how to know if I want to date a friend or just wanna have sex with them?

So, I have a best female friend and I require that I feel emotionally naked with a person to be able to do something as vulnerable as having sex. I'm too open with her and yeah feel intensely about her. I am not only okay with sex I also want to have it with her a lot actually but I am confused if it's only about sex cause our friendship reached a stage where it has emotional intimacy too which is too deep for me and I haven't ever faced it before.

Is it just intimacy aspect making me want sex too cause I do associate intimacy being present in sex a lot so maybe idk I just want sex cause I haven't had it in a while so this seems just like the person I feel comfortable enough to start wanting it with. How do I know if I wanna be with them or not can you give any questions that may make me reflect on this?

Thank you!