What was wrong with her? She had a wonderful life. She was healthy. She had good friends, a terrific family, and an entertaining dog. Although she was nearly always broke, she didn’t mind because her loft was worth every penny it cost her. She loved her work. Her life was perfect. More than perfect, now that Kevin Tucker was gone.

Disgusted with her moodiness, she shoved her feet into the pink slippers the twins had given her for her birthday and padded down to the kitchen, the bunny heads on the toes waggling. A quick breakfast, then she’d get to work.

She’d arrived too late last night to pick up groceries, so she pulled a box of Dan’s Pop-Tarts from the cupboard. Just as she was slipping one into the toaster, Roo began to bark. The back door opened, and Kevin came in, his arms loaded with plastic grocery bags. Her idiotic heart skipped a beat.

Roo snarled. Kevin ignored him. “Morning, Daphne.”

Her instinctive burst of pleasure gave way to annoyance. Slytherin!

He dumped the bags on the center island. “Supplies were running low.”

“What difference does it make? You’re leaving, remember? Vous partez. Salga.” She enunciated the foreign words and was gratified to see that she’d annoyed him.

“Leaving isn’t a good idea.” He gave a hard twist to the cap on the milk. “I’m not making any more waves with Dan right now, so you’ll need to go instead.”

Exactly what she should do, but she didn’t like his attitude, so she let her inner bitch take over. “That’s not going to happen. As an athlete, you won’t understand this, but I need peace and quiet because I actually have to think when I work.”

He definitely caught the insult but chose to ignore it. “I’m staying here.”

“So am I,” she replied, just as stubbornly.

She could see that he wanted to toss her out but couldn’t do it because she was his boss’s sister. He took his time filling his glass, then settled his hips against the counter. “It’s a big house. We’ll share.”

She started to tell him to forget it, that she’d leave after all, when something stopped her. Maybe sharing wasn’t as crazy as it sounded. The quickest way to get over her fixation would be to see the Slytherin beneath the real man. It had never been Kevin as a human being who attracted her because she had no idea who he really was. Instead, it was the illusion of Kevin—gorgeous body, sexy eyes, valiant leader of men.

She watched him drain the glass of milk. One belch. That’s all it would take. Nothing disgusted her more than a man who belched … or scratched his crotch … or had gross table manners. Or what about the losers who tried to impress women by pulling out a fat roll of bills held together with one of those garish money clips?

Maybe he wore a gold chain. Molly shuddered. That would do it for sure. Or was a gun nut. Or said, “You duh man.” Or in any of a hundred ways couldn’t measure up to the standard set by Dan Calebow.