<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"First dates are extremely awkward, but they&amp;#x27;re also an extremely important moment to gather intel on your new guy and find out if you want the same things. I once met for tea with relationship expert Lauren Frances, author of the awesome book Dating, Mating, and Manhandling. We had made one another&amp;#x27;s acquaintance through work, and she wanted to personally check in on my love life by asking one very specific question: What do you ultimately want? It seemed so obvious. A happy ending. True love. Marriage and children. Isn&amp;#x27;t that what everybody wants? Well, no. Or, sometimes, just not yet. And all too often women just hear what they want to hear instead of what the guy is actually saying, according to Frances. For example, you may be on a first date with a guy and ask if he&amp;#x27;s at a point in his life where he wants to get married. A guy who isn&amp;#x27;t ready won&amp;#x27;t necessarily say no. He might say &amp;quot;I&amp;#x27;m just about there&amp;quot; or &amp;quot;I definitely want to get married.&amp;quot; To a woman who&amp;#x27;s ready to walk down the aisle, that may sound like a resounding yes. And that&amp;#x27;s exactly how miscommunications happen. The number one most important first date skill I&amp;#x27;ve learned (aside from flirting, of course) is to be able to ask a man what he wants&amp;amp;mdash;and take his answer very literally. In fact, if he&amp;#x27;s got his ish together, he may even be the one asking you the questions, in which case you should be totally honest too. It&amp;#x27;s a skill that takes practice, especially when we&amp;#x27;re all feeling vulnerable and trying not to get hurt. Don&amp;#x27;t beat yourself up if it takes you a little time to master this! After a little practice, you&amp;#x27;ll be able to assess the situation with 100 percent accuracy. Have you ever mistaken something a guy said on a first date because of what you hoped he was really saying? Or have you ever saved yourself the trouble of dating the wrong guy because you spotted a deal-breaker right off the bat? I&amp;#x27;d love to hear your stories (for better or for worse!). Photo: Getty Images"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.glamour.com/sex-love-life/blogs/smitten/2013/09/first-date-tip-to-understand-men>