Trouble

Trouble Plot Summary

Introduction

In the shadowed halls of Charleston's most exclusive antique auction house, Spencer Carrollton moves like a predator among treasures. Cold, calculating, and devastatingly handsome, he's built walls around his heart as impenetrable as the mansion he calls home. His rule is simple: never sleep with the same woman twice. Love is a weakness he cannot afford. Then Joselyn Winthrop crashes into his carefully ordered world. A fiery redhead with artist's hands and a witch's smile, she creates beauty from flowers and chaos from his self-control. When their eyes meet across a crowded wedding reception, the air crackles with electricity neither can deny. She kisses him under the moonlight, then vanishes like smoke, leaving him hungry for more. But Spencer Carrollton always gets what he wants, and what he wants is her—consequences be damned.

Chapter 1: Sparks in the Garden: A Forbidden Kiss

The collision happens in slow motion. Joselyn leans too close to her towering floral sculpture, a Disney-inspired Tinkerbell made of green roses and trailing vines. Her auburn hair catches in an outstretched fairy hand, and as she jerks back, the entire creation threatens to topple. Wine flies through the air in a graceful arc. Strong arms catch her before disaster strikes. The scent of sandalwood and leather surrounds her as she finds herself pressed against an expensive charcoal suit. Above her, hazel eyes burn with something between amusement and hunger. Spencer Carrollton. She recognizes him from her cousin Daisy's antique shop, the infamous Mr. Freeze who treats emotions like inconvenient paperwork. His reputation precedes him—brilliant, ruthless, and devastatingly attractive to women who mistake his coldness for mystery. "You watered your garden," he observes, his voice carrying that aristocratic clip that makes her want to either slap him or kiss him. "I got caught," she manages, hyper-aware of his hands still steadying her. Their banter flows like aged whiskey, sharp and intoxicating. He compliments her artistry with genuine appreciation, studying the tropical flowers she's woven into fairy tale magic. She mocks his encyclopedic speech patterns until his eyes flash with dangerous fire. On the moonlit balcony, with salt air stirring her hair, the tension finally snaps. She reaches for him first, threading her fingers through the dark waves at his collar. His lips are softer than expected, but his kiss is pure dominance—consuming, possessive, leaving her breathless and wanting. His hands map her body through silk, one palm flat against her back, the other tilting her face to the perfect angle. When he breaks away to speak against her ear, his words are molten promise: "I have a room in this hotel. Let me fuck you all night." The crude honesty should offend her. Instead, it sets her blood on fire. But reality crashes back—she has a boyfriend waiting at home. She pulls away, leaving Spencer standing alone in the moonlight, watching her retreat with eyes full of unfulfilled hunger.

Chapter 2: Professional Boundaries Blur: The Gala Commission

Weeks pass before she sees him again. Joselyn tries to forget that kiss, focuses on her massage therapy practice and her toxic relationship with Elliot. But when Daisy calls with a job opportunity, fate intervenes. Miles Klaut, Spencer's business partner, needs elaborate floral arrangements for an exclusive gala. The money is too good to refuse, even if it means working with the man who haunts her dreams. In the sterile conference room of Antiques Today, Spencer watches her with laser focus. He's perfectly pressed as always, dark hair artfully disheveled, wearing authority like a second skin. When she explains her vision for the event, his attention never wavers from her face. The project demands collaboration. They meet at suppliers, debate flower choices, argue over artistic direction. Every interaction crackles with unresolved tension. He's demanding, perfectionist, insufferably arrogant. She challenges him at every turn, refusing to be intimidated by his glacial demeanor. During a heated discussion about table arrangements, he steps too close. His cologne mingles with the scent of fresh roses. When he reaches past her to examine a sample, his chest brushes her shoulder. The simple contact sends electricity racing down her spine. "You're very talented," he says quietly, his breath stirring the hair at her temple. The compliment, delivered in his cultured voice, affects her more than it should. Professional boundaries blur as attraction builds like pressure in a sealed vessel, ready to explode. By week's end, the gala preparations are complete. But the real event will be their collision course with desire, where Spencer's iron control meets Joselyn's wildfire spirit.

