Free Stepping Up To Love (Lakeside Porches 1) by Katie O'Boyle Page A

it was. And you were smart to have the beeper ready. Do you feel safe?”
    Manda wet her lips. “No. Not on campus. Not with him on the loose.”
    Joel took a walk around Manda’s car, knelt to check the undercarriage, and asked her to pop the hood. Satisfied there were no booby traps—which he doubted was Kristof’s style—he gave her a thumbs-up.
    She laughed when he deposited himself in her front passenger seat. “I cannot believe you are riding in this clunker.”
    “Makes two of us.”
    While they waited for their breakfast, Joel poured each of them a second cup of coffee and proposed, “I have a situation you can help with, and it could solve your housing problem.”
    Manda held her breath. She’d prayed all night for a way to live off campus. “I’d love to hear it. It would feel good to help you for a change.”
    Joel beamed. “Thank you. I don’t know if you’re aware I manage some rental properties along the lake at the south edge of the city.”
    Manda shook her head. “So, south of the marina. I’m trying to place what’s there. Overlook Park?”
    Joel nodded. “Adjacent to the park, going north. Lakeside Terrace.”
    Manda’s eyes lit up. “You mean those ginger-bread-y row houses that curve up from the beach and climb the bluff?”
    “Exactly. I live in one and manage the rest.”
    “In your spare time, after putting in a full day at the Manse?”
    “Don’t go there.” Joel sat back as the waitress set down platters of eggs and home fries.
    “You’re going to eat that?”
    “Half. You?”
    “I am hungry enough to eat the half you leave.”
    “No dinner again?”
    “Never got to it.” Yesterday when she came home to fix supper, Stacey was on the couch, entwined with a tattooed biker. Manda had backed out and gone directly to the library. She did not bother Joel with that part of the story. He knew what happened in the library after that.
    The eggs and potatoes were delicious, but she gave up two-thirds of the way through.
    Joel had stopped at half and was watching her.
    She felt herself blush. “The only reason I haven’t gained weight is that I’ve missed so many meals. You are so disciplined.”
    “It helps. Had enough?” At Manda’s nod, he signaled the waitress to take away their plates and returned to his original topic. “The dorm situation is not good, is it?”
    “No.”
    “Here’s an alternative. I used to have a part-time bookkeeper who collected all the rents and tracked the repairs and expenses to the units. She got married about six months ago and left me in the lurch last month when she moved with her husband to the west coast. I need someone to do that job.
    “It’s not a big time commitment, but it requires someone with a head for details and good customer and supplier relations. I think you could manage it easily, even with your work at the Manse and your end-of-semester course work. Sound okay so far?”
    Manda nodded.
    “There’s a furnished studio apartment that could go with the job in lieu of a paycheck. Nothing fancy, but it’s clean, safe, and comfortable.”
    “That’s pretty generous, and I’m betting that wasn’t the arrangement with the old bookkeeper.”
    “Does that matter?” Joel said brusquely.
    Manda knew he was trying to manipulate her. She smiled at him. “It doesn’t tally with running a tab.”
    Joel grinned, “Busted.”
    “I’ve got your number, Cushman.”
    “But you’ll consider it?”
    “I will do it if we can make it a business arrangement.”
    “It is a business arrangement. I’m not looking to put you in a compromising position.”
    Manda heard the anger in his voice and said quickly, “No, I know that. I wasn’t questioning your intentions.”
    “So what’s the problem?”
    Manda was determined not to give in to the pressure she felt. She squared her shoulders, drew in a very slow breath, and let it out just as slowly. “For my self-esteem, I need to pay some nominal rent. Let me give the amount some