Decyphering Men?

You have to wonder how men reason sometimes.

Two situations that make me think this week: One is a colleague at work, and the other is Rob (not terribly original am I?)

Let's start with the colleague:

Paolo is a hot, well built, blond, blue eyed guy about my age. He is artistic and creative and smart which is a turn on.

I work in an art studio where we have always had a guy around to do some of the manual work and to help out in general. The last one was also my age and we ended up having an affair which was a mistake in my eyes. He left and Paolo took his place.
Paolo is never around for very long, unless he needs the money, he prefers the solitude of a house in the hills to be creative and artistic.

So let's say I don't see him that often. When I do see him, there is an inkling of attraction. He makes pleasant comments about what I'm wearing, telling me I look hot, or being observational in general. I can never tell if he is interested or just being nice, or just play flirting.

I remember one episode where he unbuttoned the top button on one of my shirts, saying it was too warm to have it done up. I couldn't keep my mind off of him ripping my shirt open and taking me on the dining table in the restaurant where it happened.

In the past few weeks we have been working side by side more than we usually do. He has been going through some hard times with his girlfriend, he broke it off with her a few days ago, and she wants to get back together.
During this time he kept making comments alluding to dating me, that I had been with my boyfriend for too long and that it was time for a change, and that I wasn't his rebound (obvious sarcasm here). There was some minor physical contact involved, a nice long hug (for his birthday), an arm here, a hand there... you know, flirty stuff.

Today though, he flicked me on the ass. It was a first. I pretended not to care, he looked back, but I kept walking. It reminded me of Rob immediately. I wonder if it's a kind of signal that he wants to have sex with me. Probably not.

In any case I wouldn't (although I would like to) have sex with him. It's too close to home.

Lets talk about the second thing that makes me think.

Rob:

Today we chatted on skype. It was nice to see him, it felt like forever since I had seen him. I have such a hard time understanding his mood when we're on MSN, it's easier when I can see him on Skype.

I was in a bit of a playful mood today so I made the promise that I'd fuck him. He told me not to make promises that I couldn't keep. I asked him why he thought that I couldn't keep my promise and he made me drop the subject. At another point I dropped the hint that I was going to get a flight to the UK for September, at first he didn't see the hint, he missed it (or did he?). The second time, when I asked him right out he ignored me completely. Only god knows what's going through that guys head.
I did however put him in a better mood than he was previously in, which makes me happy. He smiled a lot today, which makes me happy, and he made me laugh a lot, which also makes me happy.