I'm in my mid-20s and never had a truly serious relationship... I mean, I know I've never been in love with anyone before. I've had a lot going on in my life the past five years or so, and as a result I hardly dated at all during that time. The only relationship I ever had where I really felt strongly about the guy, I was 19 and not very sure of myself, and I got scared of what I was feeling and broke it off.

Anyway, last week I met someone... he's absolutely the nicest guy I've ever known, he has a great sense of humor, we share the same interests, and best of all we're mutually attracted to one another. We've been on three dates, and last night we got to talking about how we felt about each other so far. I was really (very pleasantly!) surprised to hear that he feels the same way about me as I do about him -- that I'm the first girl he's met that he really looks forward to seeing, the first relationship he's gotten into that matters enough to worry about messing it up.

Now, my problem is this: as I mentioned, the only other relationship I've ever felt this way about I totally sabotaged because I got scared. I know it's normal to be nervous about a new relationship, but I'm beyond nervous whenever I stop to actually think about my feelings. I think because I've spent such a long time alone I've developed a fear of letting anyone get close to me, and now it feels like there's a part of me that just wants to bring those walls down, and it scares me to death.

Can anyone give me some advice? I don't want to mess up the best thing I've ever found just because I'm scared.