Colin Craig has told the High Court in Auckland his version of how press secretary Rachel MacGregor resigned.
Mr Craig claimed during a flight, Ms MacGregor told him she wanted to be more than a press secretary.
"I want to be with you, I want to be more than just your press secretary," he claims she said.
Mr Craig says Ms MacGregor told him she was having relationship difficulties with her boyfriend - and Mr Craig was the only person who really knew her.
"At that point it was as though someone had dropped a bucket of cold water over me," Mr Craig told the court.
He said he clearly recalled saying, "Not in my lifetime."
Ms MacGregor was quiet for the rest of the flight. Four days later she resigned, right before an interview he was due to have about her pay.
The former Conservative Party leader was on the stand Friday morning, giving the High Court in Auckland his version in the defamation case against him taken by Taxpayers' Union founder Jordan Williams.
Earlier Ms MacGregor had given evidence that he said he dreamed he slept on her legs both on the flight and in the car, on the way to the interview, and that she had grown annoyed with him.
She said she resigned when he refused to discuss the issue of her pay.
Under cross-examination Mr Craig acknowledged he was having his day in court, and that it was an exhausting experience, but he believed slowly but surely he was building up the case of what happened.
Mr Craig also acknowledged 12 breaches of his confidentiality agreement with Ms MacGregor after she reached an agreement with him at the Human Rights Review Tribunal, including the infamous sauna interview with TV3 where he mentioned that Ms MacGregor had been job-sharing.
Earlier on Friday, Mr Craig explained why curtains were put up in his office during the election campaign - and it wasn't to hide meetings with Ms MacGregor.
Mr Williams earlier said Mr Craig put curtains up for meetings with Ms MacGregor. But Mr Craig told the court three curtains were erected so that opponents couldn't see whiteboards containing election campaign strategy.
Mr Craig has also given his views on 20 emails between Whale Oil blogger Cameron Slater and Mr Williams, who was masquerading as "Concerned Conservative".
On one day at the height of the Conservative Party leadership crisis last year the pair shared 29 calls, texts or emails, and Slater wrote three blogs.
Mr Craig told the court he felt as though he was the target of a campaign, and that the campaign was orchestrated.
Mr Craig went on to deny that he ever sent a message about lying between Ms MacGregor's legs, or anything similar, as has been alleged.
"I sent no such message or any similar message."
He found 778 messages between himself and Ms MacGregor, 573 of which were recovered deleted messages.
Mr Craig also said allegations he refused to pay her for six months because she wouldn't sleep with him were untrue.
He also said that he never failed to pay her invoice. He also produced notes of hourly discussions of her pay rate.
Mr Craig however admitted the pair did kiss on election night 2011.
"An incident did occur. It was a bad mistake and I regret it. But it was certainly not non-consensual. That was a hugely damaging accusation."
He also denied there was a six-figure settlement of Ms MacGregor's sexual harassment claim. He paid her money owing and forgave her interest on the debt for a loan on compassionate grounds.
"I accepted that I sent affectionate texts, but the allegation I was bombarding her with unwanted messages is untrue," said Mr Craig.
"There was never any sense it was unwanted. If I had been told this or been given any signal I would have stopped."
He described how he decided he should respond with a leaflet called 'Dirty Politics'.
"I could not let things like this stand. I felt I needed to respond. I also wanted to stand up to the tactics used against me. I felt very strongly this is the way that politics should not be done."
He did not want to simply hold a news conference.
"The mainstream media twist what is said to suit what they wanted to write."
Mr Craig said the party had used leaflets before, and he twice read the book Dirty Politics by investigative journalist Nicky Hager, which included passages about interactions between Mr Williams and Slater.
The booklet identifies Mr Williams, Slater and board member John Stringer as the three "schemers" behind the campaign.
Mr Craig explained why he used a fictional 'Mr X' - to paraphrase discussions he had with confidential sources to whom he had given an undertaking not to identify.
"Mr X reflected the essence of the conversations I had with people who didn't want to be identified or feared for their safety."
Newshub.
