She hesitated before shaking her head. “No.”

“So take it. I don’t want you struggling to buy dresses for events you’re only attending because of me.” He shrugged, but he could see he was already winning the argument. “Use it for emergencies when you have nothing that will work.”

For a while, she didn’t move. “I’ll take it, but I’ll only buy what I absolutely need to.”

He nodded, taking the win.

It still baffled him that she’d refused money for her participation in the charade, and had actually been insulted at the mere suggestion. Maggie was an enigma he’d never unravel. She seemed too good to be real. In his life, when something presented as too good to be true—it usually wasn’t. “Good.”

“You said I’m the boss, but I don’t want to be. I want this to be an equal partnership.” She offered him a small smile. “Like a real relationship, basically.”

Again, he nodded. “Deal. What else?”

She tapped her finger to her chin. “Let’s see. We already covered the no kissing part…”

He held a hand up. “Until you ask me to, that is. Then that rule is out the damn window, where it belongs.”

“That’s not going happen, but I’ll accept your terms, if that makes you feel better.”

She’d lit up once they started talking rules. It was clear she liked setting up boundaries as much as he thought he’d enjoy crossing them. “I respect that, and I respect your clause about keeping things businesslike. Just like I appreciate your acceptance of my addendum.” He lifted his glass in a toast to her. “Was that professional enough for you?”

She blinked at him, taken aback by something. He wasn’t sure what, till he realized he was smiling again. When he was with her, it was a lot harder to hide the happy person he used to be, to keep the controlled, robotic appearance up at all times. Around her, he wanted to be himself, and…

It was a lot harder to act like his father.

He quickly erased the smile and cleared his throat, tugging on his tie again. She stared at his chest, swallowing hard. “Well? Are we good to go?”

“Yeah,” she said, shifting in her seat and nibbling on her lip. “We’re good.”

They stared at one another, the tension between them building.

He swallowed a gulp of wine, set it down, and leaned in again. She did the same. It would be so easy to close the distance between them and kiss her like they both wanted. But she wasn’t ready, and he was a patient man. Even so, he couldn’t resist saying, “Just for the record? I reserve the right to do my damnedest to change your mind about the no kissing thing, with every weapon in my arsenal, until you’re begging me to fuck you.”

Her nostrils flared, and she reared back, breathing heavily. She pressed a hand to her stomach. “Benjamin.”

“And trust me.” He settled into his chair and eyed her. “It’s just a matter of time. Once I set my mind on something, I always win.”

A nervous laugh escaped her. “Think what you want, but I never beg. And even if I did? I’ve already seen your moves, and they don’t work on me.”

He set his glass down. “Challenge accepted.”

“Oh, hold up.” She shook her head, looking more alive than he’d ever seen her. “I didn’t lay down a challenge. I would never challenge a man like you.”

“Sure you did. I heard it, loud and clear.” The waiter came up behind her, carrying a frothy green concoction of a drink. “Ah. Here’s your appletini, darling.”

“My—? I didn’t order one yet.”

He lifted a shoulder. “Nope, but I did.”

“But—” She glanced over her shoulder and then slowly turned back to him. “You remembered I said I wanted one?”

“I did.” He reached out and covered her hand. It trembled beneath his, and she shifted her legs under the table, her knee brushing his. “From now on, I’ll always remember what you tell me. I’ll be waiting, planning, and finding your weaknesses, until you finally accept what I accepted the second you kissed me and called me yours—that we belong together, naked, in a bed.”

She eyed him with a mixture of excitement, desire, and wariness. It was a feeling he was all too familiar with, because it was exactly how she made him feel. After the drink was placed in front of her, she considered it with a small smile. “I underestimated you, Benjamin.”

“That’s okay. I did the same thing to you.”

She tipped her head to the side. “But not anymore?”

“You bet your pretty little ass I won’t do it again. Like I said, I plan on using every weapon I can against you, till I win.” He casually entwined his fingers with hers as the waiter laid down their menus. It was absurd how fucking right it felt to hold her hand. After they were alone again, he waited until she lifted the glass to her lips and took a sip before he added, “Including my magical knee.”

She snorted, which was unfortunate since she was in the process of swallowing. She inhaled the liquid, her face reddening as she set the drink down, coughing and cursing him in between breaths. “I. Will. Kill. You.”

He laughed, pressing a hand to his stomach as she glowered at him and wiped her mouth. He killed the laugh off quickly, but he couldn’t bring himself to regret the rare show of emotion. She stared at him as if he was a ghost, but he didn’t care.

That had been way too much fun.

“Keep trying, if you wish, but no one else has succeeded yet.”

“Oh, but I know things.” She gripped the table with her free hand and waggled her brows. It didn’t escape his notice that she hadn’t pulled free of his touch yet. “Lots of things.”

He cocked a brow and ran his thumb over the backs of her knuckles. “So do I.”

She laughed and lifted her glass again, and he realized he’d smiled more in this short timespan with Maggie than he had all the rest of the night, while he tried to be what he thought she’d want him to be. Now that he was relaxing, and being himself instead of a shallow copy of his father…

It was actually fun. Imagine that.

“To winning?” she asked, holding up her glass.

“To you losing,” he countered, clinking his to hers. “And us both being completely satisfied afterward.”

“Careful, you might blow your load a little too early with all that false confidence.”

He cocked a brow. “It’s adorable that you think it’s false. It really is.”

“You keep chasing, I’ll keep running.” She lifted a shoulder. “You’ll see who wins eventually.”

Yeah. Him. But since he wanted her more than he’d wanted anything in his entire life, and she was determined to keep him at arm’s length…

He probably should’ve let her keep running.

A few hours later, Benjamin had his driver stop the car in front of Maggie’s home. He opened the car door and got out, offering her his hand. She held on tight as she slid out, steadying herself on her heels.

Once she was good to go, she let go of him quickly.

He let her.

“Thank you,” he said, glancing down and adjusting his tie, “for giving me a second chance tonight.”

She smiled and helped him, tugging slightly until it was straight. The small, kind gesture made his throat tighten and his pants shrink. “You’re welcome. Turns out, once you relax, you’re actually a cool guy.”

“Because I was with you,” he said, forcing himself to stand still as she smoothed his jacket, even though every instinct within him screamed that he should grab her, kiss her, and show her why their relationship would be so much more enjoyable if they let loose a little bit more, this time without those strict rules of hers. “I had fun.”

“Me, too,” she said softly. So softly he almost missed it. “Benjamin.”

They fell silent, staring, almost as if they measured one another. The tension between them was impossible to ignore. Heart pounding, he reached out and ran his thumb over the curve of her chin, getting another hit of the drug that was Maggie Donovan. She shivered, gripping his jacket with a sigh. “You’re so fucking unique and beautiful that I’m not even sure what to say to you half the damn time.”