It would be the best thing for both of them if he kissed her and he felt nothing… absolutely nothing.

He should kiss her and find out.

Kiss her and be done with this foolishness.

They weren’t meant for each other. Troy didn’t do long distance relationships. Troy didn’t ever intend to live in Montana again.

“You didn’t have chemistry with Jane?” Taylor asked quietly.

“No.”

She fidgeted with the small ceramic saucer. “How did you know?”

“Because when I kissed her I felt…” He shook his head, not wanting to go there, not wanting to expose Jane but he felt caught, trapped. The villain and blackheart.

“Yes?” Taylor prompted, her voice but a whisper.

“Like her cousin or brother.” He hated saying all of this aloud. He wanted to protect Jane then, and now. “She’s smart and witty and perfect… for someone else, that isn’t me.”

He drew a deep breath, feeling awful. He’d disliked breaking the news to Jane eighteen months ago, and didn’t enjoy revisiting the topic now. “I ended it quickly with her. Perhaps that was the most hurtful part. We had a great date the Saturday night before, and she was expecting another great date, but instead over dinner I told her that although I cared for her, it wasn’t going to work. Would it have been easier by text or email or voice mail? Yes. But it wouldn’t have been fair to her. I don’t lead women on. It’s never been my style.”

For a long moment Taylor studied him, her fine arched brows pulled in concentration. “So you could just be friends with me?”

“Absolutely.”

He saw relief in her eyes. And then he ruined it all by adding, “As long as I didn’t physically desire you.”

Her brows shot up. Her shoulders squared. “You wouldn’t desire me.”

“No?”

“No. I’m not your type, and you’re not my type—”

“What is your type?”

She gestured a hand in his general direction. “None of this.”

He should be insulted. Instead he nearly choked on smothered laughter. “Why not?”

“Because we’re total opposites. We’re oil and water. We’re salt and pepper—”

“And yet all those things go so well together.”

She glared at him even as her cheeks glowed pink, a dark luscious pink that made her eyes shine and her lips look positively edible. “We won’t go together. We won’t… click.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“I can feel it.”

And yet her eyes were very bright and that little pulse at the base of her throat was beating wildly. Erratically. She was very aware of him, and very much engaged in the moment. And Taylor might not admit it, might not even know it, but she was as curious about him as he was about her.

And he was very curious about her right now.