So a little backstory to start off. There's this girl (let's call her Jane) I've known since high school and become close with over the past 6 months. I've gone through periods of being interested in her in the past, but never really acted on them since I was beta as hell back in high school. We're both freshmen in college now, and both in the NYC area. Since I've gone to college, my confidence has increased a lot, and I mean A LOT. Lately, whenever we interact, it's as though we've been dating for a while: there's plenty of eye kino, flirting, joking around, and touching (although nothing too serious, but I'll get to that later). Several people have even asked others and myself if we are a thing. Anyways, I recently took a short road trip with Jane to visit a very close mutual friend at her college. Our mutual friend (let's call her Sam) ended up speaking to Jane about me, and essentially told me that the only thing holding me back from dating Jane (besides me not asking her out) was Jane's long standing "fear" of physical intimacy. For example, Jane's never had a boyfriend (or partner), and never had a real kiss. She's been very hesitant about doing stuff like this with anyone, not just me. At this point, I'd still be willing to date her even if we had to take baby steps with all the physical stuff.... but I'm kind of unsure of what to do next. Should I ask her out, go for a kiss and see how she reacts? Should I speak to her about this in a non-date environment?

TL;DR Close friendl I like has been very timid with physical intimacy and I'd like to date her, even if we take things slow. Not sure what to do.