17 Secret Signs A Female Coworker Likes You But Is Hiding It

Ah, the workplace romance… it’s inevitable!

If you think about it, you spend the most time with your coworkers. You see them every workday and sometimes during the weekend as well. 

You interact with them constantly be it to work together on a project, or just to savor a coffee in the morning. The feeling of familiarity is bound to make its presence felt at some point.

In this context, the possibility of developing feelings of attraction and even love for a work colleague is real. 

In fact, according to a study done in 2019, 1 in 10 heterosexual couples in the US met at work. What does this tell you?

Your chances to live a workplace romance are high! But…

Is it a good idea to date a coworker?

As you probably know, dating work colleagues is forbidden in numerous workplaces. This means that a possible workplace romance could lower your chances to keep your job. 

However, if you’re careful enough and your desire to hook up with a female colleague is strong, there are ways to keep a low profile until you figure things out with her.

Even if there’s no policy against dating someone you work with at your current workplace, there are other unpleasant things that could happen, such as:

• You can’t act as a couple. You have to keep things professional at work.
• Things may be awkward at times if you get into a fight before work.
• It’s possible for things to not work out and to make working together impossible.
• Both of you have a high chance to embarrass yourselves in front of your colleagues.
• If you’ve been working together for a long time, hooking up could ruin your friendship.

But, what if she’s worth the risk?

We don’t choose the people we fall in love with or are attracted to, so when it happens, we have to decide whether to take a leap of faith or not. 

So, let me ask you this: Do you have a certain female coworker in mind?

Do you think she likes you, but she’s hiding it? 

Let’s find out!

17 Signs A Female Coworker Likes You But Is Hiding It

Your female colleague might not know if you like her back and she could also fear all of the above could happen, so she might not be very obvious about liking you. 

That’s why you should observe her closely. If there’s anything that will give her away, it’s going to be something subtle, such as:

1. She uses her body to communicate her emotions

In your case, the main difference between verbal communication and non-verbal communication is this: Your female coworker isn’t aware of what she communicates with the help of her body. 

While she’s perfectly capable to control what she says with words, she might not be aware of what her body language says.

If she likes you, she will do one or more of the following:

• She will look at you when she thinks you don’t notice her
• She will check you out from head to toe
• She will unconsciously lean toward you while talking
• She will mirror your gestures and even the way you talk
• She will show microexpressions while talking – she could give you the coquette look, meaning she looks up through her lashes.

2. She often gets in your personal space

When someone gets in your personal space, that’s another non-verbal sign they like you.

If the female coworker you have in mind feels comfortable sitting/standing close to you and even touching you, that gives away her feelings for you.

If she touches you, it means she wants to build a connection with you.

For example, she could touch you to draw your attention, or she could touch you in a way to show you that she has your back – such as placing her hand on your shoulder.

The same goes for leaning in. As mentioned before, it’s a sign of attraction. But how can you be sure?

Lean in and watch what she does: Does she move away or not? If she doesn’t, the answer is clear: She’s hiding the fact that she likes you.

3. She acts and talks differently when you’re around

For how long have you been working together?

If you’ve just met her, then it could be difficult for you to notice whether she acts differently when you’re around. However, it’s not impossible. 

You just have to be patient and observe her in various situations. Be cautious, though! You don’t want to give the impression that you’re a creepy guy who follows her every move.

If you’ve been working together for a while and she’s just now realizing that she likes, likes you, then you should have no issue seeing how she transforms when you enter the room.

Without realizing it, she might start to talk at a higher pitch, move in a more gracious way, and even use other words to appear more chiseled or interesting.

4. She finds ways to interact with you at work

The next move your female work colleague could do is look for opportunities to spend time with you – during work, of course.

If she likes you, she won’t be able to help herself. She’ll find ways to interact with you even if that means she’ll have to work harder.

