Break Up & Divorce

Why does he joke about "running away together" ? Could he actually like me?

There's this guy I met through work and he's very flirty and a quick wit. I don't see him often because he works in a different department. When I first met him, he was flirty and mean, treated me like I was lazy. The same day he also hit on me and the other women in my department aggressively. It was pretty unprofessional. However, he's really good at his job and works very hard. We had a few conversations about how he's going to respect me (I initiated them -- had a good laugh each time -- broke up some of the ice). Now-- after working with him more -- I tell him when I do talk to him that he's doing a good job (when he is -- which is most times). And when I have to work with him or talk to him I'm really nice to him. I respect him and his work ethic and he's hilarious! And a Mr Smartypants. Now he calls me his "best friend" and has joked we'll "run away together" -- and I'm always sarcastic and sweet and wittyish in my replies to him. Like without skipping a beat telling him that when we run away together we'll have to go here or there or blah blah blah. It's always a very playful back and forth... when not talking about work things.

He's really flirty but do you think he could actually have a thing for me? Or is he just mirroring me? Like I started being really nice to him, so he started being nice back? I'm confused.
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Why does he joke about "running away together" ? Could he actually like me?
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