From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishplay hard to getplay hard to getPRETENDATTRACTto pretend that you are not sexually interested in someone so that they will become more interested in you → play
Examples from the Corpus
play hard to get• You should call her again - I think she's just playing hard to get.• And they may not just be playing hard to get.• I am not going to suggest that you play hard to get.• If it was Viola, she was obviously playing hard to get.• It had nothing to do with teasing or playing hard to get.