I was a virgin until I was 20 and, after losing it, didn't have sex again until I was 27 and met the woman I eventually married. I was shy around women basically.
When I seperated from my wife at the age of 40 I thought for a while that I was never going to fuck again but I looked back to the time I met her and realised that back then was the time in my life that I had the most female friends i'd ever had. I realigned my expectations and just tried to make female friends, at work, at a divorce recovery group, anyone who'd talk to me. My shyness had sort of gone (my fucked marraige was such a big problem that shyness seemed like no big deal) but none of these women became more than friends. I just didn't know how to take it to that next level.
Then, after about four months (around three years ago), I got into online dating. I basically spoke to anyone who I could strike up a conversation with over MSN, mail or phone. Just tried to be friends. The thing is, the dynamic is different on online dating sites, everyone is after more than a friendship, in my experience all you need to do is make it clear that you AREN'T JUST AFTER SEX while being just flirty enough to make it clear that you ARE AFTER SEX.
Put it this way, I am an overweight shy guy in his 40s and i've fucked every woman i've been on a date with that i've wanted to. Some of the ones I didn't are still friends. None of them one night stands, all relationships lasting between a month or so and a year. Right now i've been with a lovely multi-orgasmic Jamacan woman for three months and, as far as i'm concerend, feel like I could spend the rest of my life with her.
OK, that's only six women but the longest i've gone without sex in the last three years is a few weeks
, i'm hardly a superstud but it's not bad for a guy that only managed to fuck two different women in 40 years...
Anyway, what am I trying to say?, I reckon a young, computer literate guy who can string a sentence together who manages to come across as a normal guy and a good listener (remember, most contact women get on online dating sites are from guys asking for no strings sex or from desperate weirdos) has got it made.
Don't worry about the idea that you'll become "just friends", my personal theory is that "just friends" only happens with someone you've know for a while, a new friend of the opposite sex is exactly what a sane sober woman is looking for in a potential partner. The dynamic is very different from picking someone up in a bar drunk, at least I assume it is, I don't have a lot of experience, the last time that scenario worked for me was 23 years ago...