Page 13 of A Forever Kind of Rancher

But she was also wounded. And she needed to be taken care of.

He couldn’t say he’d ever had experience with that, but if he was going to push the boat out on caregiving it was going to be now and it was going to be her.

“Did it really go down like they said?” Jace asked.

“It did,” he confirmed. “But if you see her around, don’t ask her about it.”

Cara snorted. “We aren’t feral.”

Jace gave her a long look. “Well...”

“Okay, but we do know how to behave and not hurt people’s feelings,” Cara said.

“I know,” Boone said. “But she’s not going to be here forever. I’ll talk to her more tomorrow about her plans.”

Because if there was one thing Boone was certain of, it was that no matter how much he might want it to be, this couldn’t be forever.

He might love her. He did love her.

But she was still married, and he didn’t have the first clue how to...

He’d never had a real relationship, and there was no way this would ever be what she needed.

She had kids.

He had a ranch, which was a step into adulthood, but he didn’t know how to do feelings and all that. It was one thing to carry a torch for a woman he couldn’t have.

He was good with not having her.

One thing he wouldn’t do was leave her uncared for.

He would make sure everything in her life was set to go just as she needed it to be, and then he’d let her go, because it would be the kindest thing.

She didn’t need another project.

He wouldn’t be the cause of any more pain for her.

If he was certain of anything in this world, it was that.

“She’s with you?”

He regretted answering his phone as he walked out of the bar.

“Yes,” said Boone. “And if I see you, I’ll run you right off my property.”

“What the hell, Boone? I thought we were friends.”

“And I thought you were a husband, but it turns out you’re just a little boy who can’t control his dick.”

“Boone... I’m sorry, I have to get her back. I royally screwed this up. I can’t live without her and the kids.”

The change in tone did nothing to sway Boone. Because he just didn’t care. He wondered if Wendy would, though. Daniel was the father of her kids and all that. Boone didn’t have kids, and the thought didn’t sway or soften him at all. But he figured that could be because it was a connection he didn’t especially get.

It maybe wasn’t up to him to decide that Daniel should never speak to Wendy again. But he wasn’t going to facilitate it, that was for damned sure.

“You should have thought of that before you cheated. Extensively, from what I understand.”

“It was separate to me,” he said. “I never thought of it interfering with what we had as long as she never knew. When I was home, I was always with her.”

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