Chapter 2: Almost Perfect

Tess treasured her first real kiss from Josh, and regarded it as her just reward for the changes she had made in her life. But oh, she'd had to wait for it. It had been six weeks before she'd even been alone with Josh again, and then another four weeks before they'd had anything that remotely resembled a date. She'd got to spend plenty of time with him, but it was always either at church, or with family or friends around them. But little by little, ever so slowly, Josh had slowly started to open himself to her.

Finally, three months after she got out of hospital, he'd taken her out on a proper date, to a lovely restaurant, and then, sitting in the car outside her house, he'd finally turned to her and gently but ever so definitely, he'd kissed her slowly on the lips. And then she had held him and cried. As kisses went, it was, well, it wasn't much of a kiss at all; but no kiss had ever had more meaning to her.

When she giggled, Josh had to ask "Well, you cry, and then it's funny?"

"Oh, I was thinking of that kiss in The Princess Bride. Josh, I'm just so happy."

"That kiss?"

"Yeah, you know, the one that rated as the most romantic kiss there ever was. That one probably wasn't, but it's absolutely the best kiss I've ever had." She rested her head on his shoulder.

Eventually Josh tilted her head up and looked into her eyes. "Before we go any further, we need to talk."

Tess looked at him and nodded. She'd known that this was coming, but she wasn't looking forward to it.

"Tess, you're an amazing woman. The more that I know you, the more impressed I am. I really want to get to know you a whole lot better. But I don't know how we can do this."

"Why?" Tess was sure what the answer was, but she wanted to know how he would put it.

"Well, you're a very sexual person. You're used to sex. But I'm keeping myself until I get married. I don't know whether I can ever satisfy you, and right now, I think it will be too hard for you to have a relationship that doesn't include sex."

Tess maneuvered herself around so she was as close to his front as she could, and looked intensely into his eyes. "Josh, I'm already more satisfied than I ever have been, and that's just with a hint of a kiss, so set your mind at rest on that score. But you're right, I don't know whether I can do that. Why is it so important? Why don't we just do it now?"

She felt Josh pulling trying to pull away for her, but she leaned into him so that he couldn't, he had to looking her eyes. "It's a matter of principle. Jesus died for me, and he's asked me to do this little thing. Ok, this not so little thing. But if I don't hold to my principles in my heart, why do I bother having them? I have to do this, I have to be true to Jesus."

Tess kissed him very tenderly. "That's a real good answer." She sighed. "If only you really knew what you are asking from me."

"I don't think I even know what I'm asking from myself. That's why I'm concerned."

"Well, OK, we need some rules. How about no means no?"

Josh laughed. "Yeah, I'll struggle with that one." One of the things he liked about Tess was her sense of humor.

"Tess, for now, just teach me to kiss, nothing more."

"You've never kissed a girl?"

"Well, I kind of had a girlfriend once, but it just didn't really work out, and I feel very unsure about this."

Tess was intrigued by this concept. In every other respect Josh was so confident and in control, but here he was unsure about kissing. But when she started thinking about kissing Josh, she suddenly felt a little unsure. Who was she to teach kissing? "Well, I've kissed a lot of guys, but it's never really been the main event, as it were. Forget about teaching, let's just do it." Tess leaned in and really kissed Josh for the first time.

The next two months were almost perfect for Tess. Finally, she and Josh were really boyfriend and girlfriend. They did dates, they went to the gym together, they went to church together, it was great. Everyone said that they were a great pair. And Tess was actually enjoying church, enjoying that side of things too.

During this time, the church Sunday school put on a performance for all the families. Tess got right into the presentation. Not only did she stage manage the whole show, and organize the music with Josh, when the younger girl that was one of the leads fell ill at the last minute, Tess stepped in a played the lead herself.

After the performance, as she was getting congratulations from the audience for the show, she wondered to herself what she would have said to someone if they had told her six months earlier that she would be producing and leading the Sunday school presentation, she would have thought they were crazy, or at the least, very insulting. Yet here she was, not merely doing it, but enjoying it a lot. It meant a lot to her to see the smiles on the faces of the kids and their parents, and to stand next to Josh sharing the rewards with him.

Tess had been surprised to find that her friends at university also liked Josh. You could always tell that he didn't really fit in with them at the few parties she dragged him along to, but if they were playing sport or making music — something they did a lot of - together, Josh fitted right in, and pretty soon her friends were quite keen to see Josh, even after they found out that he was a serious Christian.