Here are some examples:

• She suggests you two would make a great team and should work on a project together that requires her set of skills and yours as well.
• She schedules one-on-one meetings with you to discuss work-related topics (and personal topics sometimes).
• She asks to observe your work and learn from your skills and expertise, or she tries to help you out by asking you to shadow her at work.
• She accepts every teambuilding activity as long as it involves you.
• She schedules her coffee and lunch breaks according to yours.

5. She casually asks around the workplace about you

While talking about others behind their backs is a common practice, if you overhear her asking other coworkers about you, that could be a sign that this female worker likes you!

Gossiping is one of the oldest social behaviors, so don’t blame your colleagues for that. 

Even if you’re not the type of man who gossips, you have to admit that there are times when you’re curious about others as well. 

With this in mind, pay attention to what happens around you. Or, stop for a while to chat with others. Maybe they’ll tell you she’s been taking an interest in you.

Pro tip: If you see her talking to a bunch of your colleagues, join them right away. In case they stop talking and stare at each other awkwardly, that means they were talking about you.

6. She asks you personal questions about your life

Since we spend so much time at work, it would be impossible not to talk to our coworkers about personal matters from time to time. 

However, when someone takes a special interest in you, they tend to ask you more personal questions compared to others.

This could be the case with your female colleague. If she doesn’t keep your conversations superficial and asks you deep questions with the purpose of understanding you, she may have hidden motives. 

Depending on what she asks you, she might try to test the ground. Learning more things about you could help her figure out if she wants to make a move on you.

She might even try to find out if you’re single or not.

Why?

She needs to know this info because she wants to be your girlfriend; otherwise, she risks embarrassment. What if you reject her and then everyone at work will know about it?

7. She tries to make you feel valued and appreciated

Complimenting someone for a job well done, especially at work, is not out of the ordinary. But what if a woman from work appreciates you and your work a little too much?

That could be a sign this female worker likes you!

On top of that, if she also gives you small gifts, she’s basically telling you that she likes you without actually telling you. 

If her gifts are based on the information you gave her, such as the fact that you need a mousepad or something similar, that’s one more reason to question her feelings for you.

On the one hand, it means she listens to you. On the other hand, it means she cares, and that’s why she bought it.

8. You can tell by the spark in her eyes

Be honest: Do her eyes light up when she sees you? Does she smile instantly?

If she does, then you don’t have to look for any more signs. This is all the evidence you need that she likes you more than a friend.

However, there is an exception: If she has the same reaction when she sees any other colleague than you. 

If she does, it means she’s a very warm and joyful person. That’s just the way she is.

So, to figure this out, just try to remember how your ex-girlfriends used to look at you. Is her gaze similar to theirs?

If it is, then she definitely has feelings for you – but she’s hiding them.

9. She notices even the smallest change about you

Do you have a new haircut? She notices!

Are you wearing the same clothes as the day before? She asks you why.

Are you overwhelmed by work and a bit stressed? She offers her help without you asking.

It’s like this woman is somehow in tune with you and she notices even the slightest change about you. 

She notices everything from your physical appearance to your mood and your habits. If you do something that’s not characteristic of you, she says something about it.

You can’t get away with anything. She knows when something is up, or if something changed about you. 

Do you know why? Because she has spent a lot of time observing you.

10. She sits or stands where she can see you

Depending on where you work, your workspace could be divided into offices, individual booths, or large rooms. 

Whatever the case, if she finds a spot that she can work from and that also allows her to see you, then you can take this as another sign of her interest in you.

Why does she do it? Because she wants to keep an eye on you. She wants to look at you, admire you, and also see what you’re doing. 

Also, she wants to make sure that you see her as well. She wants to put herself in your orbit to draw your attention with the help of various things.

Who knows, maybe she wants to seduce you by looking flawless every day and flaunting her body for you to see.

11. She opens up to you and is transparent

Let me ask you one more question: Has she opened up to you?

If she did, that’s a sign of vulnerability and it means that she chose to do this. She made a conscious decision to share things about herself that are genuine.

