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Amelia down for her snobbery would do no good. She lived in an insulated world he couldn’t begin to understand, a world of class and privilege where bloodlines were more important than character.
    Then again, Mitch couldn’t speak up for his integrity while he was passing himself off as his brother. He couldn’t forget he was here because of Cary. That it was his brother’s girl, and not his, they were discussing.
    He dipped his head in a slight bow. “If you’ll excuse me.”
    “Where are you going?” A note of panic tinged Amelia’s voice.
    Because it was what his brother would say, he answered, “To dally.”
    He left Amelia and walked purposefully toward her daughter, recognizing the instant she spotted him by the way her body went still and her eyes widened. Mitch tapped Gaston on the shoulder. “Mind if I cut in?”
    Gaston turned, his sharp features pinched. “What if I said no?”
    “Then I might have to hurt you.” Mitch uttered another Cary-like line, softening the words with a smile the way his brother would.
    “Not funny.” Gaston stepped back, relinquishing his hold on Peyton.
    A moment later, she was in Mitch’s arms. His arms. Not Cary’s. “What’s that you’re wearing?”
    “A gown,” she said.
    “Not your gown. Your perfume.”“I don’t wear perfume,” Peyton said. “You must mean my moisturizer. It’s scented. Jasmine.”
    “I like it.” He put his nose against her skin and breathed. How could this be, that the smell of his brother’s girl went straight to his head like a fine scotch? He couldn’t stop the truth from escaping his lips. “I like you.”
    She turned her face away from him. “You have a funny way of showing it. You promised to be on time tonight.”
    “I was on time.”
    “You know what I mean, Mitch. I waited for you, and you didn’t show up. I can’t. . .” Her words trailed off when he took her hand planted a soft kiss on her palm. “Would you stop it? I can’t think when you do things like that.”
    “I don’t want you to think.”
      “Because you know you’re bad for me.”
    “Because I don’t want you to break up with me.”
    Reaching out a hand, he caressed her cheek. He read indecision in her eyes before she closed them and shook her head. Please, he prayed. Please don’t let her say she never wants to see me again. Her eyes opened after a moment, and he couldn’t read anything in them at all.
    “Why, Mitch? Why would it matter? Plenty of women would love to go out with you. I saw them flocking around you tonight. It’s like you’re a sheik, and they’re a harem.”
    Pleasure skittered through him. “You were watching me?”
    She cast her eyes downward, giving herself away. “Don’t change the subject. I didn’t notice you turning them away so you could be with me.”
    “Then you must not have seen your mother cutting me off every time I headed in your direction.”
    “She knows as well as I do that it would only take you minutes to replace me.”
    “You’re wrong,” Mitch whispered, meaning every word. Hoo boy. He was in trouble here. He traced the line of her jaw with his fingertip, letting it come to rest on her lips. “I couldn’t replace you. You’re irreplaceable.”
    “Oh, Mitch. Not only don’t I believe you, but I can’t trust you. I need a man I can rely on.”
    “You can rely on me,” he vowed.
    The strands of the slow song faded away. Peyton backed out of his arms, her brows drawing together. He let her go but kept hold of her hand.
    “Do you really mean it, Mitch?” she asked softly. “Can I really rely on you?”
    “Yes,” he said again.
    Her lips curved into a slight smile. A voice on a loudspeaker intruded on the moment, announcing the awards ceremony was about to begin and summoning the recipients to the front of the hall.
    “Okay. Then I’ll see you later, after my speech,” she said almost shyly. She slipped her fingers from his, and he resisted the urge to hold on to her.
    “Later,”