Questions: Flirting

Could be a female friend or a girlfriend.

What if a girl does this? When she finally replies, should I leave her on "delivered" for a few days? I mean, I would not be active on the platform, so she could assume that I am just too busy, etc.

And what if I read it and like/react to the message (without replying)? I would not be ignoring it, but I would not seem too keen to talk to her either. It's a bit less rude than leaving on "read" (in my opinion). And it could lead her to realize that something's wrong and that she f*cked up somewhere. And on top of that, I'd not initiate any conversations with her.

What do you guys think? I don't want to completly lose her, though.

When chatting with women I'm interested in I've recently started to give them my number instead of asking for theirs, especially if they're at their place of work. I feel like I'm too respectful for my own good, I dont want to be intrusive and make them uncomfortable so I'll often save the compliments and flattery for text, if they ever text me. Now, I tell myself this is because I'm respectful but honestly I'm kinda just scared to ask for their number or compliment them in person, I'm so awkward I usually just bomb it. I haven't had much success with this method so I'm just wondering, do they just think I'm not man enough to say it in person so they aren't interested? Thanks!