It seems like men and women often have hard times understanding each other. Men often take the politeness of women as a type of flirt, while women do the opposite. This is known as sexual misinterpretation, and it's very common across the globe.
There are theories suggesting that this could be a trait acquired over evolution, in that men have a desire not to miss out on a single opportunity to reproduce. This is known as Error Management Theory and it's a natural phenomenon that our bodies' hormones take advantage of to try and keep our species going.
Although men are known to over-perceive sexual interest in them, women are hard-wired to under-perceive sexual interest, which may explain why women often play hard-to-get in these situations.