Gym receptionist rejected me 1 year ago, but is now sending mixed signals. What does this mean?

Hey everyone! I'm curious about your opinions, especially from girls and fellow introverts.

The backstory: There's a girl who works as a receptionist at my gym. We're both quite introverted, quiet, and reserved.

The past (1 year ago):

On Women's Day, I brought her a small chocolate and after few weeks asked her out for coffee. She politely said no. I completely respected that. I didn't push it, didn't get offended or act weird, and I've just been going to the gym acting like a normal, respectful, and chill regular customer ever since.

The present (Recent events):

Recently, she started opening up to me, but with very mixed signals:

If she has an "alibi", she initiates: She came over where I was working out to ask if she could open the window right above me. I said sure, and she smiled at me. Another time, she waved at me from afar while getting out of her car in the parking lot. We greet each other outside the room too.

The latest breakthrough (yesterday): She accidentally locked herself behind the glass door at the reception. Instead of getting awkward, we both had a good laugh about it, and I joked that we'd have to kick the door in. Later, I was tying my shoes on the gym floor, and I purposely glanced up—and caught her looking at me with a soft smile. When I was leaving, she looked directly at me and smiled again (ignoring the people I was leaving with).

There were many such little conversations or events between the two of us.

The dilemma:

I'm really confused about how to read this situation. I don't want to make things awkward again since I already got rejected once, but at the same time, I feel like there's a new, positive vibe between us and I'm tired of just waiting around.

What do you guys think?