TIFU by going out with a man without realising it was a date and punching him after he tried to kiss me

I (40F-M) met “James” (42M) just over a month ago. He took me to the hospital after I got stabbed and it’s sort of difficult to go through that and never acknowledge it again so we exchanged phone numbers and met up a few times afterwards.

Last week, he asked me to go with him to a restaurant he liked and I said yes because he’s very pleasant to be around and I wanted to know more about him, but not for a romantic reason because he never mentioned anything about it being a date so I didn’t realise. He did say “just us” but I guess I didn’t interpret it correctly because it never crossed my mind that this would be anything except for a meeting between friends.

Anyway, we meet at the restaurant, have our food, talk and laugh and have a good time and then when we left the restaurant and walked around a bit he kissed me. It took me by surprise so I just reacted instinctively and punched him, knocking the wind out of him and causing him to take a short time to recover while I profusely apologised.

He said I shouldn’t apologise because he should have asked first and he said sorry for not doing so but that he thought the date went really well. I asked him what he was talking about and then realised what had actually been going on. We laughed about it and I’m glad he wasn’t angry with me or anything like that and just thought it was funny.

I actually think he’s a very attractive man and had considered asking him on a date in the future (normally I try to get to know someone for a while before doing so) and we’ve arranged second (or another first) tomorrow.

I told my sister what happened and she described it as the “most autistic thing she’s ever heard”. I think I do agree, although my story might be rivalled by my mother bringing one of her friends on a first date with my father because she didn’t realise it was a date. Like me, she is diagnosed with ASD.

TL;DR: I met a man called “James” and went out with him without realising it was a date. He tried to kiss me and it took me by surprise so I punched him.