Carolyn Hax is away. The following first appeared Feb. 14 and Feb. 7, 2010, and has been lightly edited.
Dear Carolyn: I’ve had two dates with a great guy who has expressed to me and to mutual friends that he is very interested in me. On Wednesday, after a dinner date, he asked me to do something this weekend. I said I’d love to, and mentioned I had a friend’s birthday dinner, organized by her husband, on Saturday night. He said he’d call me.