I have had four LTR:
BF #1 in HS - friend. We went to the same church youth group and played baseball together. In HS, he was tall and cute, and I had a bit of a crush on him, but had known him for about 3-4 years already so I knew him as a guy and as a friend. We had a LOT in common. So he said, "Hey you know how everyone dates in HS and there's all this drama? Want to just go together and do all that stuff together so we don't have to try to be BF/GF?" I said "Sure sounds like fun." We went to dances and prom and football games together, and yeah we made out like HS kids do, but he was my friend first, and a cute athletic guys second. REALLY liked him!
ExH (#2) - date. He was the security guard at my apartment complex after college. He was tall and cute, and he asked me out. We dated for while, slept together, he moved in, and he told me he didn't want to get married but I didn't listen and stuck with him anyway. Two years later we got married, and we divorced when he cheated on me.
Dear Hubby (#3) - friend. I met Dear Hubby online on a forum. His exW had cheated, my exH had cheated, and we more or less were just learning how to deal with all that. I knew of his existence but didn't talk to him for probably a year, yet I thought he was one of the most intelligent men I'd ever met. He had a username that intrigued me and the first time I did speak to him, I asked him what his username meant. After that, we talked online and on the phone for probably 6 months and then finally met in person. He wasn't a knock out, physically, but I seriously loved his mind and in short time I felt attracted to HIM (the person) and we married I think it was 1 1/2 years after first meeting.
Beloved Hubby (#4) - friend. I met EB here on this forum. I know of his existence for two years, and I did occasionally talk to him out in public here. At that time, I was hoping to help him see his W's possible point of view, and my Dear Hubby was alive, so I didn't really think about EB that much at all, other than to note that he was very consistent and thoughtful--a lone kind voice, when some here on TAM were more hurt and resentful. Then, my Dear Hubby died and his wife asked for divorce. The first thing I wrote to him, personally, was that I do not say this lightly but your posts have helped people and I thought he should know that. We agreed to be friends and help each other through our individual tragedies, and we did. And along the way I started to know more and more of him and like him more and more.
So for me, all the LTRs that lasted and were a good match started as friendships. As I began to know the person more and more deeply, I loved them more and was more and more physically attracted to them. Now EB is a very handsome man--VERY--so never an issue there, yet I don't see just his gorgeous bod when I see him -- I see the inner, beautiful person he is. I don't know if I'd see that inner, beautiful person if I wasn't his friend also.