cheers dude, yeh i think you're right.
one thing that worked a bit better though... (if you are with your wing) is for them to get the obstacle or girl sitting next to the hb to come and sit next to them for reasons above, eg palm read etc (we were at a quirky bar the other day and there was connect 4 so i challenged the obstacle to a game, told her to sit next to me and told my wing to bugger off, and he 'had' to go sit next to the hb)
a bit of a sacrifice, but it doesn't matter if they say no, and doesn't look like you're coming on to the hb.
all very indirect though, maybe you should just say "i want to sit next to you and flirt" il try that next time
Jubz