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“The confident and settled thing works, yes,” I returned. I wasn’t going to bring up the fact that it was what Ihadto do, not who I was.

Reyna’s nose scrunched up with a light shake of her head. “When we're in public, you’re going to need to drop it. If we’re doing this, you have to act in love with me. I’m talking lovey-dovey, stars in your eyes, hands all over me in love.”

“Is that how you are when you're in love?”I fucking hope so.

“I show emotion, I’ll tell you that,” Reyna said, cutting off whatever the fuck declaration that was.

I might have an iron grip on most of my reactions, but the one thing that always ran away from me was my competitiveness. I rose from my seat, pulling my chair around to the side of the table next to Reyna, an even more intimate setting than the already dark, romantic one.

“Oh,” she said—or breathed—when I sat down next to her.

I placed my hand on the back of her chair, making sure to coast my hand over her shoulder as I did, pushing some of that silky, deep brown hair behind her back. “Convincing people won’t be a problem. But I’mglad you brought up touching you,” I said, fighting a grin at the images that statement conjured. “How much are you comfortable with?”

A spark of competitiveness flashed across Reyna’s face. She leaned into me, resting a hand on my thigh, right over one of my tattoos, like she knew it was there. My leg flexed under her touch. “As much as it takes to convince people this is real. Touch me how you’d touch anyone.”

Thank the fucking Fates for the table and the dark lighting, hiding my pants and visible problem hardening there. “Alright,” I said, bringing my other hand down to cover hers on my leg, making a pass over her skin with my thumb, “Tell me if it’s too much.”

Reyna’s nostrils flared delicately. “Same goes for you,baby.”

My hand tightened over hers right as Marco opened the door, stopping short. He had two plates in his hands and was looking at the table with barely contained panic. “I’ll fix the table setting, I’m—”

“No need,” I said, moving everything over.

Reyna chuckled lightly, squeezing my hand like she was warning me about something. “Sorry, Marco. I told him not to disrupt your beautiful set up.”

I slid her a slow smile, with a knowing tilt to my head. “Excuse me for wanting to be close to you.”

Reyna’s grin fell an inch and I fucking hoped it was a reaction to the drop in my voice.

“It’s no problem,” Marco said, “It gives more room to set these down.” He placed our appetizers down and quickly topped our wine off before he fled the room again, like he was scared to interrupt something.

Smart kid.

When the door closed, I turned back to Reyna. “Having fun with this, are we?”

She inhaled a sharp breath of shock. “You were the one who started this.”

“But you're playing the game, Reyna. Which means you’re no better.”

Her lips turned down into a—quite frankly adorable—scowl. “You are very frustrating.”

I let my returning grin speak for itself. “Likewise.”

That was the right word for what her presence spun in my chest. Frustration.

I reached for our food to try to dispel it, serving Reyna and myself quickly. I didn’t even register that our conversation picked back up until halfway through eating.

What I did know was that as we were running through basic favorites, trying to gather details about each other in case some nosy family member tried to press, I made Reyna laugh five times.

Three light laughs, more a breath than anything, and two full-bodied ones that made my skin feel tight across my chest.

By the time Marco slipped back in, apologizing for interrupting us before he was fully inside, and asked what we wanted for dessert, we managed to cover a lot.

Despite a small tense moment when Reyna had to begrudgingly admit that I was right about the ravioli—she'd narrowed her eyes at me and said, "Donotsay I told you so"—we had a largely civil conversation.

Objectively, I probably could have taken a test on Reyna’s likes and dislikes and received a perfect score, but I didn’t feel remotely satisfied.

I wanted to know how her mind worked, butknowing her favorite color was gold was good for now.