Friend1 & an associate r dating on the low. The associate doesn't know that friend1 & friend2 have dated. To tell or not to tell?

You like him a lot - so much, in fact, that you'd love it if your relationship moved to a new, more intimate level. But - and this is a big one, you don't know for sure if he feels the same way. So how do you know, without risking terminal embarrassment by asking, whether or not he likes you as much as you like him?

He initiates communication. Whether it's via the phone, e-mail, texting, or Instant Message, if he contacts you as much or more than you get in touch with him, I've got good news for you. He likes you!

Guys, in general, are not super-communicators. My husband Alex, for instance, would rather clean the bathroom with his tongue than talk on the telephone - unless he really likes the person he's talking to. I should have known that he was interested in being more than "just friends" before we started dating; ninety percent of the time, he would call me.

He just "happens" to show up where you are. There's a huge difference between a guy who manages to "coincidentally" show up at a party or other event you've been invited to and a stalker. But if he almost always just "happens" to be nearby when you get out of class, or he's a co-worker you just "happen" to keep running into in the hall or the cafeteria - don't believe his protests of innocence - he is more than a little interested in you!

You catch him looking at you - a lot. If you're out on a date with someone, and you catch him looking at you or watching you when he thinks you won't notice, he is hooked. Guys who watch their date more than they watch the movie - especially if it's not a chick flick - are deeply in like, if not in love.

His expression is important, too. Up until the day he died, my father-in-law looked at my mother-in-law as if he still couldn't quite believe she'd chosen him - and they were together for over fifty years. He makes reasons to touch you.

And I don't mean sexually. I mean casually-but-often. He puts his hand on your back to help guide you into the movie theater.

He brushes a strand of hair out of your face. His foot "just happens" to touch yours under the table at a restaurant. He tells you that you have dirt on your nose when you know you don't.

He rests his hand on your shoulder for no reason at all. Does he ever like you! His friends know all about you.

If a guy introduces you to his friends, and they know all about you, what does this tell you? Especially if the friends are being friendly and polite? Well, it'd tell me that he's been talking about you to them - a lot.

It's a Guy Rule: men don't usually talk about specific women with their friends unless a) they've been recently, badly dumped or b) they're very, very interested. Since you obviously haven't dumped him - he must like you! Men, even when they like someone, are often reluctant to make the first move and say so.

So, if you like him, and you found yourself saying "Yeah, he does that" to at least four of the above signs, I say: go for it! Ask him out. Tell him you're very interested.

If he's doing everything I listed above, he is a real sweetie.