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홈 / Romance / DON'T BEG ME NOW, MR. ARMSTRONG / 090

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090

작가: Jess
last update 게시일: 2026-04-29 20:04:15

~~Joan~~

A week later, I was seated across from Donald again.

Same restaurant.

Same carefully selected table tucked just far enough from the main crowd to allow privacy without drawing attention. The kind of place where conversations stayed low, controlled, and—most importantly—unnoticed. It had taken time to understand how men like him operated. Routine. Predictability. Comfort in repetition. And once I learned their patterns, it became almost effortless to meet them exactly where they were mo
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  • DON'T BEG ME NOW, MR. ARMSTRONG    106

    The reception felt like something out of a movie I would have sworn I’d never care about, not until I found myself standing in the middle of it with a glass in my hand and my attention nowhere near the laughter, the music, or the speeches going on around me. The church ceremony earlier that morning had been… beautiful. There wasn’t another word for it. Everything from the flowers lining the aisle to the way Julia had looked walking down it had felt almost unreal. I had caught myself smiling more times than I could count, and somewhere in the middle of it, my attention had drifted to Joan. I hadn’t meant for it to, but it did anyway. And I could have sworn I saw her discreetly wipe at her eyes at one point, like she didn’t want anyone to notice. The image stuck with me longer than the vows themselves. I made a quiet mental note to tell Victor about it. He would have liked that. Or at least pretended not to, in his usual way.Now, at the reception, the energy had shifted into something

  • DON'T BEG ME NOW, MR. ARMSTRONG    105

    The next morning did not come gently.It came with sound.Not soft, polite sounds like the distant hum of conversation or the clinking of cutlery from breakfast downstairs. No. It came loud, abrupt, and entirely inconsiderate of the fact that some people had gone to bed far too late and woken up far too early the day before. It came in the form of voices, footsteps, doors opening and closing down the hallway, and somewhere, unmistakably, laughter that felt just a little too bright for the hour.My eyes fluttered open slowly, reluctantly, my body heavy beneath the sheets as if sleep still had a firm grip on me and refused to let go. For a moment, I simply stared at the ceiling, unmoving, trying to gather myself and figure out where I was, because waking up somewhere unfamiliar always came with that brief, disorienting pause. Then it settled in. Miami. The hotel. The wedding.Brandon.That thought alone was enough to make my awareness sharpen, my gaze shifting slightly to the side witho

  • DON'T BEG ME NOW, MR. ARMSTRONG    104

    The rehearsal dinner started the way everything in Julia’s world seemed to start, which was with urgency disguised as enthusiasm.I had expected something structured, maybe even slightly formal. Instead, I found myself standing in the middle of a shifting crowd of relatives, event planners, and family friends, all being guided into a ballroom that had already been transformed into something soft and overly intentional. Flowers everywhere. Warm lighting that made everything look slightly unreal. Chairs arranged in a way that suggested more thought had gone into aesthetics than actual comfort.Brandon stayed close to me as we moved inside, not in a way that felt deliberate enough for anyone else to notice, but close enough that I noticed it.I did not say anything about it.Julia was everywhere at once. One moment she was correcting a seating chart, the next she was laughing with someone near the entrance, then suddenly she was beside me again, taking the card from my hand like she had

  • DON'T BEG ME NOW, MR. ARMSTRONG    103

    The next morning started faster than I expected it to.There was already movement in the hotel when I stepped out of the room, the kind of organized chaos that came with wedding preparations. Voices echoed faintly down the hallway, doors opening and closing, footsteps that never seemed to settle. I paused for a moment, adjusting to it, then slowly made my way toward the main area where breakfast had been arranged for the family.Brandon was already there.Of course he was.He sat at one of the longer tables, a cup in hand, speaking with someone I recognized from yesterday but could not immediately place. He looked calmer than he had any right to be after the night before, like nothing about bonfires, root beer, or late-night quiet conversations had followed him into the morning.His gaze lifted before I could fully decide whether to approach or retreat.It landed on me and stayed there.I hesitated for a fraction of a second too long before walking over.“Morning,” I said when I reach

  • DON'T BEG ME NOW, MR. ARMSTRONG    102

    ~~Joan~~We had walked for a few minutes in a comfortable silence, the kind that didn’t feel forced but still made me overly aware of everything around us. The night air was cooler here, carrying the faint smell of salt from the beach nearby, and the sound of distant laughter pulled my attention before I even saw where it was coming from.When we turned the corner, I saw it.A group of people had gathered around a bonfire on the sand, the flames flickering high enough to cast moving shadows across their faces. Music played softly from a speaker somewhere in the circle, mixing with laughter and the occasional shout. It looked… easy. Unstructured. Alive in a way I wasn’t used to stepping into.Brandon stopped beside me, his gaze landing on the fire before shifting to me. “Have you ever been in one before?” he asked.I shook my head immediately. “No.”That seemed to be enough for him.“Come on,” he said, already stepping forward.I followed him on instinct, only realizing a second later

  • DON'T BEG ME NOW, MR. ARMSTRONG    101

    ~~Brandon~~The lobby had slowly begun to fill up after Madden left, the quiet that had settled between Joan and me dissolving into something warmer, something louder, as more of my relatives trickled in one after the other. It started with a couple of cousins, then a few more, then friends of Julia’s fiancé who had already begun to feel like family by default, and before long, the space around us had turned into a loose circle of conversation and laughter. I leaned back into the couch, one arm draped over the backrest, watching it all unfold with a familiarity that should have grounded me completely, yet my attention kept drifting elsewhere, settling on Joan more often than not.She was seated just across from me at first, her posture composed, her hands resting lightly in her lap as she listened to one of Piper’s animated stories. There was a brief moment where I could see the hesitation in her, that subtle pause before she responded, like she was weighing every word before letting

  • DON'T BEG ME NOW, MR. ARMSTRONG    012

    But as soon as Brandon entered the room, he was up and running to him. "We're going to get ice cream! Come with us!" He ran back to me. "Mama, can Brandon come with us?!" I wanted to say no, but his eyes were so wide his lower lip jutted out, a look that was so irresistible, I found myself caving.

  • DON'T BEG ME NOW, MR. ARMSTRONG    010

    ~~Joan~~It was only mid-afternoon, but I was done for the day. That was one thing I enjoyed about being my own boss. I could leave whenever I wanted, and no one could question me. However, I wasn't just leaving because I felt like it, but because I intended to spend the day with Kai. His school

  • DON'T BEG ME NOW, MR. ARMSTRONG    047

    ~~Joan~~Brandon’s house didn’t look like he'd just moved in. That was the first thing I noticed when we entered. It was… put together. Well thought-out. Like every piece of furniture had been placed with intention instead of convenience... like he had plans for it to be an actual home where kids

  • DON'T BEG ME NOW, MR. ARMSTRONG    013

    BrandonI was halfway through a late lunch I hadn’t really wanted.My best friend, Caleb, was doing most of the talking. He always did. He owned three restaurants in the city and thought that qualified him to critique every other one within a ten–mile radius. I was getting tired of it, but I endu

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