Ride Hard (Raven Riders #1)(51)

“I do.” They made their way back into the mess hall, which was all cleaned up, but they were in plenty of time to help with the dishes.

When they were putting away the last of the dishes they’d hand-washed and dried, Bunny turned to Haven. “You realize that when you two leave, the guys are going to wonder why they’re not getting any more amazing baked goods. All my marriage proposals are going to dry up overnight.” The older woman was wearing an amused smile and a vintage Harley Davidson T-shirt with a pair of jeans.

And that was when Haven realized that she was going to miss Bunny almost as much as Dare, maybe more, since she’d never had a mother figure in her life before. Her own mom had fled from Haven’s father when Haven was still in diapers. Guess he’d treated her badly, too. There’d been a time when Haven resented the heck out of her mother for leaving her behind, but after a while it had felt pointless to hold a grudge against someone she didn’t remember and would never again see.

But Bunny, in just a few short weeks, had offered her friendship, advice, guidance, protectiveness. Haven wasn’t going to forget her any time soon, and it made her ache.

“I didn’t think of that,” Haven said. “Though I hadn’t actually expected to leave so soon, I guess. What should I do?”

“I hadn’t expected y’all to leave so soon, either,” Bunny said, her expression sympathetic, almost sad. “But on the baked goods”—she reached behind her and grabbed the plate of peanut butter cookies—“I think you gotta start with telling Dare.”

Haven stared at the plate like it might bite her. “Really?” The thought of revealing something else she’d been keeping from him made her big breakfast sit like a rock in her stomach.

“Really,” Bunny said, exchanging a look with Cora that Haven couldn’t read.

Cora nodded. “Probably a good idea.”

Haven accepted the cookies into her hands. “He’s going to be mad at me.”

Bunny shook her head. “I doubt that, honey. You just go see. You two will both feel better after you talk.”

“Fine,” Haven said, deciding to get this over with sooner rather than later. “But when he’s mad at me, I get to say I told you so.”

“Deal,” Bunny said, giving her a wink.

Haven crossed through the clubhouse doling out cookies along the way to guys who saw what she was carrying. The more Ravens she talked to, the less intimidating she found them. They were just guys, guys who were really loyal to one another, as far as she could see. Maybe they wore the badges of their club on their backs and had lots of ink on their skin, but they also took in and helped people like her. And that counted for a lot in her book, because she knew that brand of kindness and generosity wasn’t universal. Not by a long shot.

By the time she got to Dare’s office, the pile of cook ies wasn’t as high as it had been, but she still had plenty to offer up as an olive branch. Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door.

“Come in,” came his voice through the door. His gaze cut up when she opened it. “Haven. What’s up?”

“Can I talk to you for a minute?” she asked, slipping in and shutting the door behind her.

“Of course. Is everything okay?” he asked, getting up and coming to her.

“Yeah,” she said, thrusting the plate into his chest out of nervousness. “Bunny said I should bring these to you.”

He chuckled and grasped the plate. “That’s because Bunny knows these are my favorite cookies in the world.”

A wave of satisfaction rolled through Haven’s body at the thought. “Really?”

Popping one in his mouth, Dare nodded. “So damn good,” he said around a bite. When he swallowed, he added, “I told Bunny she was officially my favorite person ever for making these again.”

Haven hugged herself and nodded, and something Bunny said came back to her—that it would make both her and Dare feel better to talk. What the heck was that supposed to mean? And why was Haven thinking of it now?

Dare placed the plate on the corner of his desk and grabbed another cookie. “And you’re my second-favorite person for bringing them to me,” he said with a wink. He took a bite.

Heat filled Haven’s cheeks, and she shook her head.

“What is it?” he asked, stepping closer. He ran his knuckles over her cheek, clearly noticing her blush.

“Um,” she said, fortifying herself with a deep breath to make her admission. She looked up at him, ready to tell him.

“I didn’t think I could like your hair more than I did before,” he said, stroking his fingers through it at the side of her face. “But you look beautiful, Haven.”

The words stole her breath and kicked her heart into a sprint. Did he just call her beautiful? “I do?”

He nodded. “Could barely keep my eyes off of you at breakfast. I know you noticed.”

And she’d thought her blush couldn’t get any hotter. She shrugged. “I guess so.”

He broke a piece off his cookie and handed it to her. “Want some?”

She let him put it in her mouth, her stomach fluttering because the look in his eyes suggested those words might not be about just the cookie. Although he could be so hard to read, and she wanted him so much she was always half sure she was projecting her desire onto him.