“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”
I glanced down at Morgan and raised a brow. “Finally?”
“Jarod was in the army with Mike. They were both in special forces. We’ve kept in touch since Mike’s passing, and when I wrote him last, I told him about you.”
Nodding, I said, “Special forces. I would think you were away a lot.”
“Yes, sir. More often than I cared for toward the end. I’m officially out of the army now, though. I had an interview with a job here in Austin, and I thought I would surprise Morgan.”
Morgan wrapped her arm around my waist, and that made me feel like the king of the world. Jarod didn’t even bat an eye at it.
“When did you get here?” she asked.
“Last night. I met up with some friends and hit a few clubs, had more fun than I wanted, and found myself with a pretty little thing in my hotel bed this morning.”
Morgan and I laughed.
“Listen, I know I dropped in unannounced. I wanted to surprise you. Let me take you guys out to dinner. It’s on me.”
“No, let us take you out,” I said. “What are you in the mood for?”
“Salt Lick,” Jarod and Morgan said at the same time.
“Jarod loves Salt Lick.”
He nodded in agreement. “If I get the job here, I’m moving next door to the joint.”
“That would be awesome if you moved here. Let me grab my purse and a jacket. Be right back.”
Morgan rushed into her bedroom, leaving me alone with Jarod. He gave me a polite smile.
“I’m glad she’s finally found happiness. You’ve got a gem there.”
“Thank you, she makes me even happier. And trust me, I know how lucky I am.”
Jarod shoved his hands in his pocket and glanced around the house.
“Looks like a cute place. Do you guys live together?”
“Sort of. Sometimes we stay at my place, sometimes here. I have a place downtown.”
That caught his attention. “Really? I’m looking at some places down there, I mean, it’s pricey, but I’ve stumbled across a few foreclosures. If I get this head of security job, I want to be close to downtown. It’ll be convenient, and I’d love to be close to the music scene, but man, it’s expensive.”
I agreed with a simple nod of my head.
“I’m ready! Let’s go.”
We spent the rest of the evening eating barbecue, drinking beer, and hearing Jarod tell tales of his time in the army. He didn’t really mention Mike very much at all, which I thought was strange, considering they’d been good enough friends for Jarod to stay in contact with Morgan after all these years.
Unless he is interested in Morgan as more than a friend.
I watched him closely. The way he touched her now and then. I hadn’t noticed it before, but now I couldn’t not notice it. He had squeezed her hand several times, too. Suddenly I got a weird feeling about the guy.
“So, Jarod, how is that you and Morgan stayed in touch all these years?”
They both turned to look at me. Jarod shrugged. “Through Mike, really. He and I were damn good friends. Tore me apart when he died. After Butch called and told me, I had to break to everyone . . .”
He broke off, his voice going silent.