Thanks much for your reply. I definitely agree with you that there are only a few "number one choices" coming along in a lifetime, and he could be the first "number one choice" that came along in MY lifetime. I'm not quite ready yet to give up the chance of getting to know him better, so I've decided to give it another try.
But first I want to give him some time... maybe (if I'm lucky) he will think about everything that happened, and will see "clearer" next time I run into him (which, if my plan works out all right, will be in June - or do you think that's too soon?).
And I also really don't want to be too pushy and scare him off in the end. But once the time is right, I'll put my pride on the shelf once more and when that happens, I won't just let him get away with "you're really sweet but I don't know you that well".