Chapter 2 - The Test

CHAPTER 2: THE TEST

Masego stepped into the office as if Tshepo had invited her hours ago. The door clicked shut behind her. Her jewel-toned dress caught the low light from the desk lamp, and her loose braids brushed the line of her back as she crossed the room. She looked at the framed church photographs, the shelf of theology books and the open Bible on his desk as if she had every right to touch any of it.

"You always work this late?" she asked, running one finger along the desk edge.

"I needed to prepare for Tuesday."

"For Bible study?" Her smile stayed in place. "Or for all the things you have spent the day trying not to think about?"

Tshepo moved toward the door and stopped before his hand reached the handle. He could have opened it. He could have told her that this hour, this room and this conversation were all wrong. Instead he watched her lean back against the desk, one knee bent beneath the slit of her dress.

"You should go home, Masego."

"Is that what you want?"

She came close enough for him to smell her perfume again. Her fingers rested over the centre of his chest, then travelled down the front of his robe with an ease that changed his breathing. She looked straight at him, waiting for a refusal he did not give.

"You preach fire on Sunday," she whispered. "But you have been looking at me like you are cold."

The kiss was not gentle. It made a decision before either of them could claim to have made one. Tshepo caught her around the waist. Masego's mouth was warm, demanding, her body soft against the parts of him that had spent years standing still.