Business advice: Am I being paranoid or should I be cautious?

There are very few people I can turn to for advice on the following issue: I'm currently a technical manager at a software company and have a position open for a developer. I interviewed a very strong candidate who currently works for company X that I would like to hire. Company X is not a competitor at all, so there are no non-compete issues. A couple days after I interviewed the above candidate I receive a call from a high level executive at company X. Instead of bitching me out for poaching their talent, the exec says that I was highly recommended by a former employer and they would like to discuss a potential opportunity to join their company. Obviously this leaves me in quite a quandary for a variety of reasons. 1. I would like to pursue this new opportunity, but the timing seems to perfect to be coincidental 2. I feel that my obligation is to pursue the interests of my current employer unless a concrete deal is made between me and company X. Obviously it could be quite bad for myself if I hire away a top talent one day, and then join company X the next. 3. What is the potential for this to be some kind of retaliatory attack for hiring away their talent? Could they be trying to put me in a pinch where I end up unemployed? This seems pretty paranoid to me, but much shadier things have occurred in business. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.