Her reason? She could hope that you will see something in her that you like and make a move on her. It could be her way of telling you that she likes you – but indirectly.

In a study, researchers discovered that vulnerable disclosures increase intimacy. In other words, she creates intimacy between the two of you just by talking about herself.

This, in turn, could encourage you to open up to her as well and maybe share something similar.

12. She remembers the little things about you

A coworker who cares about you will remember the little things about you. 

If a certain girl from work remembers an upcoming event you’ve talked to her about or anything along those lines, she has an interest in you.

She may casually ask you things like:

• You said your mom’s birthday is going to be next week, right? Did you buy her something?
• You mentioned something about taking a boxing class. How is that going?
• Your sister was in town last weekend, right? Did you have a nice time?

Or, she may ask you anything related to something you said to her. She will follow up on every little detail that you mention if she likes you romantically.

13. She looks better and better every day

The amount of effort a woman puts into her appearance could indicate whether she’s attracted to someone or not. 

For example, if she shows up at work looking better every day, then something must be up. She wants to impress someone with her looks and that someone could be you.

Everyone has good days and bad days when it comes to their looks. They don’t find the needed time to look amazing every day, but she does!

On top of that, although she’s at work, she isn’t afraid to show some skin. She highlights her best body parts for you to see. 

When a woman accentuates her curves and also does her hair and makeup, it means that she takes care of her appearance. To what end, though?

She doesn’t need to look her best at work, so why does she do it? Because she wants you to notice her or even make a move on her.

14. She contacts you outside of work via social media

Coworkers often befriend each other and follow each other on social media. There’s nothing weird about that. 

However, they rarely DM each other outside work – unless they become close friends. Or, unless they have feelings for each other.

When a female coworker tries to stay in touch with you outside of work, it means she’s interested in you as a person. 

Expect her to keep things casual, though: She could send you funny videos or memes or share something interesting with you – at first, anyway.

15. She offers her help with work-related tasks

How can you tell if a female coworker likes you but is hiding it? As mentioned before, she will find ways to spend more time with you.

One of these ways could be work-related. She might want to be close to you so much that she could accept more work.

If she offers her help and no one is paying her extra for doing it, then she could do it because of her feelings for you. 

She sees this as an opportunity to get to know you better and work on something together with you. 

If you think about it, she’s right. This will make her job more enjoyable and increase her chances to connect with you on a deeper level.

16. She is concerned about your well-being

Who notices you’re not at work first? Your team leader or your female colleague?

If she notices first, this is another sign she loves you deeply and cares about you. The fact that you don’t show up at work or you show up late could make her worry. 

The worst-case scenarios could go through her head. Maybe you got sick, maybe you got hit by a car, or worse, maybe you quit and she won’t see you anymore!

Such a situation would create an excuse for her to DM you again, asking you if you’re okay.

However, if nothing like that happened before, you can skip to the next point.

17. She puts her phone away when she’s with you

Want to get a grasp of a woman’s level of attraction for you? Then simply observe what she does with her phone while you’re around.

If she gives you her undivided attention and doesn’t reach for her phone while you’re talking, it’s quite obvious that this female coworker likes you!

She doesn’t need any distractions when you’re around because guess what? You are her distraction. 

There is nothing more interesting she could do while looking at her phone compared to simply listening to you and looking at you. 

If she does this and nothing else, it means that she prioritizes spending time with you over using her phone.

Speaking of office romance, you don’t wanna miss on this one: Signs your female boss likes you but hiding it.

What if she likes you but you don’t like her?

In case the signs point to an unexpected truth that you are not too happy about, then you have to take action!

You can’t keep playing her game because, at some point, she might confess her feelings for you. 

So, it would be best to spend less time talking to her and avoid her as much as possible without being rude.

Letting her down easy is ideal as opposed to rejecting her. That would only make things more awkward between the two of you and jeopardize your job.