If I see that a chick is "biting at my bait", I always tend to take the lead and start showing blatant signs of interest. when I do this, the chick seems to then lose interest.
I know I am giving the ball away, but I want to know how to stop doing it.
I simply cannot resist this: LET IT GO!
Whatever you think is making you act, needing to act, let it go.
You do not need to act. The world will not end if you do, she will not lose interest, quite the opposite really.
You are like the fisherman who tugs the line when the fish has taken a small nibble of the bait, hence when you tug the line it is whipped away from the fish and the fish swims away.
The patient fisherman knows if the fish has a nibble, it will want more, so he waits until the fish has taken a good bite and the hook is in the mouth, only then does he tug on the line.
The really patient fisherman waits until the fish tugs on the line fully when the hook is fully embedded in its mouth.
It is all degrees of patience.
Also of note is the degree of belief that the fisherman has in his bait. In some ways this is inversely proportional to how patient he will be (for most).