Page 9 of Claiming His Prize

“You don’t need more than that to justlook,” Diana said persuasively. Allison bumped her hip playfullyagainst Diana’s as she lowered the heat on the zucchini and began sprinkling parmesan cheese on the slices. The cheese didn’t need much heat to melt, and it would burn pretty quickly if the pan was too hot.

“Let’s say I’m right... he obviously wants it to be a surprise, and I shouldn’t look,” Allison said. “If I’m wrong, there’s nothing to find, anyway.” She turned off the heat on the zucchini now that the parm had melted just a bit. Yum. “Is the sauce ready?”

“Yeah.” Diana glanced at the timer sitting on the counter to her left. “We have ten minutes left before the chicken’s ready.”

“That’s okay, it just means the cheese on the zucchini will melt a little more.”

“Good,” said Diana cheerfully as she turned the heat on the sauce down to simmer. She flashed Allison a wicked little look. “That gives us time to search!”

“Wait!” squealed Allison, laughing and following as Diana took off, not even bothering to remove her apron.“You don’t even know where to look!”

“Always start with the bedroom.”

Amused, Allison followed Diana up to the bedroom, watching as her friend quickly went through Todd’s drawers. She didn’t do anything more than feel around for a jewelry box, so it wasn’t quite as invasive as it could be. Then Diana moved onto the closet, but unless Todd was hiding it in his shoes, there wasn’t anything there to find. Allison didn’t think it’d be in the bedroom. She went through Todd’s drawers too often. She had a penchant for wearing his t-shirts around the house…. and his sweatpants. They were more comfortable than her own, and she liked the possessively pleased look he got when he saw her wearing his clothes.

“Have you done this before?” Allison asked as she watched Diana peek into the drawers around Todd’s computer in the study.“You seem to have a bit of a system.”

“Oh, my parents used to hide Christmas and birthday gifts in all sorts of places,” Diana said as she closed the last of the drawers and tapped her fingers thoughtfully on the computer desk.“I definitely haven’t searched Roger’s place like this, if that’s what you’re asking. We’re not at that point yet.”

“Do you think things might go there?” Allison was genuinely curious.So far, she and Diana hadn’t talked much about Diana and Roger’s relationship.Sometimes, she wondered if Diana felt it would be too awkward, but she seemed completely casual about dropping that nugget of information.

“Maybe.He’s the first guy I’ve ever dated I could see myself considering taking that step with.”Standing in the middle of the study with her hands on her hips, Diana examined the room as if a hidden compartment with a ring box might suddenly jump out at her.

Allison put her hand over her mouth to cover her smile. It was funny that Diana was more interested in this search than Allison was, but truthfully, she was happy with what she had at the moment. Maybe eventually she’d want to get married... but it wasn’t at the top of her list of priorities right now, not when she was concentrating on graduating in a couple of months.

“Is there anywhere else in this house that’s just Todd’s?”

“Ummm...” The toy room he was creating sprang to mind.Allison had honored her promise not to enter it, so if Todd was going to hide something in the house, that would probably be the best place.She had no idea what was in there. He sometimes received large packages in the mail or brought things home wrapped, so she didn’t know what was going in there. Curiosity had almost gotten the better of her a few times, but she liked surprises. Plus, he’d probably blister her bottom for ruining this particular surprise.

“Where?” asked Diana immediately.

“Well... he’s setting up a room for us to ah... play in,” Allison said a little hesitantly. She knew Diana wouldn’t judge her for whatever Todd had in there, that wasn’t the problem. The problem was she was tempted to send Diana in there, even though that would definitely be pushing the boundaries of following Todd’s orders.Still, it would technically be obeying him since she’d only said she would stay out of there.Nothing had been said about other people or friends. “I’m not supposed to go in there until he’s completed it.”

Diana’s face lit up. “Oooh, that sounds promising! Where is it?”

“The room across the hall.”

Diana scooted out of the office with Allison following close behind. As Diana turned the doorknob, Allison positioned herself next to the door frame, facing the opposite side of the hall, so she wouldn’t even be able to see inside.

“What are you doing?” Diana gave her a strange look.“Don’t you want to see what’s in here?”

She rolled her eyes. “Of course, I do, but Todd told me not to look. I’m pushing it by letting you go in there.”

“You’re such a goody-goody sometimes,” Diana teased as she practically pranced into the room. “Oh, holy crap!”

The unfeigned awe in her voice nearly broke Allison’s resolve not to look.

“What?”

“I’m not going to tell you.” Diana giggled. “After all, thisissupposed to be a surprise. Damn. Now,thisis a sex room. Hmm... here’s some drawers... Maybe there’s a ring in here.... Oh, my...”

Now Allison was pretty sure Diana was saying things just to get a reaction from her. Although there was also honest delight and surprise in her voice, so maybe there were some reallygoodgoodies in there.Shifting foot to foot, Allison reminded herself she would eventually get to see everything in there. More than see—she’d be using everything in there.

Faint insistent beeping downstairs sounded down the hall, just as she heard the front door open.

“Diana! Todd’s home! Get out of there!” she hissed before rushing down the stairs, heading for the kitchen. Todd home and the chicken ready—well, at least her timing when it came to cooking was getting better. She could hear Diana following her down the stairs.

Todd stood in the entryway, looking up at them with amusement.

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