off-the-Strip neighborhoods, I gazed out the window at the red mountains and the palm trees. It wasn’t exactly warm outside, and the setting sun left a chilly edge to the air in the cab. After a few minutes of staring at palm trees against the deepening blue sky streaked with burning gold and wondering if Vegas would see any snow this winter, I realized I hadn’t asked Ryder a thing about where we were going. I hadn’t told anyone I was going with him. I knew exactly two things about Ryder: he worked at the hotel, and he was hot. My stomach flipped with a little panic when I realized I didn’t even know his last name.
    Was this the kind of thing stupid people did?
    Was this how stupid people died?
    Ryder’s phone rang, jolting me out of my thoughts.
    “Hey, Tony,”