He pulled her through the entire garage, stopping to introduce and admire every single car. It was as if she was meeting members of his extended family; he spoke so highly and lovingly about each of them. There were so many cars and so many strange names and references, she had trouble keeping up. Several of the cars she recalled were a gold Aston Martin Victor, silver Mercedes-AMG One, a blood red Ferrari LaFerrari, and something that sounded like ‘hooray’ but what Bent clarified as a Huayra. That last car was seriously strange looking, too. Its side mirrors shot out like insect antennas, and it featured a prominent dorsal fin of a spoiler that would make even a shark green with envy.”My brother would probably hate you if he ever saw this car collection,” Sarah confessed. She’d gotten used to his arm around her waist now. They’d been down in the garage for over an hour already. Bent chuckled. “That’s why I try to keep my precious toys a secret. Well…” he looked at her with a teasing expression. “They’re not a secret to everyone, obviously. New York City has seen its fair share of these handsome devils in action. In fact, there was a time when I had all these hot Swedish models with their hands practically down my–” he paused, horrified by what he almost said out loud. Sarah felt her cheeks burn. Well of course he’s hooked up with models! Any of these SUPERCARS alone could win him a gorgeous supermodel’s heart. She frowned, hating her inexperience. And hating how jealous she was. She had never felt so unbelievably average. And so inferior. But Bent still clutched her waist. And it seemed his arm held her more tightly. He started to ramble on again about where he bought the cars, seemingly unaware of her sudden sadness. Or maybe he was just rambling to try to cover his near slip about the models? As he chattered on, she got lost listening to his voice. And the feel of his hand resting on her hip. She couldn’t deny he was being nice to her. More than nice. At this very moment, he was pretty much flirting with her. Or was he just really comfortable at home and proud of his cars? She wished she’d had more experience dating. It would have been a lot easier to figure out what he was thinking. But to her, reading him was like reading a wall. So she bit her tongue and forced herself to appreciate how warm and snug she felt pushed up against him. At the end of the garage was the jet-black helicopter. It was a mean-looking machine. But Bent insisted the helicopter was a ‘cool guy.’ He tapped his fist on its metal side. The helicopter made a whirring sound. “Hear that? That’s how he says ‘hello’,” Bent said, laughing. “Remember how you saw him flying away in the sky? Yeah, he does that a lot. Likes to take his victory lap before he comes back home, here.” Sarah smiled. Bent’s happiness was contagious. She felt better. But then she frowned. “Where’s the Hummer?” No sooner had she spoken, when the back door of the garage burst open. Blindingly bright sunshine exploded into the room. The Hummer shot inside, airborne, at full speed. Sarah shrieked, hugging Bent tightly as the Hummer roared up to them. But then the car came to a screeching stop. Its tires smoking. The Hummer’s doors popped open. And four very fluffy, VERY excited Siberian Huskies leaped out onto the ground. “My BOYS!” Bent cried. The dogs raced over to him, but at the last minute, they made a bee-line for Sarah. The four dogs jumped up onto her, licking her face and barking wildly. It took several minutes for her to calm all the dogs down. Bent stood frozen beside Sarah. When he finally spoke, his voice sounded funny again. “I have never, ever seen them disregard me like that before. I would have kept them from pretty much devouring you” — Sarah had to force herself to not think about that double entendre again — “but, I’m sorry, I am SHOCKED right now.” Sarah couldn’t help herself. She grinned at him unabashedly. “I guess they love me more.” She fluffed each of the dogs’ ears. “So it would seem…” she heard Bent murmur to himself. Her heart gave a slight twang of happiness. She practically skipped over to the Hummer and wrapped her arms around its side. “HUMMER!” she said, giggling. The large car rolled down its driver-side window. “HEL-LO. SA-RA,” it said. Sarah patted its side just like Bent had stroked all of his other cars. “I do think your Bad Boy Bent car is wonderful.” She did, truly. “But I have to admit, I have a weakness for this adorable hunk of metal. What do you say, Hummer? Do you like me, too?”The Hummer beeped its horn in reply. The four dogs now sat quietly at Bent’s feet. And she saw that even Bent was now just as quiet as they were. His eyes seemingly flooding into hers.