Make a joke of it. I don't think I've ever been turned down by a girl I made laugh.
You might try something simple like asking her what her favorite food is. Try to intentionally get your timing off so she'll want to know why you're asking. Then you smile and say, "So I know where to take you when we go out Friday night." If you can spit that out without coming off as a complete dope you've pretty much sealed the deal.
God, so atrocious in the Old Testament, so attractive in the New--the Jekyl and Hyde of sacred romance.
-Mark Twain
If people are good only because they fear punishment and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed.
-Albert Einstein