Page 3 of Oops, My Professor Got Me Pregnant!

“You know, I was going that way anyway. How about I get you back to your hotel? It sounds like it’s been a rough day.” Le Rosier was more or less in the opposite direction of Nico’s house, but it wasn’t like he had some big plans for the evening. And Lauren clearly needed his help.

And, if Nico were being completely honest with himself, the thought of spending a little more time with such a beautiful woman sounded a lot better than returning to his home alone.

“Oh, wow, really?” Lauren stopped short and turned to him, her eyes wide. “That would be great, but I really don’t want you to go out of your way.”

“Please.” Nico waved a hand to dismiss the idea that he was going out of his way. “It would be my pleasure.”

“Well, thank you, then.” Lauren beamed at him and fell into step beside him as he led the way toward the nearest metro station. “Are you from Paris?”

“Yes. I’ve lived here all my life. I grew up in a suburb to the south, where my mother still lives, and I went to college here too. I only left for a few months to go on exchange.”

“Really?” Lauren’s eyes lit up again, and Nico found himself smiling at her enthusiasm. “Where did you go? I went on exchange in college, too.”

“I went to Prague,” Nico told her. “It wasn’t far away, but it still felt pretty different, especially since my Czech was terrible.” Lauren laughed at that, and Nico grinned at her. “Where did you go?”

“Here.” Lauren swept a hand across the streetscape as though this was the very spot she’d come when she was younger. “Paris. I’ve wanted to come back ever since.”

“And now here you are.” They stopped at a red light, and Nico turned to her. “You didn’t seem to be enjoying yourself so much this afternoon, though.”

Lauren sighed. “It’s my own fault. I should have kept up my French better. But here we are, and I just have to work with what I’ve got.”

“Were you sightseeing?”

“No, I was actually looking for an apartment.” Lauren rolled her eyes. “You wouldn’t believe the apartments I saw today. One looked more like a nightclub for cockroaches than a human habitation.”

Nico chuckled at her description. “You must have been looking in the wrong part of town. We have a lot of nice apartments here.”

“Oh, I know. I stayed in a gorgeous little apartment in college with a few other students. We had a view into the park across the street and of an eighteenth-century church a few buildings over. I guess I was being silly imagining that I’d find something that nice again.”

“Hey, it’s not silly to want a nice place to live instead of a… what did you call it? A cockroach nightclub.”

“And the cockroach nightclub wasn’t even the worst one. In the first apartment, the owner kept telling me that I’d be a great fit for the place because I’m so small. At first I thought she meant because I would walk quietly or something, I don’t know, but then she showed me the bed, and it was in a miniature room that was so small I’d have had to army-crawl up the mattress from the end to get into bed.”

Nico laughed again at that. Lauren had a wonderful way of telling a story that was somehow both thoughtful and self-deprecating. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t laugh. That doesn’t sound like a nice living situation at all.”

“Oh, don’t worry. The third apartment was even worse. There was a shower right in the middle of the kitchen. A shower with clear glass walls.”

“Okay, but you have to admit that would be convenient if you were trying to keep an eye on a soufflé and take a shower at the same time,” Nico pointed out. This time, it was Lauren who laughed, a light tinkling sound that warmed Nico’s heart.

“I don’t think that’s a problem I’m likely to face,” Lauren admitted. “Although perhaps I would enjoy the convenience of being able to reach my sink, my toaster, and my wardrobe all from bed.”

“Americans. All about convenience.” Nico winked to show that he was joking, and Lauren grinned.

“That’s me. All about convenience. That’s why I’ve apparently moved to a foreign country without a plan or enough language skills.”

“I’m sure your French isn’t that bad. We can just be snobs about our language.”

“Maybe. But I also need to study more, for sure.”

Nico came to a stop, and Lauren followed suit with a slightly confused expression.

“This is the metro station,” he told her. “We’ll need to catch the train in” — he consulted his phone — “five or thirteen minutes to get to your hotel.”

“Okay.” Lauren headed for the stairs, but Nico hesitated for a moment.

“Or…”

She turned back to him. “Or?”

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