I have been over this in my head and I can't see where I may have screwed up. All of these encounters have been on weeknights and we have a good time. My place was near perfect.. clean, music, lighting and drinks. Although she gladly accepted my invitation to go there, I could tell that she was still feeling me out. As far as her place, I was the one that had to be up early and when I was leaving, she thanked me for "an awesome time" then turned me around for an extra kiss.
I had been escalating, but she gave me a "slow down mister" and we continued kissing. Normally, I would give it some time and try again, but as I said, it was late and I was tired. Honestly, I prefer a woman who shuts me down or wants to slow down initially. I have no delusions of innocent women, but considering how we were making out, she must have some self control (or was wanting me to think so) and there is nothing wrong with that. I have gone up to 6-7 dates before having sex and some of those have turned out to be the best relationships.
In any case, I have access to other women, so this isn't the end of the world. It just struck me as odd that SHE arranged a date with ME, reserved (and paid) for the activity, planned for food and drinks after and LATER decided to add the company. There hadn't been enough interaction in between for me to have done something to blow myself out. .
After some thought, three possibilities come to mind.
She thought that she may have seemed too forward and felt the need to back pedal (anti slut defense).
She wanted to get the opinion of her friend before moving forward with me.
Maybe the friend (they talk every day) has decided to become the gatekeeper, AKA C*ckblocker.
In any case, I'm pretty well versed on reading "readiness" and figured by her behaviors, that she was. She is mid forties, not a hormone raged, 35 year old, so things can be a bit different.
For all I know I may have stumbled across a good woman who is just checking to see if I'm ONLY interested in sex. On a positive note, she has since gave me a few menu items and they happen to be foods that she knows I like.
Enough over analyzing. I'm going to play this out and see if I can decipher her reasoning as its always good to learn.
If things look positive, the next date will be at (or end) at my place on a weekend.