Completely Smitten by Kristine Grayson

name?”
    He shook his head, reached into the breast pocket of his shirt, and removed another toothpick. He rolled it around in his fingers as if he were smoothing the tobacco in a self-made cigarette. “Not the region. The house. It’s called Variance.”
    “Oh,” she said. “How come?”
    “Because it’s Vari’s.”
    She frowned. This conversation was as confusing as the plane ride. “Dar’s last name is Vari?”
    “What’s Dar?”
    Why hadn’t she learned his last name? How had she overlooked that? And why hadn’t she realized it until now?
    “Not what,” she said. “Who. Dar is a who.”
    Now it sounded like she was quoting Dr. Seuss. Ariel Hears a Who . Who’s on First. Who is? Who. It was an easy segue into Abbott and Costello.
    She shook her head. Maybe she was going crazy.
    The plane rose above the cliffside at the very last moment. She pretended not to notice.
    “Dar is a who,” Duke repeated. “Oh. You mean a person.”
    “Yes,” Ariel said.
    “The guy you were looking for?”
    “Yes. He’s the one who lives in the house.”
    “You mean Andrew Vari.”
    She didn’t like how this conversation was going. “He said his name was Darius.”
    Duke shrugged and put the toothpick in his mouth. “Guy’s weird enough to say anything.”
    “He didn’t strike me as weird,” Ariel said.
    Duke turned toward her very slowly, his eyes wide with obvious disbelief. “He didn’t?”
    “No. He was very kind. He cooked me dinner—”
    “Yeah, he always brings too many provisions.”
    “—and he carried me off that cliff—”
    “Andrew Vari?”
    “Well, he said his name was Darius.”
    “The guy in the house.”
    “Yes, the guy in the house.” Maybe it wasn’t a coincidence that she thought of Abbott and Costello. Apparently she had just landed in one of their routines.
    “Short little guy, maybe five feet in high heels, carried you into his house.”
    “What short little guy?” she asked.
    “Andrew Vari.”
    “Lookout!”
    He turned his attention back to flying in time to pull up and clear the top of a lone pine tree on a mountain peak. His face paled and beads of sweat formed on his forehead.
    She wasn’t exactly calm. She was gripping the ripped plastic of the co-pilot’s seat so hard that she had probably ripped it some more. Maybe that was how it got ripped in the first place.
    She certainly didn’t blame it. Anyone in their right mind had to be ripped to get into this plane.
    When he leveled it and there didn’t appear to be any more peaks ahead, he said, “You’re telling me Andrew Vari carried you to his house.”
    “I’m telling you the man who owns the house, who called himself Darius, carried me to the house.”
    “This Darius, he looks like one of the seven dwarves come to life, right?”
    This time it was her turn to give Duke an amazed look. “He looks like a Greek god.”
    “Whatever floats your boat,” Duke said, making an expression of distaste.
    “No,” Ariel said very carefully. “I meant he looks like a Greek god. He’s tall, blond, and probably the most handsome man I’ve ever seen.”
    Duke frowned. “Tall?”
    “Tall.”
    “How tall?”
    She shrugged. “Taller than you.”
    The mountains were leveling out. Ariel thought she could see a valley in the distance.
    “That can’t be Andrew Vari,” Duke said.
    “I’m getting that impression.”
    “But it’s strange.” Duke was finally keeping his eyes on the scene before him. “I mean, I flew Vari up there, and he didn’t say anything about a guest.”
    “Dar was very comfortable in the house. He knew where everything was and he knew its history.”
    “Hmm.” Duke shifted in his seat. “You think Vari’s in trouble?”
    “From Dar?” Ariel’s voice raised slightly. “He saved my life. Why would he do anything harmful to someone else?”
    “I dunno.” Duke’s frown grew deeper. “But I would have known if he was going to bring anyone in.”
    “Why?” Ariel asked. “Because