‘I hired this person months ago, she is attractive, smart and witty. She is always on my mind. I have been hiding my feelings for her and have not received any signs from her too. But my god is it tough to do so. I feel for her more every single day, interacting with her is the best part of my day, even if it is simply about work or some light-hearted banter. I want to stop feeling this way… But I can’t stop wondering if maybe the feelings are mutual.’ A boss confessed to us over email.

Has your boss been giving you special attention lately? Do you catch him staring at you? Have you been wondering if your boss likes you romantically? Maintaining boundaries in a workplace is difficult as you spend a major part of your day with your colleagues. With all those hours of work and extra shifts, you tend to form personal relationships with your co-workers. But what if these personal relationships arouse romantic feelings in your boss? How does one tackle that?

10 Signs Your Boss Likes You Romantically

If you think your boss is interested in you, you must know how to handle it, cause your job, maybe even promotion depend on how you deal with it. You can’t just shoot it directly at him because of the professional setup too. What if you were not right? To accuse your boss if this were not true can have serious ramifications and be an HR nightmare for you. Curious if your boss is attracted to you romantically?

How can you know for sure? The answer lies in the signs. You must be absolutely sure to avoid looking like a fool, being the center of the office gossip and also perhaps losing your job and credibility. Do it the old fashioned way. Follow the signs whether the boss likes you romantically and come to your own conclusions. A word of caution, unless you are sure do not share this with anyone especially i the office. You never know who is after your position or looking to score a point with your boss by throwing you under the bus. Here are 10 signs your boss has a crush on you and likes you romantically.

1. Your boss likes you romantically if he is being too helpful

All of a sudden, your boss is finding excuses to interact with you and help you out more in comparison to the other co-workers. You may feel that your boss is being a good mentor, but is it just that, his goodness prompting this behaviour?  What if your boss let’s go of your errors easier than others? What if he is more patient and gives you extra chances? When someone goes out of their way to help (at the cost of their own time and energy) and do it often, it probably means that you mean something more. Beware, don’t encourage this over helpful behaviour as your boss can interpret it as a sing that you reciprocate his feelings (unless you want to).

2. Your boss gets you gifts

Are you the only one getting special gifts from your boss? Maybe that new printer or some office supply you have been asking for which was really not that urgent? What when you the pantry being stocked up with your favourite brand of tea bags and biscuits? What if your section gets a new aircon? And then there could be direct ones- a better appraisal that perhaps you think you really do not deserve or even a small token of appreciation from him like a scarf? There are other deserving employees in your team that should be appreciated, but you are the only one receiving this special treatment. If your boss gives you gifts, maybe like a perfume or a spa voucher but asks you to be discreet you have more reasons to be suspicious.

Related reading: 12 Ways Office Affairs can spell Trouble For You

3. Your boss is constantly flirting with you

Does he always hold eye contact? Does he ask you how he looks (your opinion on him is important)? Does he ask you about your likes and dislikes? Does he touch face often when he speaks to you, rub his chin, touch his ears? Maybe lines like, ‘How could you have both beauty and brains, not fair to others’. These could pass off as compliments but if they are always about you personally, your clothing or your looks something more is cooking. Flirtatious messages have to be read between the lines, and it is a sure sign that your boss is attracted to you. Your boss flirting with you could spell trouble for you as well. No one who maintains professional boundaries sends flirty messages to their subordinates at late hours. This is also a sign that your boss wants to sleep with you.

Also, check if your boss has changed his dressing style? Maybe a new hair cut, a new tie, the shoes are spick and span. Does he use a little more cologne? These are all subtle signs of flirting. Joking is also a form of flirting.

