I think I'm in-love with my best friend? What should I do? How do you think she feels?

This is going to be kind of long but I'll try and shorten it up...

I've known this girl since 6th grade. Her and I have always been friends, after we graduated high school her and I both started hanging out ALOT more. I've always wanted to ask her out but its hard because there is alot more riding on this...YEARS of friendship, this isn't like asking some stranger or relatively new acquaintance out. This is high stakes.

I get very subtle feelings that she's attracted to me as well, she texts me ALOT and always wants me to come by her work and see her, she always wants to spend time with me. And another example is this. The other night her and I had....A moment you could say. We were both listening to my MP3 player (We have the same taste in music) and we were on a bench together, at one point we were basically sitting shoulder to shoulder thigh to thigh listening to semi romantic classic rock and looking at the stars. I kind of felt like she wanted me to throw an arm around her and hold her. But I didnt...And here's why.

...She currently has a boyfriend, but they are fighting more and more here lately...She called me the other night crying because of a fight she had with her boyfriend, and told me that she need to be consoled. We spent a good three hours on the phone with each other, her crying and not understanding why he was acting the way he was...My giving my honest advice. Anyway when it was all said and done, she told me that she loved me and felt so lucky to have someone in her life that would take care of her like this. And then she apologized for crying so much.

I've loved her for along time...But only in the past year or so have realized that I really am IN-love with her. I've considred telling her how I feel and explaining to her that IF things don't workout with her boyfriend I would like to take her out on a date and see what happens. What do ya'll think? I'm afraid of saying that to her because I don't want her to feel like I'm just waiting in the bushes for her to break up with her boyfriend...But at the same time I'm getting very subtle feelings that she is attracted to me to, and she might just waiting for me to make a move? I don't know what to do or think about this. I could be totally wrong about everything...Maybe everything she see's in me is strictly a Male and Female plutonic relationship. But I don't know.

What do all of you think?