After having limited female contact for the last few years (I was an engineering major), I've found that I'm at a loss when it comes to talking one-on-one with a woman. In small groups, things work great because others drive the conversation and I can just make a few one-liners and tell the occasional story.

It is in these small group situations that girls get the impression that I would be fun to hang out with or go on a pseudo-date (brunch, coffee, etc). While I typically don't have issues driving a conversation with another guy (we talk about engineering stuff and the news), I realized that I'm kind of at a loss when it's just a girl and me.

After a few questions about how their weeks are going and me trying to find some point to spring into a new conversation, I usually find myself in the midst of long pauses. Without spending more time with these women, I don't know what else to talk about. Are there topics of conversation that work well for young professionals? Do women expect the guy to drive the conversation forward or is silence just expected?

tl;dr I'm spending more time one-on-one with women but I end up having long pauses in the conversation