4. Your boss invites you for dinner/drinks

Your boss wants you to stay back even after office hours and offers to stay up too. He becomes almost your PA and helps you finish the work. And to make up for the late hour he casually asks you out and makes it seem as if he is compensating for making you work late. He may invite you for a drink or even dinner. He will remember the cuisine you like and offer those places only. Maybe he will try and figure out your choice of alcohol too. Let’s say you turn the boss down citing some reason, but a few days later he asks you out again. It is because your boss is attracted to you and wants to build a personal relationship with you in an environment that doesn’t involve work. He/she wants to get to know you personally.

Read this piece on breached lines and broken hearts, an office affair. 

5. Boss likes you romantically if he compliments you too often

‘You light up the office space space’, ‘Our clients will not be able to say no if you resent this project’. ‘The mauve looks very nice on you’. ‘Your choice in perfume is great, which one is it?’If your boss appreciates you for your work, it is because you’re a deserving employee. But if this appreciation turns into compliments that aren’t work-related, it means that your boss is romantically attracted to you. But the above lines are not what a boss usually says to his subordinates. It shows that your boss is observing your physical characteristics and is attracted to you.

Related reading: 6 things to know before you hook up with someone at work

6. There’s physical contact

Does he stand closer to you than required? Do you get unnecessary handshakes or hugs? Or he just reaches to touch your arm lightly? Does he pat you on the back more frequently? Does he lean in closer to help you out with something? Sometimes he has you casually against the wall so that it is not as comfortable for you to move away and you spend those extra minutes with him. Notice if this is his natural style or is special just for you. If you are the only one who is being given this special treatment, you know what it means. You can check for these male body language signs of attraction here. 

Also, check if he blushes you when you notice his physical proximity?

7. He tries to spend time with you privately

You take a coffee break, he appears for his, you go for a smoke and he joins you. We have already spoken about asking you to stay back or come on weekends for which he will compensate in terms of salary, but he takes extra care to come and even help you learn new things saying, ‘it would help you move up the corporate ladder’. This is because your boss wants to spend time with you and is using work to get some private time with you.

Related reading: 8 signs that say you are being sexually harassed at work

8. You catch your boss staring at you

If your boss is romantically attracted to you, you might have caught him/her making googly eyes at you. For those who don’t know what making googly eyes means, it means staring at someone with love and awe. When someone is attracted to you, they tend to stare at you more often to catch glimpses of you. Staring at their crush is normal for people. What is not normal if that person is your boss. If these stares are making you uncomfortable, you need to do something about it.

9. Calls/texts you for no reason

When a person has feelings for someone, they feel the urge to talk to their crush more often. “I called you to submit that thing. I just forgot what that thing is.” If your boss calls you out of nowhere, it means that he/she wants to talk to you but doesn’t know what to tell you. He/she will first make work-related excuses to call you and when those finish, he/she will just make other excuses to talk to you.

Maybe your boss will forward an inspirational message which is fairly innocent. Maybe they will share videos of a concert they have been to and mark them as ‘I know you like the performer’.

10. Your gut feeling says so

When someone likes you or is attracted to you, you just know. Your sixth sense suddenly gets heightened and you know that this person is interested in you, personally.  Remember, gut instincts are not whims. It is your inner intelligence piecing together his body language, his tone, his words, and laying it down for you. If your boss’s changed behaviour makes you uncomfortable (when you do not want that attention), there are chances that your instincts are right. Your boss likes you romantically and is giving you obvious hints and you know it.

When you realize that your boss has feelings for you, it becomes a dilemma because if you misread your boss’s body language and behaviour, it can be embarrassing and cost you your job, or the boss his! It is important to be observant yet sure that your boss is really into you before you take any step. If you see your boss and yourself in these signs then you know that your boss likes you. So the question is, what are you going to do about it? If you don’t do anything, your boss might think that you are okay with such behaviour and it will keep increasing. If you’re thinking to do something about it, what’s it going to be? Share with us in comments.

She thought she was supposed to flirt with her boss, but the move backfired

What happens when a woman is married and yet falls for her boss?

5 Tips To Introduce Your Boyfriend/Girlfriend To Your Parents