Flirting isn't tough at all. It's nothing more than treating someone as if they are the singlemost fascinating, captivating, and exciting person in the room. Leave sexual innuendo and double entendres for the advanced practitioners. For now, just hang on their every word. First dates aren't like relationships, in which you get to relax and be totally natural.
Dates have rules.
This is one time when you do have to act like you're having a good time. You don't have to put on any kind of show. But you also don't get to lay everything out on the table. Do not talk about your painful divorce for three hours on the first date. Do not admit to your chicken-killing voodoo habits.