“You would be able to see up there. You could spot Striker and tell Jackal where he is.”

“No!”

“We’re never going to be able to spot him in this crowd.”

Jackal had to admit Hennessy was right.

“Penni …?” He stared back at her, letting her have the chance to let the truth sink in. She was going to have to do it.

“I’m not going to take off my top and show my breasts to hundreds of people! I don’t even have on shorts.”

“You’re wearing a thong,” Jackal reminded her.

“I’m not going out there in a damn thong!” She began walking away from them. The Road Kingz closed their ranks around her, not letting her go anywhere.

With remorse, he saw her angry eyes flick toward his. She expected him to put a stop to Hennessy’s order.

“Most of the men here are so drunk they won’t remember …” Jackal realized he wasn’t helping. “I’ll make sure no one touches you.”

“Don’t do me any favors.” She turned to face Hennessy. “Any of you assholes have a knife?”

Did she seriously expect him to give her a weapon she could use against them?

“As much as I want to use it on you, I want to cut off my jeans,” she explained.

Hennessy didn’t trust her, but he took out his knife.

Jackal took out his own knife. “I’ll do it.”

Bending down, he began cutting away the legs of her jeans. When he would have stopped at the middle of her thigh, she demanded, “Higher.” When Jackal would have stopped at the middle of her thigh, Penni pointed the top of her leg.

“No.”

“Either you do, or I get Hennessy to do it.”

Jackal tightened his jaw. The son of a bitch would do it, and if Hennessy touched where she was indicating, they would have to call the cops.

After cutting her jeans to the tops of her thighs, he stepped back. Swallowing, he watched her fold the top of her jeans down then tuck the frayed ends of her makeshift shorts.

Everyone in the audience would be able to see the intimate flesh she was exposing. There wasn’t a hair on her pussy visible. Fuck me.

As if reading his thoughts, Penni turned her back on him. He followed stiffly as she got in the long line of women waiting their turn.

“You didn’t have to cut them that short,” he said hoarsely.

“I always say go big or go home.” She turned her cold eyes on him. “I’m going home.”

12

“Back up, sister; I need more room.”

Yes, she did.

Penni took a step back as the woman danced to “Bad to the Bone” that was spilling out of the speakers,

Penni found herself eye level with a large pair of breasts that were so perky she was amazed they weren’t slapping her in the face.

“You think she’ll be offended if I ask her the name of who did her breasts?” She elbowed Jackal in his gut when he didn’t answer.

“Huh?”

“Never mind.” If she ever got home again, she would never have to see him again.

The line was creeping closer with five women in front of her.

“Sweetie, you’re going to have to take that shirt off.” The woman in front of her stared back at her as if she wouldn’t be caught dead in the purple sweatshirt she was wearing.

“I’m cold.”

The women standing nearby were nodding their heads with big smiles.

“That’s kinda the point.” She snickered. “The cold makes your nipples bigger. Wait until they pour the cold water on them.”

“Obviously, the organizers haven’t heard of hypothermia,” Penni said snidely.

“You’re kidding, right? Most of the men here can’t even spell hypothermia.”

Penni smiled. She liked a woman who could be as salty as her. “My name is Penni.”

“I’m Mandy.”

She winced at the response that came out as a breathy voice, a cross between a sex kitten and a sixteen-year-old.

The line was down to four. The water from the stage sprayed on her trembling legs.

“Sweetie, if you move, it’ll warm you up.”

“Hell, it’d warm me up, too.”

If the man didn’t shut up and put his eyes back in his head, she was going to plant her elbow in his crotch instead of his stomach.

The line was down to three. The music switched over to “What Do You Want from Me.” The woman at the front of the stage was dancing, her nude body swaying to the music, her voluptuous form hiding the thong within her folds of flesh.

Why the hell am I doing this? Penni jammed her hands into her sweatshirt pockets. There were enough people around her that someone should come to her aid if she screamed for help. Dammit, she was agile enough that she could take a leap off the stage and disappear into the crowd.

“Don’t do it.” Jackal’s low warning had Penni hesitating. “Hennessy would have you out of here in a second.”

There were at least two dozen people standing on the stage and at least three hundred in the audience. Penni debated yelling out for help.

The line was down to two. It was now or never.

She took a step to the side, preparing herself to start screaming bloody murder. She was prepared to take her chances with Hennessy’s fury rather than flaunt her pint-sized boobs.

“Trust me.” He knew she wasn’t going to do it. “You’ll let loose a powder keg. How do you think this will go if a fight breaks out with so many people around? Remember what it was like last night? Most of the clubs are packing and drunk. By the time the cops broke up the fight, almost all of them would leave in body bags, including us.”

Dammit, he was right. She was going to have to do it.

Penni didn’t care if the Road Kingz were hurt; they had put themselves in this position. The Predators, on the other hand, were there to try to help her. Penni wouldn’t be able to look Grace in the face if anything happened to Ice. She had enough on her plate dealing with her mother’s sickness. Grace didn’t need her husband getting killed.

The line was down to one. The DJ started “Motorcycle Mama,” nodding to Misty that it was her turn.

“Good luck, sweetie.”

Penni forced herself not stare at Misty’s breasts as she wished her good luck.

“You’re next.” Jackal’s quiet reminder was unnecessary.

“No shit, Sherlock.” Penni clenched her hands into fists as she watched Misty strut to the front of the stage.

“You need to take off your top.”

“If you say one more word, I’ll take your knife away and stab you.”

Jackal shut up.

The DJ started “Highway to Hell” as Misty began to walk to the rear of the stage where all the women were dancing in a line, giving the men in the audience a chance to choose who was going to be the winner.

Penni turned to see if she could let any other woman go, but the line was empty. She was the last one.

I’m going to have to do it, Penni kept telling herself as she lifted the bottom of the sweatshirt over her head. Goose bumps broke out over her body as she shivered. Maybe it was getting dark enough that the men wouldn’t be able to see her that well.