When men tell you that you are beautiful, they are watching to see how you react.

He is actually thinking about asking for your number, but doesn’t want to risk rejection until he gets a better read on you.

In telling you that you are beautiful, he is intent on seeing how the compliment lands and what you do next.

He is extremely alert in this moment, as he doesn’t want to miss out on any clues you send to him that signal attraction.

He doesn’t follow up the compliment by asking for your number, owing to you not responding with the right romantic cues.

You either didn’t acknowledge his compliment or was lukewarm about it.

Furthermore, you didn’t give him a compliment in return.

Then, there is the salient issue of your body language.

Just as with your lackluster verbal response, you didn’t give him the right romantic cues with your body language.

As he was telling you that you are beautiful, you were barely making eye contact with him.

On top of that, you didn’t smile.

It gets worse.

Your arms were either positioned across your chest, which is uninviting, or you were standing aloof, or at an awkward angle, maintaining a significant distance from him.

That was you protecting your personal space.

You were fidgety too, as though you were pining for the bathroom.

A guy that tells you that you are beautiful falls into two categories.

The first category is that of a guy who is flirtatious, and gets off on making girls swoon, but has no romantic interest in the girl.

He makes a compliment in passing, but doesn’t go out of his way to approach the girl.

The second category is that of a guy that actually goes out of his way to approach a girl and tell her that she is beautiful.

He is romantically interested in her.

Whether he chooses to ask for your number is completely contingent on how you respond to his compliment, verbally and physically.

In these instances, you are your own worst enemy.

If you don’t give him a positive response when he tells you that you are beautiful, he assumes that you are rejecting him if he asks for your number.

So he doesn’t.

Needless to say, it’s critical you respond to these men appropriately, if you want them to ask for your number.

Smile when he tells you that you are beautiful, and maintain eye contact.

Keep your arms uncrossed, close the physical distance between you by taking a step forward or leaning in, and face him full-on, instead of with your side or at an awkward angle.

Compliment him back.

If you are too shy to tell him that he is handsome, there are other ways to compliment a guy that lets him know that you are attracted to him without being too obvious about it.

Tell him that his shirt looks good on him or that he has a great haircut.

These compliments point to his aesthetics, which lets him know that you are attracted to him and returning his compliment in a subtle way.

All of this encourages him to want to ask for your number.

If you have done all this and he is yet to ask for your number, tell him that it was nice talking to him and you hope to see him around.

That is his cue.

This creates a sense of urgency, which compels him to seize the moment before it is lost and ask for your number.