Haven't had a chance to read new responses, typed this on my phone.
Alright, so it should not be verbalized that you have other options. I know a lot of dating guru's say that it should be, at least IF the woman is pulling away. I've had a lot of success with the advice of those gurus, including doing this with a girl once ling ago, but a girl I did this with recently stopped texting suddenly.
She almost always texts me back within minutes or hours same day, only once or twice that she has not. We are colleagues and have been flirting at work for a while. We finally went out. It took a while because I think she thought I was playing hard to get because I told her I had been really busy, not texting too much, etc. So she started kind of being like, Oh, I've been busy too, etc.
In any case, it's always two steps forward, one step back. She says yes enough to move things forward, then after they move forward there is always an obstacle. But each time the obstacle is overcome and we move forward. For example. after our first date, she texted me and I suggested she cook us dinner at her place. She agreed within minutes. Long story short, I ask her a few days later if she has anything good to eat yet and she said not yet. I teased her about this. She said she had been very busy with exercise, English classes, etc. I joked that I could get her a workout. She laughed and asked about the details.
A few days go by (I was legitimately busy). So yesterday I text her that I wanted to watch a movie together. She asked which movie. I told her it would be a surprise, etc. Then I texted her a minute later that it's no big deal if she can't make it because she is too busy, I'll make other plans. I didn't say other plans with women or anything but I implied it, though the statement could be interpreted in many different ways.
So she didn't text me back after that, which is unusual. I think the concesus is that I should NOT have said that. But now what? Should I text her that I didn't mean to come across like that and that I'm just trying to get to know her better or wait for a text or some kind of sign (we see each other at work here and there) before I contact her again?
I was in a similar boat, slightly different situation but similar with a girl at work years ago, different job, and I ended up caving and being direct. It back fired.
One of the guys in that thread at the time said that I should have stayed silent, as it was probably driving her nuts that I was not in the palm of her hand anymore. That could be what's going on here with her now, she's not sure how to respond because she hasn't been challenged like that before, but who knows, each woman is slightly different in how she responds to these things. So what should I do with this girl now?