"Eileen!" I pulled back, caught off guard.
She released me with a flick of her wrist.
"You saw what happened tonight." Her voice was ice.
I frowned at her.
"Marcus and I are engaged now. It's time you found someone and settled down too."
"Settled down?" I let out a dry laugh. "Not in my plans at the moment."
"So you're just going to keep clinging to something that was never yours?"
I blinked.
Then it clicked. She'd misread me completely.
"What I mean is, I'm not looking to get married because my career is still taking off. That's all."
Eileen studied me for a long moment.
She laughed suddenly.
"Don't you think that's a pathetic excuse?"
I froze.
"The CEO of Apex is a man around your age. Even he has his mind on settling down. So what exactly are you pretending for?"
I couldn't find a rebuttal.
Everyone knew I'd been lovesick for years. The problem was, now that I'd finally come to my senses, nobody believed it. Not even my own business partner.
"Let me make this clear, Russ."
She lifted her chin.
"I didn't like you before, and now that I'm engaged, there's even less of a chance. If you keep throwing yourself at me, I'll only despise you more. Unless..."