scared the squirrel

when someone jumps boundaries in a relationship (romantic, sexual, or friendship) prematurely, causing the other person to back away, or, in more extreme cases, leave the relationship altogether. It's the equivalent of holding an acorn in your hand and trying to lure a squirrel out of a tree, then waving your arms wildly in the air and scaring the squirrel back up the tree.

I haven't even met the guy yet, and he's emailing me that it's going to be hard to focus on our dinner because he'll be too busy getting 'lost in my eyes.' There won't be any dinner. He just scared the squirrel.