Hello all,
I am having trouble with a new female that I have been dating. She is a coworker of mine; She has worked for the company for about 6 months now. I would see her around and was always friendly but I never had an intention of getting involved with her. Back in mid January, we both got off work at the same time and as we were walking out, I made a comment about going out to a local casino and having some fun. She said it sounded like a fun idea and we went out that night. I could tell shortly into the evening that she was highly interested in me which caught me by surprise. We wrapped things up and I walked her to the car. When we got there, she turned and gave me that look; I kissed her immediately and she ran with it! She acted a little shy afterwords and said she had to go. Everything grew from there. In the oncoming weeks, she made no effort to hide our relationship to our coworkers. We were totally fine and everyone else was fine with it. She introduced herself to my friends like we were an item. She went out of her way to come to places I was and put in all the effort to chase me. Everything was smooth sailing! Seemed like I had a great woman in my hands. Since the first week, she makes the effort to call every day to see how I'm doing and always seems happy to hear from me. About two months in, she looked me square in the eyes and said the three magic words. I pulled her toward me and gave her a warm hug and returned them. She seemed thrilled.

Here's a little of background on us. I'm 25 with no kids, just a handful of hobbies and a small hobby/business aside from my regular job. I own a small home and live comfortably on my income. She is 28 and has 2 children. When we first got together back in January, she was living with her ex-fiance who is the father of both children. It seemed clear that their relationship was over because he was abusive towards her, They slept in seperate beds and overall just dealt with each other for things that involved the children, and the kids were not fond of their father. She recently decided about 3 weeks ago that she was better off living elsewhere and decided since she could not afford her own apartment currently that she would move in with her sister. We talked it out and she made all the arrangements to move. I helped her move everything and within a week, she was calling her sisters house home. The fiance has on several occasions called her and gotten her fired up about coming back home and continuing their engagement which she shoots down instantly every time. Since moving to her sisters, she has seemed really stressed out.

About 2 weeks ago, I get a text from her out of the blue saying, "Are you my best friend?". I replied with "Yes I am." She said thats what she wants from me now. It was a left hook that I never seen coming. I got friend zoned straight out of left field. I seen her the next day and had a talk with her about it. She went on to say she doesn't think jumping in a new relationship right now is a good idea and that she doesn't want her kids getting attached to me (Her kids enjoy my company and are a joy to be around.) She did however say that she wants to continue seeing me and that she enjoys my company and that she cherishes the time we spend together. We have a healthy sexual relationship and she says she wants to continue that as well. She has mentioned to everyone at work that we are no longer together but she still grabs me in secluded places at work and kisses me. She continues to call and text me daily. She no longer refers to me as babe and no longer tells me that she loves me.

I just can't put a finger on what happened or why things went off a cliff. I cannot pinpoint any events in either of our recent past that would trigger this. I don't think she is seeing another guy and the ex-fiance isn't creeping back in the picture either. I never call her, she always makes contact with me first and we arrange a time to get together. Since two weeks ago, we have not had sex although I have spent the night with her several times. Today, she invited me out to meet her and mentioned that it would lead back to her place. I told her that I have an event for my business that cannot be cancelled.

I am thinking I should pull back and keep my distance. If she is actually interested in picking things back up, it will lead to that. I don't want to jump back in the dating game and make her feel unwanted or that I lost interest because thats not the case at all.