Chapter 56 Australia
CHAPTER 56: AUSTRALIA
JACE
“ G ood morning, pixie.” I place a soft kiss on Lacey’s shoulder.
“What time is it?” she grumbles, pulling the covers over her head.
“Come on. Let’s get up and get some breakfast.” I tickle her sides. She tries to fight against me, but she finally gives in and fills the room with the sound of her laughter. “I could wake up like this everyday,” I say.
She pulls the comforter down revealing her sleepy face and messy hair. “How are you so full of energy after last night?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. What happened last night?” I smirk, grabbing her and pulling her on top of me. She sits up, straddling my waist.
“Let’s see.” She rolls her eyes. “If I remember correctly, we had mind blowing sex, you told me you loved me, we fell asleep, and then I’m pretty sure you woke me up a few hours later and made me come a fourth and then a fifth time.”
“You weren’t complaining last night,” I tease. She bends down and presses a chaste kiss to my lips. “And I do love you.”
“I love you, too, but you’re insufferable,” she teases, stretching her arms above her head and yawning. She rolls off the top of me and begins walking toward the bathroom. I grab her wrist, stopping her. “Come back to bed with me, pixie.”
She shakes her head. “I need to pee and I want a shower. Give me five and then come join me.”
She walks across the carpeted floor and disappears into the bathroom. After a few minutes, I knock on the door. “Can I come in?” I ask.
She flips the door open, a sexy smile across her face. “Only if you promise to be good.”
I pull her towards me, wrapping her in a hug. I lean down, so my mouth is up against her ear. “I promise to be very very—” I begin, but I’m cut off by my phone ringing from outside the bathroom.
“Shit.”
“Go,” she urges. “It could be important. I’ll be waiting for you.” She winks, starting the shower.
I turn to walk out back towards my phone, adjusting myself in my underwear. I grab it and swipe up on the screen.
“Eli,” I answer through gritted teeth. “It’s Sunday.”
“Jacks,” she says. “I got a lot of people asking me about Australia and no one including me has heard from you. What’s going on?”
“I know. I’m sorry,” I begin. “I’ve been meaning to reach out, but I’ve been busy.”
“So, are you in?”
“Actually, no.”
“You’re kidding?”
“I’m not. Things have changed and while Australia sounds like an amazing opportunity and I’d love to do it, I can’t. My life’s here.”
“What do you mean your life is there? They really want you on the team. This could be huge.”
“I know,” I sigh. “It’s not that I don’t want to do it and I know I should have told you sooner.” I pick my words carefully. I haven’t told anyone about getting the job and I want Lacey to be the first to know. “This summer things changed. Lacey and I are back together. I want to be here, not halfway across the world.”
“I understand and I’m happy for you. Disappointed, but happy for you. I’ll let Ryan know we need to find someone else.”
“I’ll touch base with him this week and explain.” I pause. “Maybe the next one if it’s closer and I have time.”
“Sure,” she says. “I’ll let you get back to your Sunday.”
The line drops, and I flip around to see Lacey standing against the bathroom door frame, staring at me with her mouth slightly open.
“I thought we were grabbing a shower.” I grin. My face falls when I realize I don’t hear the water running anymore.
“No.” She shakes her head. “I think we should talk.”
“Talk? Everything okay?” Those five words make my stomach flip. Needing to talk is never a good thing. Is it?
“What’s in Australia?” she asks, walking over and grabbing one of my shirts out of my bag. She pulls it over her head and then climbs on to the bed.
“A job. Can you explain to me what’s going on?” I ask, confused. “Are you mad? You’re worrying me.” I keep my voice level, trying to process the sudden change in her mood.
“No, no,” she says. “I’m not mad, but I overheard your call. I wasn’t trying to be nosey, but I walked out to get my brush and I heard you mention my name.”
“I was telling Eli that you and I were back together, that’s all.”
“That’s not all, Jace. We said we were going to talk about things, so I think if you have an opportunity to go to Australia for work, we should talk about it.”
I walk over and sit next to her. “You’re right.” I smooth my hand over her hair. “I should have brought it up before now. I’ve been trying to find the right time to tell you.”
“Tell me what?”
“I accepted a job with the Center for North American Wildlife Conservation in Atlanta.”
“You accepted a job? Here?” A look that resembles relief covers her face.
“I did. I’ll be the director of photojournalism. It’s a lot less travel, more management. It’ll allow me to be near you and my dad.”
She sits there listening to me intently. “Okay, but why wait to tell me then? Why not turn down Australia once you knew you had the job?”
“I don’t know,” I answer honestly. “For starters, I saw this conversation going a little differently. Like maybe telling you over dinner or something special.”
“And the Australia conversation?”
“I just hadn’t done it yet.”
She nods. “What’s the job in Australia?”
“Six months or more photographing the Great Barrier Reef and studying the wildlife around it.”
“And you don’t want to do that? That sounds like a phenomenal opportunity.”
“It does, but I got the job here in Atlanta. You’re here. My dad’s here. Tanner is here.”
“You don’t care where Tanner is.” She laughs. “But you hadn’t turned it down until a few minutes ago. I know you, Jace. Your job, discovering the Bix, traveling the world, that’s your dream job. I think you hadn’t turned it down because part of you wanted to accept it.”
I run my hands down my face.
“I’m right, aren’t I?”
“You’re not wrong. Australia is a cool opportunity, but?—”
“Okay, so why not go? Why not take her up on it?”
I move closer to her and pull her into my lap. “For so many reasons, pixie.”
“Well, I think you should think about it. Really consider it. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be here waiting and supporting you no matter what you decide. I meant what I said last night. I love you.”
“I love you too.” My lips brush hers and she pulls away.
“I know and that’s not going to change because you take a job halfway across the world. I don’t want you to give up your dreams because you’re scared I’ll run away again. I’ve loved you for as long as I can remember. Even when I thought you broke my heart, I loved you. If this is something you even want to do a little bit, then I want you to seriously consider it. Take me out of it. We can make it work. We can figure it out. We’re not kids anymore.”
“It’s not just you. It’s Dad too.”
“What do you mean?”
“I wasn’t here when she died, Lacey. I did what I wanted to do. I found the Bix. What if something happens to him or you and I’m not here?”
She runs her hands through my hair and looks me in the eyes. “I know losing Annie was hard and I know you’ve held that guilt for a long time, but she wouldn’t want you to and he wouldn’t want you to either. This job sounds like a really big deal. You need to take everyone else out of the equation. Really think about what you want.”
“Okay, I will.” I agree, knowing that nothing I could say in this hotel room would convince her that this is not what I want. I need to show her. I lean forward and press my lips to hers.
“You promise?” She holds her pinky up toward me.
“I promise.” I wrap mine around hers and pull her in for another kiss. “So, about that shower?”
She laughs and leads me to the bathroom.