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Unlike some men, he preferred a woman with a strong personality mainly because over the years most of those he’d dated had had anything but. They’d assumed in order to capture the interest of the Ravnel heir, they had to be mild, meek, the epitome of social decorum, grace and sophistication. That’s where they’d been wrong since he found that type of woman boring as hell.
Jaxon wanted a woman who was tough, independent and spirited—like his mother. His father, Arnett Ravnel, said the first thing that had attracted him to Ingrid Parkinson was her energy, sassiness and spunk. Those were traits Jaxon’s mother still possessed and his father still admired.
His father had also said that a Ravnel man would know the woman he was destined to share his life with the moment he saw her. Jaxon had always assumed it would be someone from his home state of Virginia. He hadn’t been prepared to be taken with the likes of a Wyoming-born beauty named Nadia Novak.
Getting Nadia to be as taken with him as much as he was with her would be a challenge, but like he’d told the males in her family, it was one he was up to. Whenever he’d seen her she’d been friendly and pleasant, but she never had much to say. At least not to him. And there were times when he thought she was avoiding him. Jaxon figured the main reason for that was because she hadn’t gotten to know him. That assumption was what had led him here.
Never in his thirty-three years had he ever pursued a woman. Because of the Ravnel name and wealth, it had always been the other way around. He’d been warned by the Westmorelands and Outlaws that he had his work cut out for him. There were some who even jokingly referred to her as the “Renegade Novak.”
He had to be patient and not overplay his hand. For her to get to know him, they needed to spend time together. He’d been in Gamble a little more than a week and as part of his plan, he had deliberately not looked her up. Tomorrow he would drop by the drama academy and invite her to lunch or suggest dinner. It would come across as nothing more than a friendly gesture on his part since they were connected to the same families. He smiled, liking that approach.
He turned away from the window at the sound of his phone. Moving across the room he picked it up off the nightstand, not recognizing the caller’s ID. “Yes?”
“Jaxon, this is Nadia Novak.”
He pulled in a surprised breath. What were the odds that the very woman he’d been thinking about would call him? “Nadia, how are you? This is a surprise.”
He felt sensations in his lower extremities just from hearing the sound of her voice. “What can I do for you?” He asked the question while his mind was filled with several scenarios of all the things they could do for each other.
“I was talking to my sisters earlier this week and they mentioned you were in Gamble.”
“Yes, I’m here on business.”
“That’s what they said, and I’d like to invite you to dinner.”
“Dinner?”
“Yes. Tomorrow. In my home at the Novak Homestead. It’s the least I can do since we have close ties to the same families.”
A smile spread across his lips. That had been the same angle he’d planned to use. “I wouldn’t want you to go to any trouble.”
“I won’t. I enjoy cooking and look forward to doing so for someone other than myself for a change.”
“All right, if you’re sure?”
“I’m positive.”
“In that case, I accept. What’s your address?” he asked, reaching for the pen and notepad off the nightstand.
She rattled it off to him and he jotted it down. “Thanks for the invitation. What time do you want me to come?”
“How about five o’clock? Will that work for you?”
Little did she know he would make any time work when it came to her. “Yes, five o’clock is fine.”
“Good. I’ll see you tomorrow. Goodbye, Jaxon.”
“Goodbye, Nadia.”
Jaxon’s smile widened as he disconnected the call. Of all the luck. Getting that call from Nadia had certainly made his day. He couldn’t wait to see her tomorrow.
Two
What a man, what a mighty good-looking man...
Nadia stood at the kitchen window and watched Jaxon get out of his car. She definitely appreciated what she saw and from where she was standing, she was seeing a lot. This particular window was designed in a way that gave anyone looking through it a good view of approaching visitors without being seen. In other words, you could watch them without them knowing they were being observed. It was a clever idea and she appreciated her great-grandfather Jay Novak for having thought of it.
Jaxon was carrying a huge bouquet of flowers and she figured they were for her. How thoughtful. The women in the Westmoreland and Outlaw families who’d gotten to know him thought he was considerate and kind, a true Southern gentlemen who had a strong sense of doing what was right. He’d certainly proved the latter when he’d exposed the wrongdoings of Simon Bordella to the Outlaws.
