Mass Effect 2 squadmate Jacob Taylor is the first person Commander Shepard encounters in the Cerberus facility after waking from reconstruction during the Lazarus Project. As the pair fight through the LOKI mechs, Shepard obviously has questions, and Jacob promises to answer them as soon as possible, but that moment is a subtle precursor to Jacob's personality. He has been through a lot in his life, and while he has a lot in common with Shepard, he is not one to put his cards on the table. He needs to feel confident in Shepard's intentions and leadership; otherwise, he will never open up.
His potential romance with FemShep is a slow burn to a fiery night of passion, but getting that fire going is all up to Shepard. Jacob never even considers Shepard a romantic option for a lot of reasons. She's his commanding officer, and she's out of his league, but Shepard can definitely take their relationship to the next level if she plays her cards right.
Jacob comes across like he's not really one to mix business with pleasure, but that's not entirely true. He and fellow Cerberus team member Miranda Lawson once had a steamy affair, but it didn't last because Jacob realized he wasn't what Miranda really needed. After their breakup, they managed to maintain their work dynamic and actually share a pretty close bond. Miranda looks out for Jacob's best interest, and she's actually the one that sheds light on his missing father's location.
His father is a huge part of his focus early on. The man up and disappeared when Jacob was young, so he has a lot of personal issues and insecurity surrounding that event in his life. Without a resolution to his father's disappearance, he can't focus on anything else, including Shepard, so it's important to pay attention to helping him gain the resolution he needs to move on with his life.
To get Jacob to open up and relax a little in Shepard's company, it's important to earn his loyalty. When unexpected information comes to him from a mysterious source (named Miranda) about the MSV Hugo Gernsback, where Jacob's father served ten years earlier, he asks Shepard to help him investigate in the hopes he will finally get some answers about his father's disappearance. Regardless of how the mission turns out, Jacob can shift his focus to the mission at hand and Shepard's advances.
As they share conversations, Shepard can open up to him about her loneliness, as most of her former team are scattered throughout the galaxy and have moved on with their lives. She also elaborates on her guilt for the losses her journey has provoked along the way. Jacob offers comfort and reassurance, pointing out that without her guilt, she would become like the Illusive Man, who feels guilty for none of his misdeeds anymore.
Before entering the Omega 4 Relay, Jacob comes to Shepard's cabin, despite the risk of breaking protocol. A renegade Shepard can get Jacob to admit that he's fallen in love with her, breaking down the final barriers between them, but no matter how much he loves her at that moment, it's not going to last.
After the Normand SR-2 team disbanded and Shepard was imprisoned by the Alliance for questioning, the rest of the squad went their separate ways. While Shepard, no doubt, sat in her cell thinking about getting back to Jacob again before the Reapers wiped out everything, Jacob was off starting a new life and family with someone else. When Shepard discovers his relationship with an ex-Cerberus scientist, Brynn Cole, Jacob immediately goes on the defensive, asking her if she expected him to wait for her forever.
When Shepard talks to Brynn, she discovers from his new love interest that Jacob is still in love with Shepard, but nothing ever comes out of it. They can get together at Huerta Memorial Hospital to talk again after Shepard rescues Jacob's people, and he will even confess that he will be a father soon. During the Citadel DLC, he and Shepard can meet up at the arcade and discuss their relationship. Shepard can be confrontational about his betrayal, even slapping him, or diplomatic and accepting his need to move on without knowing what their future held.
It was never meant to last, and though he definitely still cares for Shepard, he knows in his heart he is more like his father than he ever thought, which is heartbreaking, considering how much damage his father did to him as a boy.
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