Välkommen Till Hästen Hus - Shånnon Marie (best books to read for knowledge .TXT) 📗

Välkommen Till Hästen Hus!

read the elaborately decorated sign. Anastasia Lake slowly braked the car and coasted to a halt. Her mare, Deluxe, whinnied from the trailer she pulled behind her.
Anastasia went to the trailer and cooed gently to her horse. "I'll be back out in just a moment, girl. I promise." Then Anastasia walked up to the building labeled "Main Office". Just as she was reaching out to open the door, a man came storming out and crashed roughly into her.
"Hey!" Anastasia sputtered, barely catching her balance on the wall.
The man glared at her, deep blue eyes made even deeper by the anger sparkling in them. "Watch where you're going, dumskalle

!" he snapped, a slight Swedish accent to his words.
"You

hit me

!" Anastasia retorted, temper flaring. She bristled up, trying to come across as intimidating, but found that difficult seeing as she barely reached his chest. She couldn't help but notice what a muscular chest it was. In fact, his whole body was chiseled and boasted of strength. That added on top of beautiful blue eyes and black curly hair made him one of the most gorgeous guys Anastasia had ever met, despite his rude behaviour.
"Well?" the man hissed, bringing Anastasia back to reality. "Aren't you going to apologize for your careless actions?"
Beautiful or not, this guy had attitude problems. "No!" she replied indignantly. "I did nothing wrong!" She spun around, planning to leave him and continue into the office building, but with lightning speed he blocked her path and pinned her against the wall.
"You must be new here," he pronounced each word slowly and deliberately. "Otherwise, you'd know that I'm not to be messed with." His eyes bore into hers, and Anastasia was trapped between breathlessness from his beauty and anger from his attitude.
Pulling herself together, the shoved him forcefully, even though she wasn't nearly strong enough for her action to cause much damage. Even so, he stepped aside and continued on his way. But as he left, he called out over his shoulder, "You'd be wise to learn how things work around here as quickly as possible." Then he was gone from view.
More than a little frazzled, Anastasia stepped inside the building and looked around. Two women stood there, and although one was quite a bit older than the other, they could have been twins. Both shared long, white blonde hair and porcelain blue eyes. And as the door closed behind her, both pairs of blue eyes met her own.
"Can I help you?" the elder of the two women asked. She, too, had a Swedish accent, although hers was considerably more noticeable than the man's had been.
"I'm Anastasia. Do you know where I'd find Mrs. Annike Berg?"
The younger woman, who seemed to be mid-twenties and looked like a Barbie doll come to life, gave an indignant snort. With a look of complete disgust, she glanced at the elder woman. "Her

?"
The older woman shushed her and smiled warmly towards Anastasia. "How nice to finally meet you, dear," she stepped forward and held out her hand. "I'm Annike. This is my daughter, Svea" she gestured to the other woman, who maintained a composure of complete disdain.
Anastasia ignored Svea and took Annike's hand. "Thank you so much for letting me come her and work for you."
Svea snorted again, gave a dramatic flip of her hair, and left.
Annike grimaced. "Please, you will forgive my daughter. I'm afraid I've spoiled her a little too much."
"Who was the man who exited from here a few moments ago? Is he your son?" Anastasia asked, comparing Svea's and his attitudes.
"Oh, Ryan? No, he's the son of my late husband's business partner, Geoffrey Stanton. Geoffrey was declared mentally insane when Ryan was still a young boy, so we took Ryan on and let him grow up here with us, working with the horses. That's why he has an accent like the rest of ours. Also, you will probably meet Kyle Caprini. He's been working here since he was a young teenager, after he ran away from home. From living with us, he's learned how to speak Swedish, but he's Italian by birth and speaks it as well as French and Spanish. Even though I'm officially the owner of Hästen Hus, I pretty much let Ryan, Svea, and Kyle run it. They're much more into the horses than I am. Why don't you take a seat, dear, and we''ll go over the paperwork."
After an hour or so of questions, paperwork, and discussion, Annike stood and handed Anastasia a map. Pointing to a building, she said "This is where you can put your mare. I'll let you go get settled. I apologize for talking for so-"
She was cut off as a tall, bronzed, beautiful man breezed into the office. "Buon giorno

!" he crowed, a contagiously friendly grin on his face. He embraced Annike and kissed her on either cheek. Then, he turned towards Anastasia. "And who is this bella

girl?" he asked in an Italian accent.
Anastasia blushed at his compliment, and wondered if there was anyone here who didn't

look like a model. This man certainly was no exception. He was strong like Ryan, but his skin was dark and he had wavy dark brown hair that fell into his glittering brown eyes. Not to mention his smile that looked like it came straight from a toothpaste commercial.
"Anastasia, I'd like you to meet Kyle," Annike said. "Actually, Kyle, this is perfect timing. Would you mind showing Anastasia where to put her mare?"
"Ah, so you're Anastasia!" Kyle grinned. "I have heard about you, si

. You are the talented young rider! Annike, why didn't you tell me how beautiful she was?"
Anastasia blushed again, and Kyle chuckled. "I did not mean to offend you. Come, I show you where to put your horse, no?"
Anastasia and Kyle both bid Annike good-bye, and then Kyle led her out the door.

