Women are well known to have more intuitive powers than men. She senses everything that is happening around her much before it is spelled out for her.
This is especially true in matters of the heart. A female coworker can easily feel in her gut whether a male coworker has feelings for her but is hiding them. The chances of her going wrong are minimal. But if a female coworker wants to make sure her gut feeling is 100% right, she can always look out for these signs for confirmation.
This article explores the tricky relationship scene among coworkers. Here you will find signs a male coworker likes you but is hiding it. Once a female coworker can confirm what her instinct is telling her, she can go ahead and take appropriate action.
Signs a male coworker likes you but is hiding it
1. He uses every opportunity to be with you
In an office environment, it is natural for colleagues to spend most of the day together, either working or relaxing. However, if you notice this male coworker spending more time than others with you, it should raise your suspicion. You can also check whether this person is equally friendly with the rest of the team. Or, is he treating you differently?
Again, this alone cannot be taken as a sign a male coworker likes you but is hiding it. Maybe he is just being friendly. This is definitely an indication of his special interest in a female coworker. But you need to check for more signs to make sure it is romantic in nature.
2. You know from his body language
Body language is a dead giveaway in this situation. Often you can sense his eyes on you and when you look up, you see him staring at you transfixed. But as soon as he realizes that you are aware, he will look away. You find him sneaking glances at you now and then.
Here are some more body language cues for you to check out.
- He makes prolonged eye contact.
- His pupils are dilated.
- His nostrils flare when he is interacting with the female coworker.
- He blushes when near the female coworker.
- He invades the personal space of the female coworker.
- He touches the female coworker on the arms or shoulder when talking to her.
- He leans forward towards the female coworker when talking to her.
- His feet will be turned towards the female coworker.
Body language signs are reliable because they are involuntary.
3. He is the first one to come to your aid
Whenever you are struggling with workplace problems, this male coworker is always the first one to offer help, often even before you ask for it. This makes you wonder if he has a sixth sense!
If you are aware of what is happening behind the scene, you will not even consider clairvoyance or ESP for this turn of events. This guy has fallen for you like a ton of bricks. He finds it hard to pry his eyes off you. In other words, he is always watching you. When he sees you struggling with something, he rushes in like a knight in shining armor.
You may not be aware of his attraction for you because he is not ready to reveal it and wants to keep it secret. But he will do everything to make you happy and feel relaxed and comfortable.
4. He laughs at your bad jokes
This is a typical response of a guy in love. All he wants is to make you feel happy and don’t want you to feel ignored or left out. Even if no one else is laughing at your joke, he will laugh as a sign of support.
There is another reason for his laughing. He must be really nervous about creating the right impression on you. Before doing anything, he will debate how you will feel about it. Too much thinking can make him anxious. When someone is nervous, it often comes out as laughter – nervous laughter.
This is an involuntary reaction and he has no control over it. Even if he wants to, he cannot control it. That makes this sign all the more important.
5. He commits to memory everything you say
When a guy is attracted to you, he will devote all his attention to you. He listens intently to everything you say. He listens when someone else is talking about you as well. He stores all this information in his mind for later use.
He will surprise you with the vastness of his knowledge about you. This may make you wonder where he got this information from. Anything about you is captivating for him. Though he is a secret admirer, he wants to play his role sincerely.
6. He is your biggest follower on social media
For reasons unknown, he isn’t ready to reveal his feelings for you. But this doesn’t deter him from following you on social media and being your no:1 fan. He is always the first one to see and comment on your photos, videos, and posts.
Is he trying to send you some sort of sign with this behavior? You are right in wondering about this. Maybe he is reluctant to come out in the open about his interest in you. But he is clearly not worried about you adding two and two together to make four. Maybe he wants you to figure this out.
However, this behavior is not a sure sign a male coworker likes you but is hiding it. Maybe he wants to be nice to you and encourage you. Keep looking for more signs for confirmation.
7. He pays more attention to his appearance
Have you noticed a recent change in the way he carries himself? Does he look better groomed? Are his clothes more fashionable? Is he walking more erectly?
These are natural reactions of a guy in love. All they want to do is impress the girl. They will try their best to be stylish in their looks, walk and talk. If you suddenly notice him looking and smelling good, he probably is in love with you and wants to keep it a secret.
8. He’s always in your corner
He will defend you no matter who is attacking you. He is willing to antagonize even the boss to take your side. He won’t allow anyone to speak ill of you or behind your back. In fact, his friends have started teasing him about this.
He may not have opened up to you or told you about his attraction to you. But he can’t help it when someone is saying nasty things about you. Without any thought, he will jump to your defense. This is an involuntary reaction and hence more reliable as a sign of his love for you.
