Gift Wrapped by Karla Doyle

switch on the side. Instead of tucking the phone away so they could get back to heating up the parking garage, her eyes bugged wide and her bottom lip dropped. “Oh my god, he has got to be kidding…” A couple of stabby taps later, she stuffed the device back where it had come from.
    “Everything okay?”
    “Fine. Just…” She pinched her eyes closed and shook her head. “Ugh, men.” Her eyes popped open at his amused grunt. “Stupid jerk-type men. Not you.”
    “Of course.” Good thing he hadn’t pulled the mystery phone from his pocket and confessed, or he’d be right alongside the sender of that text. “Want to talk about it, or should we go collect your brother and the two of us will go kick some stupid-jerk ass?”
    Some of the clouds cleared from her expressive eyes. “The ass-kicking offer is appealing, I admit, but I can handle Liam. Let’s just get going, okay?”
    Liam. The ex-boyfriend who’d cheated on her. Whatever the idiot’s message said, it had soured her mood instantly. Unacceptable. Especially on Christmas, a day that was important to Brinn.
    Davis unlocked and opened the passenger door. He waited for her to get in, gently closed the door, then moved around to the driver’s side. Instead of starting the car immediately, he turned to face her. “I don’t like seeing you upset.”
    “I’m not upset. He just got under my skin for a couple minutes. I’m over it.” She leaned in, sliding her hand up his thigh, to his cock. Her lips and tongue coasted along the ridge of his jawline, up to his ear. “See? Totally over it.”
    The soft voice and warm breath against his skin tempted him. But he couldn’t let go of his irritation. “What did Liam want?” Just saying the guy’s name raised the hairs on the back of Davis’s neck. He shouldn’t feel possessive or protective of a woman he’d known less than twenty-four hours. Shouldn’t, yet did.
    She sighed and flopped back against her seat. “He said he has a gift for me. And he wants to get back together. Says he made a horrible mistake cheating on me and it’ll never happen again.”
    Davis turned the keys in the ignition while issuing her the side eye. “You know that’s bullshit, right? People don’t change.”
    “I hope you’re wrong about people lacking the ability to change their ways.”
    “Because you love him and want to take him back?”
    Apparently, they’d driven into a black hole, because the car’s interior was devoid of sound. He exited the garage and looked over—into the eyes of his thoroughly unimpressed passenger.
    “I just had my hand on your crotch, Davis. By choice. After reading Liam’s text. Not exactly the move I’d make if I wanted to jump at his request to get back together.”
    Shit.
    “Unless you think I’m a slut? Which you might, I suppose, after last night.”
    And shit again. “I don’t think that,” he said, pulling onto the street to get out of the way of the car behind them.
    Beside him, she folded her arms over her chest. “I’m not sure I believe you.”
    “You should. I don’t lie.” Not directly, anyway.
    She turned on her seat, leaning into the space between their seats as he drove. “I don’t lie either, so here’s some truth for you. I rarely have casual sex, but choosing to do so with you doesn’t reduce my value as a woman. It doesn’t make me less worthy when I’m in a relationship. I don’t want Liam back. I wouldn’t take him back if he begged me. He broke my trust, and I deserve better. But I made mistakes in that relationship too. That’s why I hope people can change—because I want to change. I’m going to fall in love again. Hopefully next time it’ll be more positive and fulfilling, because I learned and grew from my experiences.”
    He brought the car to a stop curbside and met her in the middle. Face-to-face, practically nose-to-nose. “Hell of a speech.”
    “I have strong feelings. About pretty much everything.” A brief laugh passed over