Obviously that hadn't been the answer she'd wanted. He wasn't all that good at being suggestive anyway. Maybe that was part of his problem.
He hoped he could make up for his failure with his answer to her question though, "Are you kidding? Mia, you're gorgeous." At least, he definitely thought so. And not just from the perspective of a guy. He definitely thought she was pretty--hot even--but from an artistic perspective she had great bone structure too. He couldn't help but admire that.