Being slow to trust isn’t being cold. It’s letting people show you who they are first.

Caution gets mistaken for coldness because it looks the same from outside. Taking your time means you are not handing over the important material to somebody you met in September, which is not a judgement on them; it is just a refusal to guess. The alternative is deciding on charm and then finding out. People who have been burned once usually arrive at this on their own.

Keep the pace and stay friendly while you do it, because the two are not in conflict. Be warm, be curious, say plenty, and hold back the few things that would cost you. Then let what people do over months decide the rest.