I've just started dating again?

Ok since it's been a while, I'm a little rusty, I'm just needing a little advice from my yahoo friends,, and friends only no smart alec's (just my friends) Are we still going by the 3 date rule,, he's been in Iraq for over a year,,and don't think bad about me but we met over the internet on yahoo personals ( I met one person and cancelled right away) he lives by me and was a cop for 15 yrs and now has served in Iraq for a quite a while and now he is coming home in December and we have developed quite a chemistry,,I know this is really taking a chance, but i'm no nieve and I'm a big girl and realize it may or may not work out,, but that's neither here nor there,,it's been a while since I've dated,,this guy for one is a big guy 6'6 to be exact I'm with my addiction to high heels about 5'7 so still you see the height ,,he is like a gentle giant and we have so much in common,, I really really like this guy,,Is it possible to have feeling over someone you have met over the internet that you have had 2 - 4 conversations daily? I'm so nervous to meet him in person,,what if he finds some flaw in me, and that's it,,broken heart for me? I usually put some kind of wall up and this time I have found "no wall" and a place very uncommon for me ( no wall's and very vulnerable and just very open and my heart on my sleeve,,,I find my self walking around sick to my stomach, anxiously waiting for his e-mails that of course always come but what if they stop? Is it really better to have loved then lost? Then to have never to have loved at all?