Steven's first kiss is with fellow character Narelle Smart (Amanda Newman-Phillips), who is three years older than he is (being seventeen at the time). Of this Willits states: "I'd go for an older woman, if Steven can, I certainly can." Discussing the scenes and Steven's reasons, Willits states: "In the script he had this plan to get Narelle to kiss me, because he has done a survey and he's a pretty hot kisser. It wasn't as though they were in love though." He also named it as one of Steven's greatest moments during the early years. Newman-Phillips describes the filming of the storyline stating: "Narelle seduces Steven and when it came to the kissing scene we were both very nervous. It was the first for both of us and we just couldn't get the scene right, so we did some extra rehearsing. The kiss only lasted a minute, but in the end it took us a couple of hours to get it perfect for the cameras." Whilst interviewed by "TV Week", Willits stated: "When you consider rehearsals and retakes, we kissed a hell of a lot. It was great. She gave me all the pointers". The serial later cast Kate Raison to play artist Jennifer Atkinson, a new love interest for Steven. In the "Home and Away Annual Authorised Edition", Kesta Desmond said that their romance would develop into a "torrid affair" and that it could "all end in tears".