There are a great number of things that one usually tried to avoid when interacting with a person they barely knew who did not fully intend on having sex with you. One was casually disrobing. Another was shutting a door that thereby trapped them, alone, in the same room with you. A third was getting close enough to put your hands on them, and then putting your hands on them.
Had he done any of these things individually, Morgaine probably would have been alright with it, but since he did all of them in conjunction, her first instinct was to go rigid, eyes immediately suspicious; darting first to the closed door, then to the hand on her elbow, skimming over his shirtless torso, and finally settling on his face. No telephone, her brain reminded her, and the thought stopped her from pulling away. Maybe he just hadn\'t learned, yet.
Then he was talking, and those baby blue eyes had caught hers again. As he spoke, she relaxed, though her lips pursed unconsciously as she listened. "Yeah, sure," she nodded, at length, "I\'ll be your alibi. I\'m interested to see how a big ol\' person becomes such a small creature. I\'ve never seen a rattlesnake in real life." As the initial panic wore off, she became more aware of his touch on her skin, and smiled slightly. He looked damn fine with his shirt off, "But if she bites me, I\'m comin\' after you before I die." she warned, hoping to distract attention from her initial reaction with the joke.
After a moment, she spoke again, "Now, excuse my ignorance, but I\'m new here," she explained, looking him up and down, "But -- is it shirtless O\'clock for everybody, or is this just a you thing?"