AN HOUR LATER, I stood in Slade’s kitchen. He’d just given me the grand tour of his condo, which wasn’t exactly what I’d expected. It was very posh and contemporary, but it just didn’t seem like Slade.
“What do you think?”
“It’s nice,” I said. “But...”
He grinned. “It’s not what you’d expected?”
“Not at all. It’s too... cold and uptight. I mean it’s very elegant and reminds me of something you’d see in a magazine, but it’s stifling.”
“Stifling?”
“Okay, stiff.”
He laughed. “Stiff?”
“I don’t know how to describe it other than to say it’s not you.”
“I guess that’s a compliment, although I’ve been stiff before.”
I giggled. “You know what I mean.”
“Yes, I do. I’m thinking about remodeling it again.”
“Do you spend a lot of time here?”
“Not really.”
“Then why bother?’
“Because I pr
