Shadow Lake Vampire Society - Wendi Wilson Page 0,31

They did not look friendly.

“That’s Harris, the farm hand I mentioned,” True whispered. “He doesn’t say much.”

She was right. Without a word, he passed out shovels and disappeared.

“How did we get picked as the lucky ones to get barn duty first?” I asked. It seemed immensely unfair we were asked to clean the barn while others would rotate in later to sparkling stables.

“Luck of the draw, I guess.” True rolled her eyes and showed me around, pointing out the animals I’d already seen before adding a chicken coop in the back, some goats in a side pasture, and then the riding gear. While we toured and went over the rules regarding campers and the animals, the sound of a shovel scraping against the ground continued in the background. And by the time we got back to the stables, Levi had quietly cleared all of the manure for us.

As he picked up a pitch fork and tackled a hay bale, I watched, unable to help myself. He worked doggedly without tiring. His strong muscles flexed beneath his plain black T-shirt, and his eyes remained fixed on his work. With his mind on the task, his face lost its anger and frustration, the lines smoothing out until he looked almost peaceful.

And so handsome, it hurt.

Badass Piper doesn’t care about how hot Levi is. Levi is a jerk, remember?

I shook away the unwanted thoughts as Levi finished up.

“Hey, thanks, man,” True said, leaning against a stall, a blade of hay between her teeth. “We could’ve helped you with the dirty work.”

He shrugged, seeming uncomfortable with the gratitude. “You can fill the water buckets before we go.” He gestured to a spigot and a pile of black buckets.

While True and I got to work rinsing and filling the buckets, Levi stepped out of the barn and disappeared. When I walked out with two of the buckets, I caught a glimpse of him in a slice of shade. He’d removed his sweaty T-shirt and was washing himself down with a hose. The water ran over his shoulders and down his muscular back. As I watched, he let the water flow through his hair and over his face, his eyes closed as he enjoyed the sensation.

It was sexy as hell and also made me wonder if he was happiest alone, doing the hard work no one else wanted to do.

True bumped me on her way past, her brow waggle letting me know she’d seen my appreciative stare. I shrugged my shoulders and mouthed What? while she laughed silently and rolled her eyes. At least she had enough discretion to avoid embarrassing me in front of Levi.

I was doing a bang-up job of that myself.

With the dirty work complete⁠—or as complete as Harris wanted it⁠—True talked me through the horse harnesses and tack, explaining that they had a professional on staff so I didn’t need to be an expert. While I petted a few mares, Levi wandered over, rubbing a gentle hand down a horse’s neck. The mare leaned thankfully into his touch.

Good with animals, too? If I didn’t know he was a douche, he’d be the perfect guy.

Our rotation ended, and we walked to our next assigned station—CPR and first aid.

Damn, this was going to be awkward.

The nurse’s station was a small, one-story cabin with white siding, blue shutters, and a brown shingled roof. Somehow, it didn’t match the woodsy aesthetic of the other buildings, making me wonder if this building was newer or older than the others.

Unfortunately, I’d been here before when I’d passed out, so I didn’t need a tour or to be introduced to the camp’s nurse, Barbara. Nurse Barbara had to be in her sixties, but was still quite attractive by any standard, fitting in nicely with the other catalogue models that worked here. She was prim and petite, with chin-length white blonde hair, a tiny voice, and cold fingers. I’d had the pleasure of having them prod me the other day.

Determined to prove to myself and everyone else that I was completely fine, I was the first to volunteer to use the CPR dummy. Placing the plastic torso on the wood floor, I ran over the procedure in my head. I’d been trained only a few months before at my local recreation department and had gotten praise from my instructor.

So, with a deep breath, I knelt beside the “victim” and began.

Performing the compressions and breaths, I ignored the prickly feeling of being watched. When I’d completed a whole cycle, I met