9. He always wants you on his team
He secretly wants to be near you as much as he can. Since he hasn’t yet told you about his feelings for you, he finds it hard to be open about it. Instead, he will use every opportunity to keep you near him. So, at work, whenever teams are formed, he will make sure that the two of you are on the same team.
As he is not ready to be open about his attraction to you, he is at a disadvantage to ask you out. Even the pretext of working together is good enough for him for the time being. He is happy as long as you are together, even if it is work-related.
10. He keeps asking you questions
He clearly likes what he can see about you but he is thirsty to know more about you. You will find him listening intently when you are talking. He is equally interested in what someone else has to say about you. He absorbs every word of what is being said and commits to memory.
He may use this stored information whenever the time is appropriate. At times you will feel surprised by how much he knows about you. He is curious about you as a person and tries to gather as much information as he can.
11. He is curious to know your relationship status
This is quite understandable. He likes you and wants to be in a serious relationship with you. So, before he goes ahead and daydreams about spending a wonderful life with you, he wants to make sure that you’re available. He wants to know whether you are single. That is reasonable and just shows how serious he is about you.
He doesn’t treat you as a passing fancy or a fling. He is definitely thinking of it as a long-term relationship. Because he is hiding his feelings for you, he is unable to ask you about this directly. He may ask your common friends or try to get this information in a roundabout way.
12. You get to know about him from your coworkers
You may not have noticed him or his more-than-usual interest in you. Maybe you were busy with your work or your focus was elsewhere. But at least some of your colleagues will notice this. They may tell you straight out about it or tease you or him about this. Your “relationship” has become part of the office gossip.
The strangest part of it is that you are the one to know about it the last. This guy is doing his best to hide his feelings for you. But evidently, his behavior towards you is as clear as daylight for everyone to see.
13. He always has good excuses to accompany you
Maybe you walk to the car park to get your car to drive home after leaving the office. You will find him walking alongside in the same direction. As an explanation, he will tell you that his car is also parked near yours. Or if you have to walk to the supermarket nearby before going home, he will be there as well. If you are in the habit of walking all the way home, he will offer to accompany you even though his home is at the other end of the city.
He has fallen for you heavily and doesn’t want to let you out of his sight. Every moment spent with you is precious to him. So, he grabs any opportunity that comes his way to be with you.
14. His face lights up with a smile when he sees you
You can see that this is neither a casual smile nor a fake one. It’s genuine and comes directly from his heart. Such genuine smiles are considered clear signs of attraction, especially when the person is hiding it.
Along with the smile, look for other signs of attraction like eye contact and other body language signs. When a guy is in love with you, he will find it hard not to smile when he sees you even when he hasn’t yet told you about it.
15. He notices the changes in you
This can be said about both outward appearance and emotional state. Men are generally not famous for their insight and sharpness in perception. Most of the time, they cannot see what is right in front of their eyes. However, things are different when they are in love with you. All they can see and think about is you.
If you get a new hairstyle or are wearing a new dress, he is sure to notice and comment. Or if you are extra happy or overly moody, he will notice this too. He may not talk to you about it because he isn’t close enough to you. But he will let you know in the best way possible that he is there for you.
16. He is jealous when you spend too much time with other male coworkers
This is a natural reaction of someone in love. As this guy is still hiding his feelings from you, the two of you are not yet talking openly about it. So, when he sees you interacting closely with other male members of the team, he will make assumptions. He is also not in a position to ask you for explanations.
When he is jealous, he may sulk and may stay away from you for a while. As he is head over heels in love with you, that will be torture for him. He will slowly yet surely come back to you and normalize your relations.
17. He tries to be alone with you
Even when you are in a group setting, he will pull you away and try to have one-on-one conversations with you. He will corner you when you are alone and try to strike up conversations with you. If you notice this behavior, there is no doubt about his thoughts about you. Maybe this male coworker likes you but is hiding it because he is apprehensive about your reaction.
If you want to double-check his intentions, you can watch him for a while to see how he behaves with others. If he is singling you out for this treatment, then there is no doubt that he likes you but isn’t ready to reveal it.
Bottom line
At the onset, this may seem like a complex puzzle to you. Everyone is nice and friendly to you at the workplace. So, how can you differentiate between a friendly coworker and an enamored one?
Once you know the signs, it is not as hard as you may think. But some of these signs can also be signs of friendliness. So, the more signs you can spot, the surer you can be.
Related: 12 Signs A Female Coworker Likes You But Is Hiding It