She may be a sex symbol, but Mariah Carey says she’s a prude in real-life.

The R&B singer, who wears a skimpy swimsuit on next month’s Playboy cover, told the magazine she loves to flirt but guys wrongly assume that means she wants to have sex with them.

"I end up being very flirtatious, and people take it the wrong way,” she says. "I'm very much a prude. But I don't want to disappoint people."