Tame: Carter Kids #3 by Chloe Walsh

who I'd already had the pleasure of meeting.
    Beau Brady, the physiotherapist/ nutritional advisor.
    Tommy Moyet, head of PR.
    And then there was Lucky…
    I was actually really starting to warm to Lucky.
    Since we'd met, the guy had been nothing by fun and charming. Lucky put me at ease, unlike the other four men sitting around the table.
    I wasn't particularly fond of the four lettered swear word that started with C and ended with T, but I had a feeling that Beau Brady was definitely a C U Next Tuesday.
    Beau, I had quickly observed, was sly.
    It wasn't an attack on his character by stating this.
    It was merely a fact.
    He had these beady blue eyes that took everything in. I'd met men like Beau before – Ciarán O Reilly anyone? – and I knew that I was going to have to watch my back with that one.
    I could practically see the wheels of his brain moving as he watched me converse with Noah from across the table.
    He was taking my measure.
    In fact, I had a feeling he'd done that before ever meeting me in the flesh.
    Quincy, on the other hand, was the opposite of sly.
    He was a rude, obnoxious, loud-mouthed old perv with a penchant for the female form.
    In the time it had taken me to finish my cereal, I had observed no less than three circumstances where Quincy had overstepped the line with the teenage waitress serving us.
    I also found myself biting my tongue every time he reminded us that he was the original Machine – which was every spare chance he got.
    I wanted to scream, 'who the hell cares, old man? You're a washed-up fighter riding the coat tails of my boyfriend's success train. Shut your bloody mouth'.
    Lewis didn't speak a word throughout breakfast and after numerous attempts at trying to break the ice, I'd given up.
    I didn't think Lewis was being intentionally cold towards me. I got the feeling that he was a closed off kind of guy who took his life seriously and job even more serious.
    He observed the room in that subtle way only men who'd spent years in the force did.
    I felt oddly safe around him.
    The worst of them all, and the president of the I Hate Teagan Fan-club, was Tommy Moyet.
    Every time I made an attempt to speak to Tommy or make conversation with the other guys, he would either shoot me down or plain out ignore me like I wasn't sitting at the table.
    I was under no illusions about what Tommy and the men thought of me.
    His behavior at breakfast made it perfectly clear that he would tolerate me for Noah's sake, but he didn't trust me, and he liked me even less.
    In Tommy Moyet's mind, I was enemy number one.
    In my mind, Tommy was a grade-A dick.
    The others followed suit and I got the distinct feeling that I had been transported back in time to senior year of high school.
    Their distain was both obvious and embarrassing and I knew Noah noticed it too because he kept trying to draw me into conversations with the men.
    But the one thing I couldn't fault them on was their devotion to Noah.
    They all loved him.
    "…You might not care about your career anymore, but I do." Tommy's voice broke through my thoughts and I quickly turned my attention to where he was having a heated discussion with Noah.
    I watched Noah's jaw tick as he leaned back in his chair, obviously waiting for Tommy to explain.
    "The annual MFA benefit gala?" Tommy tossed his napkin on the table and let out a sigh. "It's tonight."
    "I know," Noah muttered, scratching his head. "I'm not going."
    "You're contractually bound to attend, Noah," Tommy replied dryly. "So yes, you are. And I've had your tux dry-cleaned and delivered to your suite." 
    "Tux?" I turned and gaped at Noah. "I didn't even know you guys had balls."
    "What?" Noah grinned widely. Ducking his face to my ear, he whispered, "What did you think was in your mouth this morning?"
    "That's not what I meant." I flushed bright red.
    I had aimed to slap his chest, but my traitorous hand decided to stay on the finely sculpted wall of muscle.
    "I was talking about dances and…oh