Chapter 3: Ice Walls and Burning Desire: Breaking the Rules

The confrontation begins over martinis at Nightcaps, Charleston's most exclusive bar. Spencer orders for both of them, his presumption grating against her independent spirit. The drinks are perfect—ice cold, precise vermouth, just enough olive brine. "You're supposed to savor it," he instructs when she downs half the glass. "Don't boss me around," she fires back, but her eyes are already glazed from the alcohol. Their conversation dances around the attraction neither will acknowledge. He speaks of honesty and control. She accuses him of being afraid to feel. The air between them grows thick with unspoken desire. At his brownstone overlooking the river, expensive wine loosens her tongue while his presence intoxicates her more than alcohol ever could. The house reflects its owner—elegant, cold, everything precisely in its place. No photographs, no personal touches, just beautiful objects displayed like museum pieces. When she finally surrenders to the inevitable, it's with characteristic boldness. She removes his shirt button by careful button, her lips following the path of her fingers down his chest. His restraint snaps like a wire pulled too tight. He takes her against the wall first, her silk dress bunched around her waist, his mouth consuming her protests and turning them to moans. Ice cubes from his drink become instruments of exquisite torture, the cold followed by the heat of his tongue until she's trembling on the edge of madness. In his navy-sheeted bed, he worships her body with single-minded intensity. She's all curves and soft skin, responding to his touch like she was made for his hands alone. When she rides him in the lamplight, her fire-colored hair cascading around them both, he glimpses something beyond mere physical satisfaction. For the first time in years, Spencer Carrollton breaks his own rule. But by morning, old habits reassert themselves. The ice walls snap back into place, leaving Joselyn to wonder if the tenderness she saw was real or just another beautiful illusion.

Chapter 4: Unexpected Protector: Seeking Sanctuary

Joselyn arrives at their next session with a purple bruise marring her cheek and fear shadowing her blue eyes. The sight hits Spencer like a physical blow, rage erupting from depths he'd forgotten existed. Her friend Courtney is trapped in an abusive marriage. The ex-husband, Ozzy, has escalated from threats to violence, luring Joselyn to a fake appointment and chasing her through an empty office building like prey. She escaped with only bruises, but the message was clear—no one who helps Courtney is safe. Spencer's response is swift and absolute. Within hours, he's moved Joselyn, Courtney, and seven-year-old Oliver into his mansion. Professional security guards patrol the grounds. The house fills with laughter and chaos—a seven-year-old's energy, his pet tree frog, impromptu football games in the ballroom. Watching Spencer interact with Oliver reveals layers beneath his polished exterior. He answers the boy's endless questions with patience, teaches him about the antiques filling their temporary home. When Oliver worries about growing up to be like his abusive father, Spencer speaks with quiet understanding about breaking cycles and choosing to be better. The domestic intimacy terrifies Spencer more than any boardroom battle. Joselyn moves through his space like she belongs there, arguing with Oliver about his creepy pet, laughing at dinner, bringing warmth to rooms that have been cold for decades. When she falls asleep curled against him after another passionate night, something in his chest cracks open. He's falling, and falling has never been part of Spencer Carrollton's carefully controlled existence. The realization sends him into full retreat, emotional walls slamming back into place with devastating efficiency.

Chapter 5: Scars Revealed: Confronting the Past

The night everything changes begins with wine and confession. Joselyn finds Spencer alone in his study, shadows playing across his aristocratic features. The question she's carried for weeks finally breaks free: why does he understand Oliver's pain so intimately? His answer comes in measured tones, like reading from a case file. His father was an abuser who beat his mother until the police finally intervened. Spencer was seven when they took him away—Oliver's age. But rescue led only to a different kind of prison. Drake Carrollton was no savior. The antique dealer adopted Spencer like acquiring another prize, raising him in isolated splendor surrounded by priceless objects but starved of human warmth. Love was weakness. Connection was vulnerability. Only things endured—cold, beautiful, safely controllable things. As he speaks, Spencer unconsciously touches his shoulder where an old scar lies hidden beneath expensive fabric. Joselyn has noticed it before, wondered at its origin. Now she understands it's a roadmap to his emotional fortress, the place where a terrified child learned that caring meant suffering. "My father was an abuser, which means I'll likely be one too," he states with clinical detachment. "I don't know if that capability is in me, but I'm not willing to find out." Her heart breaks for the boy who built walls to survive, then grew into a man who can't tear them down. She tries to reach him, speaks of thoughts versus actions, of the gentleness she's witnessed. But Spencer Carrollton has spent three decades perfecting his defenses. When morning comes, he's gone. No goodbye, no explanation, just empty space where warmth used to be. Joselyn stares at the cold sheets and finally understands the true meaning of his nickname. Mr. Freeze doesn't just describe his demeanor—it's his defense mechanism, flash-freezing anything that threatens to matter.

