Read Once a Princess for Free Online

the simple reason that she was beyond plain-looking herself.
    He was inordinately pleased by her reaction to him,however, particularly after his previous dark thoughts, but that didn’t blind him to the fact that something wasn’t quite right about her, something that nagged at the back of his mind.
    She had the eyes of a laughing child, bubbling with humor. Certainly they didn’t suit her, nor did the fine white teeth she’d revealed, but he had unusual eyes himself and all his teeth, so he could discount that as what bothered him about her. Her gray shirt and waistcoat were manly, bulky, ugly on her, the black skirt unadorned peasant’s clothing, the knife on her hip—what the devil could she need that for? Her hands were small, red and callused on one side, peach- and cream-tinted on the other side, a sharp contrast to the sallow complexion of her face, engraved with dark smudges of exhaustion—another sharp contrast considering the bouncy step he had first noticed.
    Intuition finally stirred and he took a wild guess. “Such black eye paint is the very devil to come off, isn’t it?”
    At her gasp, he burst into laughter, which only increased when she swiftly tried to correct the oversight he’d hinted at by wiping vigorously at her eyes. She made sense now, in all her strangeness. On the stage, she camouflaged her face, and no wonder, for she was singularly unattractive, except for those pale green eyes and perfect white teeth. Here in the common room, however, she camouflaged her body, again no wonder, for the costume she’d worn, though for the most part loose, had still revealed an eminently desirable form. The girl obviously played at two roles—the dancer who whored on the side, and the barmaid who didn’t want to be bothered.
    â€œIt’s not funny, mister,” she said in a curt, irritated tone, glaring down at him now that she assumed she’d taken care of the smudges.
    Still chuckling, Stefan asked, “Would you like me to help?”
    â€œYou mean it’s still…? No, thank you,” she gritted out ungraciously.
    She grabbed the bottom of her shirt this time to try again, unaware that she left him staring at a patch of smooth stomach when her belt was pulled upward with the raised shirttail. Stefan’s humor fled as lust instantly returned, full-blown and prodding.
    When her clothes were smoothed back into place, there were indeed faint smears of black on the material, though Stefan hadn’t really seen any remaining kohl on her eyes. They were slightly puffy now, however. Even the dark shadows beneath them were lightened in color from all the rubbing she’d just done, which gave him a twinge of conscience that just upped the price he would offer for her.
    â€œIf you’re finished picking out my flaws, maybe you’d like to tell me what you want now. I have other customers—”
    â€œYou.”
    â€œWhat was that?”
    â€œI want you.”
    So she’d heard him right the first time! But he had to be making sport of her. She knew what she looked like. She’d spent seven years perfecting the disguisethat now only took a few minutes to effect. Her appearance was meant to put off, not attract. Yet he was darkly good-looking in a rough sort of way, like an uncut gem. He was also well-to-do, if the cut of his navy coat was any indication, fitting so snug across broad shoulders. But that combination, money and looks, made him the exact type of man she was always invisible to.
    She’d thought him Spanish or Mexican at first glance because he was so dark and definitely foreign-looking, but she would recognize a Spanish accent, and that wasn’t the accent she heard in his very correct English. Maybe he was a Northerner. They didn’t get too many of them coming here, being too fastidious for the rough crowd The Seraglio drew. This one had lean, hawklike features, with flaring black brows, thin,