Autor shudders. "Feh! No, it is not," he insists. "If I were desensitized, I wouldn't blush as much as I do. I'm well aware that my reddened face is 'cute' and what advantages that gives me."

He might be teasing her. A bit. But frankly, he's ticklish, too, and that doesn't help with jumpiness. But he's sure as hell not about to tell her that.

He ignores the fact that she probably already knows.