Erica Spindler - Cause for Alarm

"We're going to have to stop," Kate said, dangling Emma's favorite rattle in front of her. Instead of batting at it as she usually did, she turned her head away, screwing her face up with frustration.

Kate met Luke's eyes in the rearview mirror. "Emma's had it. If we don't give her a little downtime, she's going to make our lives very uncomfortable."

As if on cue, the infant began to cry, her cries quickly escalating to earsplitting howls. Kate began to rock the car seat and sing softly, trying to calm the infant. It took a few moments, but it began to work. As Emma's cries lessened to whimpers, Kate slipped a pacifier into her daughter's mouth.

"How do you do it?" Julianna asked suddenly. "How do you put up with her and stay so…calm? I think I'd lose it."

"Because I love her," Kate said simply. "And because I'm her mother."

"Next exit," Luke announced, reading a sign, "two miles ahead. Food. Lodging. Gas. Sounds like just the ticket."

They made it to the exit and into the first motel without another crying jag from Emma. The motel, a very nice La Quinta Inn, had no two-bedroom suites available. So they booked a regular suite, complete with a bar and minifridge. Julianna offered to take the fold-out couch-Luke, Kate and Emma would take the bedroom.

The motel, Kate was delighted to learn, had an indoor pool, one that included a kiddie pool. They spent the late afternoon splashing in the water, laughing at Emma's antics and drinking frozen margaritas from the motel bar.

The hours out of the car did everyone good, especially Emma. The unhappy baby Kate had hardly recognized disappeared, replaced with the contented one Kate knew and loved so well. As for Kate, by the time evening rolled around, she was so relaxed she was practically liquid.

Kate curled up on one end of the couch, watching Luke play with Emma, Julianna on the other, watching a pay-per-view movie. Flat on his back on the floor, Luke lifted the infant high above him. As he did, she stiffened her arms and legs so both stuck straight out.

"Airplane baby," he said, making a motor sound and moving her forward and back until she squealed with laughter.

A tingling kind of warmth moved down Kate's spine and outward, all the way to the tips of her fingers and toes, enveloping her in a rosy-feeling glow. She smiled to herself. Did other women find something sexy about a man playing with a baby the way Luke was with Emma? Did they find all that strength and masculinity channeled into gentle, loving play as irresistible as she did?

She moved her gaze, taking in the way the muscles in his upper arms flexed as he lifted Emma up and down, noting the flatness of his abdomen and the dusting of golden hair across his tanned forearms, admiring, growing aroused.

Luke caught her gaping at him and grinned. "What?"

She hesitated, feeling an embarrassed flush stealing up her cheeks. "I'm just…happy."

"Happy?" he repeated, arching an eyebrow, still holding Emma above him. "Is that why your cheeks are so pink?"

She glanced at Julianna. The other woman seemed engrossed in her movie and oblivious to them. "Too much sun."

"Indoor pools have been known to-" Just then a fat dollop of Emma's saliva hit his nose and cheek. "Oh, man." He sat up, tucking Emma under one arm. "She slimed me."

Kate laughed, stood and crossed to the bathroom. "Her Grace, Princess of Drool. Actually, I'm starting to suspect she's more Saint Bernard pup than human baby." Kate grabbed a hand towel and tossed it to him. "Don't worry, though. It's just baby spit. Completely harmless."

"Easy for you to say." He wiped his face, then tossed the towel back.

"Sure you want to get rid of this? You may need it." She looked pointedly at him. Emma was blowing bubbles; they were dribbling down her chin and onto his shorts.

"Geez." He laughed. "Throw me that thing again."

Kate checked her watch. "Actually, it's getting close to her bedtime, I'd better get her into her pajamas and feed her. I bet she'll be sound asleep before she even finishes the bottle."

Kate was right, and by the time the adults called it quits for the night Emma had already been asleep for a couple of hours.

Luke helped Julianna unfold the couch, while Kate made certain the door was locked and chained. She propped the desk chair under the knob for extra security.

"Good night, Julianna," Luke said. "If you need anything, we're right here."

"Thanks." She looked hesitantly at Kate, opened her mouth as if to wish her good-night, then shut it without speaking.

Luke closed the door between the two rooms, leaving it open a crack so they could hear Julianna if there was trouble, then turned to Kate. "I'll make a bed up on the floor," he murmured, crossing to the closet and taking the spare blanket from the top shelf.

"Don't be silly," she said, holding out her arms for the blanket. "I'll sleep on the floor."

He frowned. "I'm not being silly. You're not sleeping on the floor. Period."

Kate placed her fists on her hips. "Look, you're doing most of the driving, you need your rest."

"You do, too."

"You're not going to budge on this, are you?"

"Nope."

She made a soft sound of frustration and threw up her hands. "This is stupid. The bed's a king. We'll share it." When he started to protest, she stopped him. "Don't you trust me not to make a pass?"

He gazed at her a moment. "It's not you who I don't trust. Can you live with that?"

"Of course," she said airily. "We're old friends."

"Of course we are."

She ignored his sarcasm and climbed in. Ten minutes later, Kate lay stiffly beside Luke, listening to his breathing, knowing sleep was as far out of his reach as it was hers. Knowing why.

Suddenly, unexpectedly, a giggle rose up in her throat. She tried to hold it back, but couldn't.

He turned his head. "What's so funny?"

"Us." She met his eyes. "A professional killer is after us and we're here worrying about who's going to sleep on the floor or if someone's going to make a pass." He smiled. "Are you? Worrying if I'm going to make a pass?"

Emma stirred in her crib, and Kate lowered her voice even more. "Worrying wasn't quite the right word. Wondering, maybe."

He turned more fully toward her. "And if I made the pass, would you receive it?"

She held his gaze. "I don't know. Maybe." She looked away, then back at him. "Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"You know that night back at Tulane, the one when we…made love?"

"I remember."

"I didn't use you. I didn't plan it." She reached out and laid her fingers against his lips. "I promise you I didn't."

He caught her fingers and curved his own around them. "I know. I was hurt. Disappointed."

"I'm sorry."

"It's in the past."

"Is it?" She searched his gaze. "I know how some hurts are. They never quite heal."

"For a long time it was like that. It's healing now, Kate."

He released her hand, and she drew it away. "I made a lot of mistakes back then. Did some stupid things." She sighed, remembering. "You were right, what you said that day, after your book signing. Not just what you said about Richard, but about me as well. About why I married him."

"Why did you marry him, Kate?"

"Because I loved him." At Luke's expression, she shook her head. "I did, but not for the right reasons. I didn't see it then, but I loved Richard because he made me feel safe. And secure and cared for."

"And I didn't?"

"Not hardly." A smile tugged at her mouth. "You made me feel out of control. Uncertain. Of the future, what it would hold." She turned her gaze to the ceiling, remembering. "You made me feel like I could do anything, if only I'd try. If I would just go for it."

"I always believed in you, Kate. I still do."

Tears flooded her eyes. In all their years together, Richard had never said that to her. "That's just it. It wasn't you, Luke. I believed in you. In your strength and character. In your talent. It was me who I didn't believe in."