"Give me a second..." He shuts his eyes and collects his thoughts.

"Mira, I like you. You're intelligent, selfless, very attractive, and fun to be with. My last relationship was... it was the only serious one I ever had, and the way it ended did a lot of damage to me that I'm, to be honest, still not quite over.

I'd be interested in dating you, but I don't want to be leading you on. I'm not ready to just be leaping into something serious."