I (M27) met a nice girl (M26) but we're clearly not aligned on important topics and I don't know what to do.

Hello, I’ll try to explain the situation, I’m a bit unsure what to do.

A while ago I met a girl in a bar. We clicked, I got her number (thanks to a bit of liquid courage) and texted her. The conversation was really easy and natural, no pressure, so we ended up going on a date.

The date went well. Good vibe, good chemistry, definitely some attraction. But at the same time I realized pretty quickly that we’re not aligned on important things not small stuff, but real life topics like wanting kids, religion, career mindset, where to live, family values, etc.

It threw me off a bit because I was in a long relationship (7 years) that ended partly for those exact reasons. Back then I thought those differences would work themselves out over time, but they didn’t.

Anyway, we still went back to my place after the date, and yeah… we also got along very well physically.

Now I feel a bit torn. I don’t see myself being in a relationship with her at all, but I would like to see her again in a more casual way because we do get along, we laugh a lot, have things in common, and the chemistry is there. She even suggested I come over again soon.

But I don’t want to be unclear or hurt her, and definitely not ghost her, especially since I think she’s really cool.

So I’m wondering, how would you prefer someone to say it in this situation? Very direct or more gentle? Is suggesting something casual okay, or is that already a bad start?