“Okay, first assignment is as follows. Since all of you are so fresh faced and bushy tailed, I want you to photograph joy. In all of its forms. Gritty, serene, blissful—I want it all. Think you all can manage that?”

There was a general murmur of accord. The excitement was palpable as each of us fiddled with our cameras.

“Good. Now go and do your worst. And by worst, I mean better than your best.”

As soon as class was over, I headed over to Xander. Unlike the other students who crowded him, I stopped well outside his sphere of personal space. “Excuse me, Xander?” I forced a deep breath and squared my shoulders. I would have to learn to talk to him if I wanted to work for him.

He cocked his head, and his almost-smiling mouth tugged into a glimmer of a real one as he assessed me. “Little Bird. I’d wondered if you’d come and introduce yourself.”

Little Bird? He remembered my photo? I flushed. It had taken me three days to find the hummingbird nest and capture the mother feeding her nestlings.

Up close, I realized Xander’s eyes weren’t dark at all, but rather a slate gray. I forced out my carefully selected words. “I, uh, wanted to say thank you for giving me the opportunity to study with you. It’s already changing my life.”

He chuckled. “Well, if you think today was life-changing, then wait until I actually start teaching you something.” He studied me closely. “I’m glad you accepted. I was starting to worry that you wouldn’t when we hadn’t heard from you.”

My skin prickled with embarrassment. He had been waiting on my acceptance? “I had no idea you were waiting on me—”

“Like I said, Little Bird, I hand-selected all of you. In the process I became quite attached to your works. To you.” This time his grin was the slow, cocky, confident smile of someone who was accustomed to women falling at his feet.

It fell flat on me. The longer I stood in his presence, the less nervous I became. Maybe this wouldn’t be so hard after all.

“Right. Well, anyway, thank you again. I’m looking forward to learning from you.” With a little boost of confidence, I turned to leave.

He called out to me, “Don’t you want to know why I selected you for this program?”

I turned but walked backward to keep my momentum. “Nope. You already told me why. And I know what I can do with a camera.” I didn’t wait for a response as I turned back around and strode out of the lecture hall.

Ilani followed me out of the building, and we made our escape.

“You're a Yank, aren’t you?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I guess the accent gives me away.”