Chapter 6: The Silent Departure: Testing Trust

Spencer vanishes for a week, leaving only his security team to protect the women who've invaded his sanctuary. Tom, their imposing bodyguard, delivers news of his employer's movements with military efficiency: business trip to Boston, return date uncertain. Joselyn tells herself she doesn't care. She focuses on Oliver's homeschooling, helps Courtney prepare for legal proceedings, starts building her massage therapy practice from their borrowed bedrooms. But his absence echoes through every room, a Spencer-shaped hole in their temporary happiness. The truth cuts deeper than abandonment. He left the morning after their most intimate conversation, after she'd seen past his masks to the wounded boy beneath. Every kindness—the rescue, the protection, the safe harbor—now feels calculated rather than caring. Was she just another acquisition to be catalogued and controlled? When Oliver asks about "Mr. Spencer," his seven-year-old confusion mirrors her own. Adults don't simply disappear without explanation. But Spencer isn't like other adults. He's a master of emotional sleight-of-hand, making people believe in connection while maintaining perfect isolation. Courtney, dealing with her own crisis, offers hard-won wisdom about men who save you then punish you for needing saving. But even she's puzzled by Spencer's contradiction—the genuine care he showed Oliver, the fury in his eyes when he saw Joselyn's bruises, the way he held her like she was precious rather than disposable. The week stretches endlessly. Joselyn catches herself listening for his key in the lock, his footsteps on polished floors. She hates the hope that flutters in her chest each time a car turns into the drive. Loving Spencer Carrollton feels like loving winter itself—brief moments of beauty followed by endless cold. When he finally returns, sliding back into his own house like a guest, the distance between them feels wider than the continent he crossed. He's polite, solicitous of their comfort, completely untouchable. The walls are higher now, reinforced with fresh concrete and razor wire.

Chapter 7: Return and Redemption: Choosing Love

The courtroom showdown arrives like a storm breaking. Courtney faces murder charges for killing her abusive ex-husband in what prosecutors claim was premeditated revenge. The evidence looks damning—she bought the gun specifically for protection against Ozzy, met him armed despite his history of violence. Just when the judge seems ready to deny bail and order trial, the courtroom doors crash open. Spencer strides down the aisle like an avenging angel in an Armani suit, carrying a manila envelope that will change everything. His private investigator uncovered the truth Ozzy's death concealed. The meeting was a trap. Ozzy had hired accomplices to kidnap Courtney, transport her to a secondary location where she would simply disappear. His confederate, faced with conspiracy charges, confessed everything in exchange for a reduced sentence. In minutes, Spencer dismantles the prosecution's case. Murder becomes self-defense. Courtney walks free, charges dismissed, record expunged. He orchestrates it all with the precision of a master conductor, every move calculated for maximum effect. But when Joselyn tries to thank him, Spencer retreats behind professional courtesy. He offers drinks to celebrate, suggests they maintain their working relationship, speaks as if the nights in his bed were business transactions rather than emotional earthquakes. Her response cuts through his defenses like a blade through silk. She tells him she loves him, wants to show him what real love looks like. But love requires vulnerability, and vulnerability is the one risk Spencer Carrollton won't take. Walking away from him in that courthouse hallway feels like tearing out her own heart. She's offered him everything and been refused with the politeness of a man declining an unwanted business proposal. Some walls, she realizes, can only be torn down from the inside. Yet even as she leaves, part of her refuses to give up hope. The man who saved Courtney, who comforted Oliver, who held her like she was his salvation—that man exists beneath the ice. Whether he's strong enough to fight his way to the surface remains to be seen.

Summary

In the end, Spencer must choose between the safety of his emotional fortress and the terrifying beauty of connection. His journey from the courthouse to Joselyn's childhood hometown becomes a pilgrimage through his own buried pain. He confronts his biological father in prison, visits his adoptive father's grave, and finally admits the truth: his carefully constructed rules aren't protection—they're prison bars he's built around his own heart. Love, he discovers, isn't about controlling outcomes or managing risks. It's about choosing someone again and again, even when—especially when—they have the power to destroy you. When he finds Joselyn on that small-town bridge where Spanish moss whispers secrets to the wind, he doesn't come with guarantees or promises of perfection. He comes with honesty, vulnerability, and a jade ring that represents not ownership but partnership. Their kiss tastes like redemption, like ice finally melting into something warm and alive. In choosing love, Spencer doesn't lose his strength—he discovers what strength really means.

About Author

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Tia Louise

Louise navigates the intricate world of contemporary romance, using her stories to explore the intersections of emotional depth and sensuality. Her work often delves into the lives of characters dealing with second chances, military backgrounds, and single parenthood, creating relatable narratives that resonate deeply with readers. This approach is exemplified in novels such as "One to Hold", where the themes of love and personal redemption are intricately woven into the storyline, offering readers both escapism and a reflection of real-life challenges.\n\nHer "spicy-sweet" style not only defines her narrative voice but also distinguishes her in the romance genre. By blending heartfelt emotional arcs with a touch of suspense, Louise builds engaging plots that captivate audiences. Her background as a journalist and editor has equipped her with a keen understanding of narrative structure and character development, which enhances the authenticity of her storytelling. For instance, in her "Bright Lights" series, the juxtaposition of small-town life with broader romantic adventures provides a vivid backdrop that appeals to a wide range of readers seeking both excitement and warmth in their reading experiences.\n\nThe impact of Louise’s work extends beyond mere entertainment, offering insights into human relationships and the power of love to transform lives. Her books, recognized as USA Today bestsellers, have received acclaim for their contribution to the genre, while her personal experiences enrich her narratives with genuine emotion. This short bio highlights how Louise's commitment to crafting nuanced romance narratives offers readers not just stories, but an exploration of themes that encourage reflection and emotional engagement.

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