Mr. Sensitive asked me "What do you think girls really want for Valentine's Day?"

Genuine Affection and Admiration

You're right - it's not the material things.

Of course women love flowers, presents, romantic dinners, and so on... But I honestly think that a genuine display of appreciation and admiration means more than any material thing you could give her. Write her a heartfelt letter explaining the beautiful qualities you see in her that make her so special. (And I'm not talking about outward beauty!)

Sacrifice

I have an example of that.

Make an effort to do something for her to make her happy, especially something you don't particularly want to do, but that would be perceived as a sacrifice for her.

Me too.

A Good Book

Buy yourself a book on what it means to truly love her, read it before Valentine's Day, and show her how serious you are about wanting to nurture and respect her by sharing with her what you learned.

Speaking of books, I recommend an excellent book on this subject called The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman. It explains the different ways in which we tend to express our love to others, and how others perceive love from us. Some people show their love primarily by giving gifts, while others show it by words of affirmation. The other love languages are quality time, acts of service, and physical touch.

The problem comes when we continually express love to someone using only one "language" and their language is something totally different than ours. For example, you may buy your girlfriend gifts to show your love for her, but she may feel that you don't love her because you are not spending quality time with her or communicating your feelings to her. The bottom line is that what makes you feel loved may not be the same thing that makes her feel loved. Get to know the "love language" she speaks and become an expert at it!

– Hope