Free The Billionaire Bum by Samantha Blair Page A

that I knew I would regret later. I absolutely devoured them. I followed it up with apple pie and coffee. The food perked me up, and I found that I wasn’t tired. In fact, I was positively giddy. I was proud of my honest day’s labor, and I felt like I had experienced a whole new world. I wanted to share it with someone.

    Alissa. Just thinking about her made me suddenly very lonely. My stomach turned at the thought of spending the rest of the night in a cold hotel room. I wondered what it would be like to watch her sleeping, her beautiful brown hair fanned out on her pillow. I wondered what she slept in. Oh, God, I was going to embarrass myself if I thought any further along that line, so instead I paid my check and stepped out into the cold night air. It was already almost four in the morning. I wondered what time Alissa left for the market.
    There was only one way to find out.

    Alissa
    The alarm went off at 4:30 like usual, and I smacked it with the palm of my hand. It was a good thing that I loved my job or I would never get up like this. I pulled on jeans and a t-shirt with my black hoodie over top. I had sneakers that were specifically for the market. After the fifth time I stepped in a pile of fish guts down there, I decided to designate a pair of fish-gut shoes.
    I put my hair up in a ponytail and grabbed my wallet. I checked to make sure that I had enough cash for the day’s groceries and my list. I always bought whatever looked good for the day, but there were staples that I needed to pick up as well.
    I wondered if Matt would show up today. I hated to fire him, but he was irresponsible.
    I’d given him the job in the first place as a favor to his father. The Ozwell family owned a chain of sporting goods stores, and I had worked at one of them for a couple of years while I was putting myself through college. The Ozwells had been very good to me, so I didn’t hesitate to employ their son. Matt was a college kid, just picking up a couple hours of work every day for spending money. Unfortunately, he also liked to party, which meant that he was rarely up by six when I needed him.
    Of course, I was glad he hadn’t shown up yesterday, because I wouldn’t have met Jackson otherwise.
    Jackson. My fancy-jeans-wearing, messy-haired, blue-eyed, superhero. Swoon.
    I was such a girl. I mean seriously, who thinks like that?
    I stumbled down the steps and out the backdoor with my keys in one hand and my list in the other.
    “Good morning, beautiful.”
    “Ack!!!” I screamed, and jumped a good three feet in the air. On the way down, I somehow twisted my feet beneath me, and I would have landed flat on my ass had I not been caught by a strong pair of arms.
    Yep. Definitely a superhero.

    “Oh no. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you,” he apologized profusely.
    “You scared the crap out of me, Jackson,” I said, finally righting myself and punching him in the bicep. “Don’t ever do that again.”

    “I’m so sorry. I didn’t expect you to react like that. I mean, of course, I won’t do that again…” He was actually really cute when he was rambling, so I decided to save him.
    “I was just surprised to see you. What are you doing here?” Half of my brain was screaming, “He’s a psycho killer here to stalk you!” The other half was insisting that I was glad he’d missed me. I knew I’d missed him.
    “Well, I just got off work, and I was passing by, and I thought that perhaps you might like some company for your morning trip to the market. I’m sorry. I should have called, but I didn’t get your number, and…” He ran his hand through his already disheveled hair. “Well… the truth is, I just wanted to see you.”
    He turned those beautiful eyes on me like a puppy that knew it was about to be chastised and gave me a sheepish grin. I was done for.
    “I would love to have your company for my trip to the market,” I said.
    He settled into the passenger seat of my cargo van and we started