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kill him if he had half a chance.
    At eight seconds the buzzer went off and the crowd cheered. The announcers talked in excited voices.
    Creed dismounted, landing on his feet, and had to dodge the bull that immediately charged him. The cowboy clowns—or rather bullfighters as Kelsey had told her they were called now—had to work to get the bull’s attention off of Creed.
    When a score of ninety-three was announced, Creed pumped his fist in the air then took his hat off and waved it at the crowd. He looked directly into the camera and winked.
    Danica felt like that wink was meant for her, like he knew she was watching even though she’d told him she wasn’t going to. She shook her head. He was probably winking to swooning cowgirls all over the nation.
    She picked up the remote and turned off the TV—she’d had enough bull riding for today, and enough of a certain cowboy that she was thinking about far too much these days.
    A knock sounded at the door, startling her. She wasn’t expecting anyone and she wondered who it was. She went to the door and peeked out the peephole.
    Barry.
    Darn it.
    He knocked again and she undid the chain lock and the bolt lock and opened the door. “What are you doing here?” she asked.
    “You haven’t been answering your phone.” He stepped past her and into her home and she faced him as she closed the door behind him. “I’d like to take you out tonight.”
    “I’ve got too much going on.” She gestured to her laptop that was sitting on an end table. “I’ve been working.” If you could call watching a bull riding event on TV working.
    Barry was a good-looking man. An inch taller than her, he had light brown hair and light brown eyes. He had nice features and a great build, but he didn’t seem as attractive to her as he had when she’d first met him at a beach party with Kelsey.
    “You need some time off.” He gave her a smile. “You can change and I’ll take you out to that exclusive new restaurant downtown and then we’ll go to the theatre.”
    She took a deep breath. “Barry, I told you I just want to be friends.”
    It was like he hadn’t heard her as he said, “You have about thirty minutes to get ready.”
    She settled her hands at her hips. “I’m not going. I told you I have work to do.”
    He frowned. “Are you seeing someone else?”
    For a moment she paused. “Yes.” Sort of.
    His expression darkened a little. “And you didn’t say anything to me? Who is he?”
    “That doesn’t matter.” She found herself curling a strand of her long hair around her finger then made herself stop. “As far as you and I, just friends, like I’ve told you before.”
    “You’re making a mistake, Danica.” Barry’s frown deepened. “You and I—we’ve got a good thing together.”
    “We don’t have anything. We’re just friends.” She gave an exasperated sigh. “Now I’ve got work to do.”
    He looked like he was going to say something else then shut his mouth. He reached for the front door and held the knob for a moment. “We’ll talk about this later,” he said as he looked at her.
    She folded her arms across her chest. “Bye, Barry.”
    He gave a nod, opened the door, walked through the doorway, and shut the door hard behind him.
    Danica groaned and leaned with her back to the door and banged her head against the wood. Getting rid of Barry was turning out to be even harder than she’d thought it would be.
     

Chapter 5
     
    Danica hitched her backpack up on her shoulder and gripped her duffel tight as she walked up the ramp from the plane and into Sky Harbor Airport. Part of her couldn’t believe she was here, but for the most part she had to admit she was excited to see Creed.
    They’d talked on the phone every day for the past two weeks and had emailed each other and sent text messages. She felt like a teenager again with a crush on the cute guy in school.
    When she walked off the ramp and into the terminal, she slid her phone out of her