[He nods to that, because of course. The only reason he isnt outright tellong her everything is because he doesn't know if its the right thing to do.]
I had that impression at some point. There's a surprising amount of that going around in our line of work.
[He puts a hand on her shoulder. She made it clear that they didn't have a relationship so he is making sure to respect those boundries. Holding so much back feels like lying in of itself.]
I think it may be best if we treated this like a new relationship. I mean, that is, platonically. Because as you've said, you don't know me.
We'll take it one step at a time. If nothing else, you have someone to count on.