Teaser from The Wrong Girl: In which Hannah gives Jack what he deserves

Here’s a little teaser from the 2nd chapter of The Wrong Girl. Hannah has just arrived at “Freak” House after a turbulent carriage ride during which she threw up into a reticule (an old fashioned handbag/purse):

The carriage door opened and, because I was leaning on it, I tumbled out without an ounce of grace. I managed to hang onto the reticule as strong hands caught me by the upper arms, saving me from a muddy puddle. It had stopped raining, but the ground was drenched. 

“Thank you.” I looked up, straight into the green eyes of the new Windamere gardener. “You!”

He let go, but not before I noticed how warm his hands were, even through my sleeves. “My apologies,” he said. “I feel terrible about what happened, but it was necessary. Or so I was I told.” This last he muttered under his breath, but it didn’t disguise his voice, so deep and rumbling. I remembered how it had vibrated through me when he’d grabbed me outside the woodsman’s cottage. It must have been he who’d captured me and held that God-awful cloth to my nose. “Are you all right?” he asked. “No lasting effects from the ether?”

“None at all.” I held out the reticule full of vomit. “Would you mind carrying my luggage?”