The useful text after a stretched goodbye is not “I could have kissed you.” It is closer to, “You took a suspiciously long time finding your coat.” She gets to laugh at the truth instead of defending it.

Those doorway seconds are full of deniability: one more story, a hand on the elevator button, the look back after “goodnight” already happened. Mentioning the delay gives her permission to acknowledge it without converting a good date into a negotiation. The best version feels more like a private joke than a request for reassurance. If she adds, “You were not exactly rushing either,” the evening changes shape before either of them says anything bolder.