Transference happening for the second time

This is a bit of an awkward post, but ultimately, my therapist has told me he is attracted to me and I don’t really know what to do with that comment.

I’m female and my male therapist is 30 years older than me. I originally went to him 6 years ago when I was in my 20’s because I had/have low self esteem and panic attacks, and his website stated that this was his area of expertise.
From the moment I walked in, we got on like a house on fire. Not only did he help me immensely with my original problems, but we could also spend ages putting the world to rights and he would sometimes disclose things that were happening (or had happened) in his own personal life too. It felt like we were friends and I found myself really drawn to him. I’d spend most of my spare time thinking about him and I even tried to convince myself that a 30 year age gap wouldn’t matter. I’d booked a summer holiday and contemplated not going as I knew it would mean I’d have to miss a week of therapy. I even got a second job and started working 6 days a week so I could fund the cost of continued therapy that, in all honesty, I no longer needed. I was infatuated with him and he sometimes said or did things that made me wonder if he felt the same. I found him so easy to talk to that I actually contemplated telling him how I felt, until he announced he was seeing someone else. I never went back after that. I knew I couldn’t have him and had to get over my obsession. Then I started seeing someone too, and the infatuation ended.

But, it appears he never really left my mind.

Last year, I started struggling with my self esteem again and the panic attacks returned. I approached the NHS and started weekly CBT sessions but I felt like I was sitting in a room with a robot and I was just a number to them. I left each session feeling like I’d annoyed the therapist just by being there, and spent more time worrying what he thought of me than actually progressing with therapy. So, I looked up my old therapist and found he was still practicing. I’ve had various things happen in life over the past 6 years and always thought of him first but something always stopped me from contacting him. This time though, I felt an incredible urge to get in touch with him because I knew he’d give me what I wanted - self assurance. So I did, I explained on the phone that I was an ex-client of his and mentioned something he once said to me in therapy that made me feel really good about myself, and he remembered me instantly, said he doesn’t say that to ‘just anyone’ and invited me straight in the next day.
I felt the old rush of adrenaline pulling up outside his house and burst into tears the moment he opened his door and said how nice it was to see me. When he asked me why I was crying, I told him it was because he was nice to me, something I didn’t get very often.
It was like being reunited with an old friend. I could talk just as openly to him as before and when he asked me why I chose to come back to him, I told him that I felt I could trust him to which he said ‘I think it’s a bit more than that though’ which left me feeling confused about what he meant.
After a couple of sessions, I told him how about my body image issues and how I felt that I was repulsive to men. Then he told me in his words: ‘I know I shouldn’t say it, but I am attracted to you’ in his aim to prove a point that I’m not repulsive to men.
He asked me if I minded him saying that to which I said ‘I don’t mind, because I like compliments!’ He’d literally said what I wanted him to say 6 years ago and now that he has, I’m not sure what to do about it. I wanted self assurance, so in theory I got what I wanted, but now I’m right back to where I was 6 years ago. I can’t get him out of my head, but I genuinely don’t think it’s because I want a relationship with him, I don’t think I ever really did, I just like the idea of it because of the unconditional acceptance and confidence boost he gives me, which is something I crave in ‘real life.’

I can’t bear the thought of ending therapy and going back to the robotic existence of CBT. This man genuinely helped me last time and got rid of my panic attacks for 6 years. But another side of me is wondering if it can ever be the same now he’s said that, even though I actually wanted him to say it!. Aghhhh this is so confusing, what do I do??