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clear in his voice.
    Of course she could answer his question, but what fun was there in that? “You answer me first and then I’ll answer you.”
    “Fine. I’m at the arena.”
    That bastard was trying to steal her spotlight. Well, he had wasted his time. Come hell or high water—or bull manure, as the case may be—she was doing the buckle presentation. Not him.
    CeCe had been intent on playing with him for longer, but that was not to be. The announcer’s amplified voice bounced off the walls even as loud music began to pound from the sound system. Most likely John would be able to hear she was also at the arena, if he hadn’t figured that out already.
    She sighed and gave in to the fact her game was over. “I’m at the arena too.”
    “Where are you? I’m in the VIP section and I don’t see you.”
    “That’s because Tom Parsons got me a better seat.” Not quite the truth, but CeCe figured John didn’t need to know any more than that.
    “Oh.”
    She didn’t have long to enjoy his envy over her supposedly better seats before John continued, “Are you going to present the buckle or do you want me to just do it?”
    Ah ha. Exactly as she’d suspected. He wanted to be the one to stand in the middle of the arena amid spotlights and cheers.
    This presentation was still officially hers to do and she intended to do it. “Yes, I’m going to present the buckle. Alone. So don’t get any ideas.”
    “I’m not. I just wanted to make sure. You do have a habit of leaving the association in a lurch, you know. Can’t blame them for wanting to have me here as back up.”
    Rotten bastard. Throwing in her face the fact she’d pulled next year’s sponsorship. She couldn’t argue it was true but John had plenty of faults of his own for her to mention.
    “And you have a habit of cheating so what’s your point?” It wasn’t the best insult she’d ever come up with, but she didn’t have much time to think and the noise level in there was nearly deafening. She functioned better in quiet. “Listen, John, do us both a favor and stay away from me today. Enjoy the show and your VIP seats. Oh and make sure you say hello to my former marketing manager Jill for me.”
    She hung up before she could second guess that last comment about Jill.
    That bruise was still fresh. It would take a while for CeCe to stop feeling the twinge of knowing Aaron had chosen Jill over her.
    Stupid, fickle bull rider. Men nowadays really had no clue.
    The action on the arena floor drew her attention away from her sorrows. She wasn’t all that knowledgeable or interested in this sport, but she was here so she might as well watch and try to make the best of it.
    The lights dimmed and CeCe braced herself for what she knew was to come. She might not be a professional fan such as her husband, make that ex-husband, but it had only taken her one event to know that the opening ceremony was overly loud and explosive—literally.
    The producers in charge of the association’s events certainly loved their pyrotechnics. They used enough explosions to fill the arena with smoke and even flames. CeCe wouldn’t be surprised if the bright flashes and deafening bangs were enough to induce seizures.
    Over the top. That described these events in a nutshell.
    Modern day bull riding had become a commercial business. And the professional bull riding organization was a marketing machine. She knew personally how much money it took to run these events that were becoming more of a show than a competition.
    The announcer began introducing the riders. CeCe staunchly tried to not listen, to ignore Aaron’s introduction, but that was impossible. As the announcer’s words reverberated off the walls of the arena, they hit her doubly hard.
    There were a lot of riders and even reading off the names at a fast clip it took a while to get through them all. Then they moved to the other arena personnel.
    CeCe had been to all three events that weekend in Georgia, but she had to