by Sara Reistad-Long

Just be prepared: Sparks may fly—even if you’re not looking to kindle them. “It’s common sense when you put men and women on the road together,” says Lever. “You think the office has gotten informal? That’s nothing compared to a dinner meeting at a hotel over wine.” Especially when you can expense the Rioja.

You’re Primed to Love Your Coworker (Or Boss).
When it comes to finding a mate, studies show that from socioeconomic background to education level, we’re drawn to people like us. In that sense, work is like a homogeneous dating pool, full of candidates prescreened by HR. Beth was 22 when she took her first job. “I fell hard for my boss, Evan,” she says. What hooked her? Little habits she came to know—and, eventually, love: “The movements of his long fingers over the keyboard. The way he threw his coat over the chair after lunch.” Eight years later, “We work together again, only now I can’t imagine what inflamed that passion,” she laughs.

It could have been proximity—or power—at play. Your boss seems sexier because of his or her position of power, a result of paternal/maternal transference, explains psychiatrist Dr. Gail Saltz. And it’s a common phenomenon: One in five people in Vault’s survey said that they’d dated somebody they reported to, yet 60 percent of workers disapprove of the idea. The downside of dating up? “Real career gains will not be credited to your ability,” Saltz warns.