You're the One That I Want by Susan May Warren Page A

figuring out how to be a father? Huh? How about that?”
    Time stopped. Along with Owen’s heartbeat. His breath.
    And then Scotty’s hand slid out of his.
    Owen wanted to reach for it, pull it back, but she clasped her arms around her middle, a frown dissecting her forehead, eyes just a little wounded.
    “Scotty . . .” He turned to Casper. “What are you talking about?”
    Casper had that dark expression   —the one he’d worn at Eden’s wedding   —and for a wild second Owen wanted to push the call button, maybe get some security in here.
    Then Casper breathed out as if he had everything under control. He walked over to the bed. Swallowed. “I wanted to say it in a way that . . . was better. Like I didn’t want to rip out your throat every time I thought about it. Apparently that’s not going to happen. There’s no good way to say it. The fact that you got a girl pregnant and then deserted her? Yeah, I didn’t know how to sugarcoat that.”
    “What. Are. You. Talking. About?” Owen said as the word started to settle in. Fathe r ?
    “You have a daughter, Owen. A beautiful, black-haired, blue-eyed daughter.”
    Silence.
    “Who   —?”
    “Sheesh, Owen. I realize it’s probably hard for you to sift back through the list of hundreds of girls you’ve bedded but try real hard to remember the one   —”
    “Hey!” Owen started, but then he stopped, thought for one second. He had been selfish. Reckless. Stupid. Arrogant. He swallowed hard. “I admit I made mistakes, but I haven’t been that guy for a long time.”
    “You only have to be that guy once.”
    He drew in a breath. “Do we have to do this in front of Scotty?”
    “Don’t mind me,” she said in a voice he didn’t recognize.
    And he was once again in the raft, losing his grip on the sunshine.
    “Scotty   —wait.” He turned to Casper. “I’m not trying to be obtuse here, but what gir l ?”
    Casper closed his eyes.
    Then it all made sense. Why Casper had decked him at the wedding. How his brother had turned into a person he didn’t recognize. Furious. Owen would feel the same way if Casper or Darek had been with Scotty and left her pregnant.
    “Oh . . . It’s Raina. Raina had my baby,” Owen said quietly, not looking at Scotty. The words sank through him like inky darkness.
    Casper’s jaw tightened. “Yep. In January. Her name is Layla.”
    That’s when Owen heard the footsteps.
    He looked over just in time to see the door closing behind Scotty.

    “Scotty, come back!”
    Owen’s voice trailed her into the hallway, squeezing through the door before it shut behind her. Scotty stopped just outside, her heart banging in her chest.
    For a long time she stood, listening to the sounds from the nurses’ station down the hall, smelling the clean antiseptic scent of the hospital, and tasting her own stupidity.
    Owen had a child.
    A child.
    And he didn’t even know it.
    That fact made her run her hands over her face, lean against the wall, relishing the coolness after the sudden heat in the room.
    She groaned. A child. With Casper’s girlfriend.
    Which, of course, accounted for Casper’s furious behavior toward his almost-dead brother.
    More, it seemed that Casper had come to tell Owen to man up, take care of his responsibilities. Which meant what? That Owen wasn’t free to marry Scotty because he had to marry Raina?
    But if she read the conversation correctly, Casper was with Raina.
    Talk about family drama. It certainly added fuel to the fire between the Christiansen brothers.
    It didn’t matter anyway. The whole fantasy of meeting Owen’s family had begun to disintegrate as she listened to them argue. Casper was probably right. Owen had acted on impulse when he proposed. She got that. Because she’d just as impulsively said yes. Which, of course, was Owen’s superpower   —making her break her own rules.
    They should both be thanking Casper for his razor-edged candor.
    Scotty stalked down the corridor. Stupid,