The First Word by Isley Robson

Author:Isley Robson [Robson, Isley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781503943674
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Published: 2017-06-01T07:00:00+00:00

“Do you have a minute?” Tom poked his head around Rhys’s office doorway. Rhys had been staring, unseeing, at his screen saver as it etched fiery trails across a field of black on his monitor, his mind full of blueprints and hypotheses.

“What’s up?” Rhys had spent so long in brooding solitude lately that his own voice surprised him. It sounded like it came from the bottom of a well.

“You want the truth?” Tom seated himself in his usual chair facing Rhys’s chaotic desk, where sketches and formulas had recently sprouted on pieces of scrap paper.

The one silver lining to this whole Andie catastrophe was that it had forced Rhys to take refuge in invention. “I feel certain you’re about to give it to me,” he responded drily.

“Allison sent me an emergency text to warn me you’re wearing your holey shirts again.”

Rhys looked down at his plaid sleeves almost in surprise, noticing the frayed cuffs and threadbare elbows. His administrative assistant, Allison, knew him too well. Whenever he was in crisis, he would automatically reach for one of his softest, most well-worn shirts. Like Will with his security blanket or his trains.

“So? I’ve had nothing but internal meetings this week. Does it matter?”

“Not in a business sense, no,” Tom conceded. “I’m talking on a personal level here.” He surveyed his friend. “What’s going on with you?”

Rhys ran a restless hand through his hair and fixed him with a weary gaze. “I’m fine.”

“How are things at home?”

“Funny you should ask.” Rhys laughed mirthlessly. “I actually wouldn’t know. I was getting in the way, so I took myself out of the equation.” He snatched up a squeeze ball that sat on his desk and lobbed it through an executive basketball hoop in the corner.

Tom’s eyebrows rose. “What happened? Last I heard, things were going great. I’ve seen for myself that Andie’s a freaking miracle.”

“Yeah, she is,” Rhys agreed. “I figured I should step back and let her do her thing. Stop putting my foot in it.” He paused and added grimly, “Or hand.”

“O-kay.” Tom whistled. “I won’t ask what that’s about.”

“It’s about me,” Rhys fumed. “It’s about the fact that Andie’s the best thing to come into my life—and Will’s—in fucking . . . ever, and here am I, blundering around with my usual Night of the Living Dead clueless Aspie act, screwing things up.”

“Yeah, you’re such a terrible person,” Tom said with a deadpan expression. “Give Andie a bit of credit here for a minute. My guess is she can probably handle you.”

“Thanks a lot, asshole.” Rhys bridled. “You think her training with special-needs kids might just qualify her to deal with me?”

“Oh, give me a break!” Tom collapsed in helpless laughter. “This from the millionaire PhD with the Elvis charisma, who has to beat women off with a stick every time he steps out in public. My heart bleeds!”

Rhys shot him an incendiary look and then went back to staring at his monitor. Tom, still stifling chuckles, sat back to let his words sink in.

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