Here is a question for women here... You work with a guy you think is cute... but taken... Do you?
1. wooh... hands off.. you will be professional with him, but that is it.
2. become friendly with him, maybe some innocent flirtation.
3. become close to him... Give him signs you might be interested if he was available.
4. go after him. You want him and you don't care about the relationship. He needs to break up and be with you
5. Why not an affair? You know he will leave her and be with you eventually.
My thought processes on this matter go a little like this...
1. At first. My brain would always rule out my heart.
2. Ok, I like to make friends and if we have innocent flirting that's ok because I flirt with everyone of my friends innocently.
3. Innocent flirting leads to signs that'd I'd be interested in him if he reciprocated and ONLY if he reciprocated.
4. If the reciprocation was there, I'd probably end up letting my feelings take over when my brain is telling me I'm an idiot. It wouldn't necessarily say I don't care about the relationship he's currently in and I wouldn't necessarily force a breakup on his part just so he can be with me.
5. Why not? Maybe I wouldn't ever expect him to leave her and be with me but if the mutual feelings are there and they supply me with a need I'm not otherwise getting or may not ever get anyway, I'm ok with it.
This doesn't necessarily mean that I'm ok with every relationship going this way, it depends on the individuals, and their unique situations.