DALLAS – Mets owner Steve Cohen and his top baseball player David Stearns held a secret last-minute lunch meeting with Juan Soto, Scott Boras and others from Soto’s inner circle at Cohen’s home in Boca Raton, Florida, on Friday, a pleasant second meeting, that strengthened Cohen’s determination to win the prize of the winter.

And yet, even after that heated confabulation, Cohen was convinced that Soto was preparing to remain in pinstripes.

Cohen’s first thought about this meeting, which was followed a few weeks later by the one at Cohen’s Beverly Hills mansion: “We can’t keep meeting like this. I’m running out of houses.”

The other thought that came to Cohen’s mind all weekend and almost up to the point where he got the “yes” on the historic $765 million deal that made Soto a Met was that he would not win this inner-city competition. He couldn’t get the negative idea that he couldn’t match or surpass an obvious Yankees advantage out of his mind.

“I was logical. When you have (Aaron) Judge, it’s hard to top that,” Cohen told The Post over the phone. “Juan was great. But what they had… I didn’t know how to solve it.”

Cohen believed he was the most motivated owner, and he also believed that it would ultimately come down to the two New York teams, and he was right on both counts. The only thing he was wrong about was the eventual Derby winner.

He often told people on weekends that he was sure they would finish second, almost to the point that they came first. He continued to bid anyway. He was so confident that he was on his way to becoming a bridesmaid that he joked with friends and confidants about whether there would be a prize for second place.

“There were a lot of emotions and a lot of ups and downs, you didn’t know where you stood,” Cohen said.

He often described the process as opaque until the final disclosure.

When he finally won and got the player he coveted, Cohen and Soto had a brief phone conversation. He thanked his new superstar for his trust in the Mets.

“Juan will be very happy with the Mets,” Cohen decided.

Some people will say these competitions are all about the money, and there is no doubt that this was an important factor. It is said that Soto wanted to create a market for players to follow him and he certainly wanted to get what he saw as market value.

We will never know if he would have remained a Yankee if they had taken up the Mets’ offer, as they were given the chance but rejected. But Cohen and Stearns made an excellent impression in their two meetings. And that didn’t hurt.

People familiar with the situation say Soto trusted the Mets’ lead duo that got the club into the NLCS in what was supposed to be a transitional year. This meant they were competing against the team that had the advantage in terms of history, tradition, consistency and tenure. And of course lineup protection.

The Mets’ offers were just ahead the entire time, and it’s possible that even relatively small things helped. The combination of perks that included a $75 million signing bonus (the Yankees offered $60 million), escalators that can increase the deal to $805 million, a no-trade clause, no deferrals (the Yankees didn’t have one either), the fifth year opt-out (at age 30) and a suite for the Soto family probably helped get them over the finish line bring.

The Yankees shouldn’t be faulted for offering a whopping $760 million, but they wouldn’t budge on the suite. The Yankees felt they couldn’t give Soto a suite if Judge was paying for his suite, and even Derek Jeter was paying. They were willing to give a discount on a suite but not change their precedent.

Cohen didn’t give the suite much thought. When he has his eye on a prize, he is particularly focused.

Some people might suggest he’s now trying to make New York a Mets city. But that is not his motivation. He doesn’t see it that way.

“The Yankees are the Yankees. I respect that,” Cohen said. “This isn’t about the Yankees versus the Mets. It’s about competing for a player. We can both exist in New York. There’s plenty of space.”

Cohen makes room.

He could be accused of overpaying and the deal is historic and remarkable. But the Blue Jays were also believed to have $760 million in assets, so it’s not like he blew the field away. The Mets were actually expected to be in second place behind the Jays at $720 million over the weekend, and when the Yankees increased their bid from $702 million to $712 million, the gap wasn’t there just big.

Cohen once offered a $100 million signing bonus, but Soto’s camp was more interested in an average annual value of $50 million. Cohen rose late to $750 million, then to $765 million. The Yankees added a 16th year to their offer of $47.5 million per year to bring the total to $5 million. You can suggest it was the extra $5 million or the extra perks and everything else. And that may be right. But the impression that Cohen and Co. left didn’t hurt either.