I could be mistaken, but you might want to take a look at your smilies in your AdminCP. I believe if you place a space after and/or before the "Text to Replace", you'd achieve what you're looking for.
Open inc/functions.php
Find:
$message = str_replace($smilie['find'], "<img src=\"".$smilie['image']."\" align=\"middle\" border=\"0\" alt=\"$smilie[find]\" />", $message);
Replace with:
$message = str_replace($smilie['find'], " <img src=\"".$smilie['image']."\" align=\"middle\" border=\"0\" alt=\"$smilie[find]\" /> ", $message);
Thank's for pointing me in the right direction.
But that line is actually in
inc/functions_post.php
Edit:
Thanks Dennis, it worked fine... by modding inc/functions_post.php.