Wasn’t that the truth? She and Marly had never been jump-in-the-sack kind of girls, no matter how much they talked like they were. Madigan had tried no-strings-attached hookups a couple of times since she’d stopped traveling and had moved back to the Cape about two years ago, but she hadn’t enjoyed them. Still, she hoped she could enjoy it with the right guy, because while Marly was looking for a long-term relationship that would lead to love, Madigan had been in love once, and she had no interest in opening herself up to that kind of heartbreak again. But she was still a twenty-five-year-old woman, and she had needs battery-operated boyfriends couldn’t satiate, like toe-curling kisses and a set of strong arms around her.

“Why do you have to scratch Mr. Mysterious off your list? There were serious sparks flying between you two when you were singing. I was like, You go, girl.” Marly could have any guy she wanted. She was fun, easygoing, and flat-out gorgeous, with long dark hair, olive skin, and almond-shaped eyes. She was also the founder of Head Safe, a national motorcycle helmet program she’d developed after losing her brother to a reckless motorcycle accident. She’d been the first one to spot Mr. Mysterious several weeks ago, but she didn’t date men who drove motorcycles, and she’d said he was too broody for her.

Broody and a little closed off worked for Madigan. She’d grown up in a biker family, and some of her favorite men were that way, including the broodiest of all, her cousin Tank.

“I thought so, too,” Madigan admitted, although she’d never been one to spill all of her secrets. She didn’t tell Marly that she’d felt an unfamiliar hum of something deep and undeniable between them. A connection that went beyond two strangers catching each other’s attention across a crowded room, as if they were supposed to meet. Was that even possible? Or was her mind playing tricks on her? It wasn’t like she was looking for a connection, but she’d watched the sexy stranger listening intently to her story, and she’d seen pain in his brooding eyes. Pain caused by her words, and she wanted to know why.

“Then what went wrong?” Marly urged.

“He made a face when I was performing, as if I were massacring the story.” The truth was, she had rushed through the story, but she hadn’t thought it was noticeable. It was a difficult story to tell, and she shouldn’t have even tried when she’d had such a frustrating day, but it just came out, and with that gorgeous broody guy watching her, she’d gotten a little nervous and had tried to get through it even faster.

“That jerk. He should be off your list. Is that why your brothers looked like they were going to rip him apart?”