* * *
"So, you have ridden horses a long time?" Kyle asked as Anastasia led Deluxe out of the trailer.
"Yes, since I was five," she nodded.
Kyle bent down and easily lifted her heavy tack box out of the trailer, muscles rippling underneath his shirt. With a jerk of his head, he motioned for Anastasia to follow him into the barn.
As they entered, Anastasia gasped. The barn was huge, beautiful, and perfectly immaculate.
Kyle laughed. "Yes, this is a wonderful place, si? Come, your stall is right here," he placed the box down next to a large, fully prepared stall. On the door was a brass nameplate with Deluxe's full name - Golden Double Deluxe- engraved on it. Anastasia's name was written underneath.
She released her mare into the stall, and removed all her travelling tack. Deluxe shook herself out and began eating the alfalfa in her hay rack.
"We can come back and finish tending to her later," Kyle touched her arm. "For now, I show you around, si

?"
As Kyle introduced her to the layout of the land, Anastasia was left awestruck. Along with the barn that Deluxe was stabled in, there were four others, including one labeled "Friesians."
"Fresians? Really?" Anastasia exclaimed. "Oh please, can we go see them?"
Kyle smiled. "Later, I promise. First you must see the rest."
In front of the barns lay a large arena, complete with grandstands and everything.
"This, it is the competition arena," Kyle explained. "When we host a show, this is where the horses compete."
He led her down a path, towards a mansion of a house. "This is where residents of Hästen Hus, or HH as we call it, live. You'll be staying here." Then he pointed to a large forest behind the house. "That forest is for our use. It's full of trails and clearings that are perfect for workouts and pleasure riding."
Down past the house were two ovals, one turf and one dirt. There were also two small arenas for practice use. From here, Anastasia could see that each barn had a large pasture connected to it.
"All the horses have doors in the back of their stalls so you can easily turn them out to pasture whenever you want," Kyle said.
Both of them turned their heads towards the sound of approaching hoof beats, and Anastasia made out two riders approaching them. One rode a powerful black Friesian stallion, and the other was astride a beautiful palomino Thoroughbred.
As they drew nearer, Anastasia gave an inward groan. The two riders were non other than Ryan and Svea, and they pulled to a halt alongside her and Kyle.
"Min Gud hon är så ful

!!" Svea spoke to Ryan.
"Jag gillar rödhåriga kvinnan

, Svea," Ryan replied.
Svea gave a bark of laughter, then turned towards Anastasia. "Where is your horse? Is she as ugly as you are?"
Anastasia gritted her teeth. "My mare is in her stall, and I think she's the most beautiful horse in the world!"
Svea chuckled condescendingly, and was about to say something when Kyle said "Oh, stuff it, Svea!"
Svea's upper lip curled into a sneer. "Prata inte med mig

!" she snapped, then clapped her heels against the palomino's side and rode off.
Ryan stayed behind, the look on his face completely unreadable.
"Why don't you go follow your kvinna

?" Kyle's words dripped with sarcasm, and he put a possessive arm around Anastasia's waist. "You two are perfect for each other."
Ryan's eyes narrowed in contempt. "Hon är inte min kvinna, och att flickan är inte

din kvinna

!" he responded icily, then dismounted from his horse. He stuck his face right in Kyle's, and the tension was so thick that Anastasia could almost touch it. Ryan continued to speak in a voice that was soft, but still very hostile. As he went on and on in Swedish, Anastasia gave up trying to figure out what he was saying.
As handsome and likable as Kyle was, there was still something about Ryan that drew Anastasia to him. She watched his mouth forming the foreign but beautiful words, and caught herself wondering how that mouth might feel against her own. "Stop it!" she scolded herself, blushing when she realized she'd accidentally spoken out loud.
Both men stared at her for a few moments, then Ryan spun away and remounted his horse. "I'm warning you!" he said to Kyle before riding away.
"I really hate that guy," Kyle growled. "Him and his stuck-up girlfriend! They drive me loco!"
"Svea's his girlfriend?" Anastasia blurted.
"Si," Kyle nodded. "They match well, don't they?"
Anastasia tried to hide the sinking feeling in her stomach. With a girlfriend as beautiful as Svea, there was no way Ryan would ever be interested in her. She pasted what she hoped was a friendly smile on her face