Rebound relationships are interesting. The have been many times that friends have told me, “I will never ever get married again!”
First off, never is impossible! Secondly, that’s just the pendulum swinging. When I met my second husband, his divorce had been final for a wisp over two years. He had sworn off matrimony. It hurt my feelings to think that he didn’t believe that I was worth the additional effort of marriage, but I was sufficient enough to live with.
That’s my core belief. It could be from my Catholic upbringing, but can’t blame everything on Catholicism, right? We lived together for 18 months when he asked me to marry him! Of course I said yes! What choice did I have! He had dangled the impossible in front me and I felt I had conquered it!
If you are cooling your heals and need the time to date to come back to ground zero (pendulum isn’t swinging), be up front about it. There’s nothing wrong with only dating. But make sure the other person knows what your position is. It is a very basic sign of respect.