This time the cab ride ended in a walk to her doorstep, where he announced: “O.K., I’m going to leave now, before I try to make out with you.”

“It was kind of one of those, ‘Hey, if you take this serious, then I'm being serious, but if you’re totally weirded out, it’s just a big joke,’” Mr. Finnegan told the Love Beat, who knew exactly what he meant.