He cupped her face. “You’re not asking me. This is my decision.”
She opened her mouth again to argue and he gave her a hard look. “Who is in charge in this relationship?”
She gave him a disgruntled look.
“Well? Who makes the rules in this household?”
“You know you do. But I can have an opinion.”
He nodded. “As long as it’s said respectfully.”
“And my opinion is you shouldn’t give up what you love for me.”
“Okay.”
Okay. That was it? She couldn’t believe it was that easy. She eyed him suspiciously as he gave her a calm look. “So, you’re not giving Linc your job?”
“I was never giving him my job. I’m the owner. I was promoting him.”
“And now you’re not?” She was confused.
“No. He’s still getting a promotion. And I’m delegating some of my tasks to him so I can spend more time with you.”
“But you just agreed not to do that!” she pointed out.
“No, I didn’t.”
“But… but…” she thought back over their conversation. “You said okay.”
“I listened to your opinion. I didn’t agree with it. And I have the final say in any decision in this household.”
She scowled. “You’re extremely bossy.”
He snorted. “You already knew that. So, you got any other ridiculous arguments?”
“My argument was not ridiculous.” Okay, now he was just making her mad.
“It certainly was.”
“It was not Clinton Matthew Jensen.” She pointed her finger at him. “I don’t think you should give up the ranch work. It’s what you love doing.”
He leered. “I love doing you more.”
She groaned. “I walked right into that, didn’t I?”
He winked at her. “First of all, I am not giving it up, I’m rearranging my work load to free up some of my time. Second of all, there is one thing in this life I love above everything else. Including my ranch. Do you know what that is?”
There was a look in his eye that told her she better answer that question right. “Me.”
“You, little girl.”
“I don’t want you to resent me,” she whispered.
“And I don’t want you not to have what you need,” he countered. “How could I resent you when spending time with you is what I want too?”
Warmth started to fill her as his words penetrated. It was what he wanted.
“This decision is mine. Of course, you might get a bit more than you bargained for once you realize how much more closely I’ll be keeping an eye on you. You’ve been getting away with far too much naughtiness.”