OK. I am on holiday in a country in Europe where I have had a holiday home for 10 years or so. During that time, I have been very friendly with one of the locals who works in an establishment close to my apartment. He has seen the men come and go in my life, and has always been friendly - never pushy. We wish each other happy christmas - sit and chat late into the night when I am visiting. If I have male company, then he is very respectful and does not push any boundaries. He is recently divorced after 10 years or so, and has a son who lives part of the time with him.
That's the background.
I am currently single (since last summer) and have no idea whether what is happening now is simple friendly behaviour or more.
He has always been very private about his home life, but this year has opened up and told me a lot about his family etc. Last week, for the first time ever, he asked me out for lunch (then said he was sure I would not like to come as I would be far too busy!) - we had a lovely lunch (for 5 hours) and then he dropped me back to my car and I came back home. We had an unspoken agreement that no one he worked with knew that we had met up.
The following day, he called and asked me for lunch again - this was before my daughter came over to stay with me (she is 16). Again, we had a fab 5 hour lunch. His English is not great - so although we have very understandable conversations and never stop talking, some of the nuances are possibly lost in translation. He said, for example, that he had never imaging that we would be having lunch together. I was not entirely sure what to say to this. He also said that he really liked me. But there was no touching apart from a kiss on each cheek when we meet, and the usual touch contact over lunch - touching an arm, moving my fringe from my eyes - that sort of thing.
My daughter is now over - she wanted to stay in last night and spend the night talking to her friends on the internet - so I contacted "the man" to see if he would like to go out for dinner. He did, and we had another fabulous evening.
I got into my car when he dropped me back, and then he spent several minutes talking to me through the window. I had suggested to him that he may like to join me on my balcony after he finished work - he had said that was a good idea earlier, but then said that it would be difficult as he would be spotted (as my apartment is in the middle of all the restaurants and bars) and he did not want me to be embarrassed if anyone saw him. He then said that he had an apartment - but without a balcony - and I have no idea whether that was a comment or an invitation!
Oh - the other thing is that I am around 10 years older than him. Not sure whether he knows that or not ...
So. Is he interested in me romantically - and is being reserved because he does not know whether I like him in that way? Or am I reading way too much into it? And he is not interested romantically, as if he were, he would have made a move by now?
I've always thought he was a great person; works very hard, always cheerful and just gets on with whatever life throws at him. So I don't want to cause any awkwardness by launching myself at him.
But equally, I don't want to miss out on something that might be good for both of us. 