Now or never, Warren. He moved in front of her, taking her free hand in his. “Well, like you said, I wouldn’t want to piss him off.”

“Yeah, he’s pretty protective,” she agreed, stopping short to look up at him. “But jealous? Not Max.”

“Good to know.” Evan dropped his sneakers to the sand. He threaded his fingers through hers. “Otherwise it’d be a risk I’d have to take.” He stepped forward, tugging her toward him, ignoring the shocked expression he saw in her eyes just before his mouth covered hers.

Her kiss was sweet, soft... God, she tasted good. Exotic...warm...exquisite. The flavor of the champagne was still on her lips, doubling the intoxicating effect. His mouth moved over hers as he waited for her to pull away. When she didn’t, he angled his head and took the kiss deeper.

It wasn’t enough, he thought as he forced himself to pull back from it. Not nearly enough. He had serious doubts as to whether or not he would ever get enough of her. Staring into her dazed eyes, he thought back to that insane notion that kissing her would somehow put a stop to his endless “what if” fantasizing. Get her out of his system?

What the hell had he been thinking?

With both hands, he reached up and gently removed her glasses. He folded them and placed them in the pocket of his T-shirt.

The gesture was enough to shock her into speaking. “I need those to see,” she protested.

He cupped her chin with one hand, lifting those gorgeous blue eyes to meet his. He had imagined what she might look like without the wire frames. Softer, more vulnerable somehow. He stroked his thumb over her cheek and decided he much preferred reality to his fantasies. “Sometimes you don’t need to see. You only need to feel.”

The niggling feeling that he was just brushing the surface of what he felt for her should have scared him, but oddly, it didn’t. He lowered his mouth to hers again.