Women sometimes do this thing where they meet an acquaintance, think he's cute, and find opportunities to hang out with him, watch him, and evaluate him as a potential mate. Then presto, by the time they're done evaluating him, he's become integrated into their social group too closely for the girl to be comfortable asking him out because it'd now be awkward if he rejected her and all her friends found out. It's kind of the female equivalent of the stereotype-based-in-fact where men see a beautiful girl and immediately talk themselves into thinking she's out of their league and it'd be the end of the world to get humiliated by a rejection from her, so they might as well not even say two words to her and just keep standing over here awkwardly in this corner. The annoying thing about the female version is, 99% of the time, the acquaintance-level guy would have accepted a date or at least been totally cordial and flattered if he did have to turn the girl's offer down, and if he then became a friend, it wouldn't be awkward at all--it'd have been just part of the story of how he became a member of the social group.
I agree with everything you wrote there. I've experienced these things. Good perceptions. My wife would never admit to "asking me out", and she's right she didn't literally ask me out. I had a friend from high school named Shannon that was friends with my wife. Shannon had a revelation that I would be the perfect match for her friend "J". I was working at a restaurant at the time and they stopped in unbeknownst to me and "scoped me out". Later that week Shannon called me and asked if I would go on a blind date with her friend? -I politely declined. Then one day Shannon walked in to the restaurant with a gorgeous girl at her side. When the girl at her side was looking away I whispered to Shannon "is that the girl"? She whispered back "yes". My face lit up and I whispered "I'm in" and gave a thumbs up. They sat at the bar. We had "strolling minstrels", a violinist and a guitarist and they agreed to come up behind the girls at the bar and after I shook "J"'s hand start playing "It's now or never". -It was full on cheese, but funny and somewhat endearing. I asked her out. Best first date ever and we've never looked back. But really... she asked me out first. Just indirectly.