Mayor Bloomberg's lunch with Barack Obama at a Midtown diner back in November incited much speculation on the state of their affair: Were they in a relationship, or merely flirting? The excitement was heightened when Bloomberg's aide Kevin Sheekey dropped that his boss might be interested in getting on Obama's ticket, if you know what we mean. But since then the two haven't seen much of each other — not until this morning, when Bloomberg showed up to introduce Obama for his speech at the Cooper Union, “and not just because he picked up the check,” Bloomberg bantered flirtatiously.

Obama flirted right back. “The reason I bought breakfast is because I expected payback," he said, batting his lashes. "I’m no dummy. The mayor was a cheap date that morning. There are some good steakhouses in this city."

OMG! The crowd thought (we imagine): They're totally going to do it! But alas, according to the Times City Room blog, no. "Despite a few jokes and a stiff embrace," they noted, "the men seemed nothing like two peas in the same political pod." Devastation! We wanted Bloombama almost as much as we wanted Chace Crawford and JC Chasez to be together, or Teri Hatcher and Ryan Seacrest. We guess the public pressure just got to be too much.

Obama-Bloomberg Speculation Takes Off After Joint Appearance [CityRoom]