Page 9 of Oops, My Professor Got Me Pregnant!

“Oof. That doesn’t sound like fun at all. But we’ve all been there. When I was in Prague, I tried to go visit a family friend and ended up spending the night in a completely different town than the one she lived in because I didn’t know there was more than one town called Lhota.”

“Oof,” Lauren repeated. “It was good you were able to find a hotel.”

“Oh, I wasn’t. The town was so small that there were no hotels, and by the time I arrived it was late. But a kind farmer ended up letting me stay in a spare room in exchange for helping with the cows in the morning.”

Lauren laughed. “Wow. Your exchange sounds like it was really different from mine. When I was in Paris, I spent a lot of time in museums and cafés — and you apparently spent a lot of time in barns.”

Nico chuckled. “I spent a lot of my time in museums and cafés, too. It was really just that morning that I spent in a barn. And maybe a few more times…” He shrugged. “But I always look back fondly on all the parts of that adventure, even if they didn’t all go the way I planned. It was good I got a chance to be wild and free when I was young, before life got so complicated.”

“Complicated?” Lauren frowned. “I know you must have a job here, but you could go back to Prague for a weekend at least, couldn’t you? It isn’t far.”

Nico opened his mouth, hesitated, then closed it again. “Sure, but that kind of thing is easier said than done.”

Lauren got the feeling that he wasn’t being completely honest with her, but she had no right to complain. They had only just met, and if Nico didn’t want to tell her everything on their first date — assuming this was a date — she couldn’t blame him. Still, she wondered what was so complicated about Nico’s life. Unless…

“Wait. Don’t be mad, but I just have to ask. You aren’t married or anything, are you?”

Nico laughed, then seemed to catch sight of the worry on Lauren’s face, because he quickly shook his head. “No, I am completely and totally single. I have been for years. I wouldn’t be here with you if I weren’t single.”

Lauren heart warmed — it seemed that Nico thought of this as a date, too.

“Well, that’s a relief. And just to be clear, I’m single, too.” Still feeling a little awkward, Lauren raised her left hand to show the lack of a ring.

“Good. If you had a boyfriend, I think he might not approve of me taking you out to dinner.”

“Um, if I remember correctly, I am taking you out to dinner.” Lauren answered quickly to avoid dwelling on the swarm of butterflies that were performing choreographed dances in her stomach. This really was a date. Lauren wished she’d worn more makeup this morning.

“No, no. You invited me, but since I know the restaurant, I’m clearly the one who’s taking you out to dinner. Plus, it would be more than a little rude of me to make you take me out to dinner on your first day in a new city.”

“Paris isn’t completely new.” They began to descend the steps into the metro. “I just seem to have forgotten any and all useful information I might have had about the city in the time I was away.”

“These things happen.” Nico pulled out a plastic card, which he tapped against a reader at the bottom of the stairs. It flashed green and he continued toward the metro, but Lauren had stopped.

“Do I have to do that, too?”

Nico turned back. “Yes.”

“Oh, no. Add another mistake to my list of transportation failures. I didn’t see a gate to go through, so I thought I didn’t need to scan my card anywhere and that it was already activated. I think I might have ridden the metro without paying for it this morning.”

Nico chuckled. “You didn’t get caught, so no harm done.”

“I suppose.” Lauren found her own card in her wallet and tapped it against the reader.

“Anyway, you’re right that most stations do have a gate, so you have to scan your card to enter.”

“This explains why I couldn’t get onto the other platform when I took the train in the wrong direction.”

“Oh, Lauren.” Nico grinned. “This is getting a little embarrassing for you. Let’s blame it on jet lag.”

“Yes, please.”

Both laughing, they continued onto the train that would take them to the restaurant. Now that evening was coming on, the train was crowded with commuters, so Nico called to Lauren the stop where they’d need to get off before they each wedged into a different part of the crowd. As the train rattled off through the tunnel, Lauren couldn’t help sneaking a few glances at Nico. He had gotten out his phone and was flicking through messages, so he hopefully wouldn’t see her.

After a difficult start to the day, this was starting to feel too good to be true. It hardly seemed possible that she would have met an attractive, funny, intelligent, kind Parisian gentleman on her very first day in France. On top of that, he seemed to be interested in unsophisticated, fish-out-of-water Lauren for some reason she couldn’t quite grasp.

Hopefully, Nico could see past Lauren’s French fumbles and public transit faux pas. And it seemed he could, since they were now on the way to dinner together.

Warmth and anticipation bloomed in Lauren’s chest. It was silly to imagine a whole romance blossoming from an afternoon on the Seine and a dinner together, wasn’t it? Yet she couldn’t help hoping that Nico might become an important part of her time here. Maybe there were other local sights he’d like to show her and more walks they could take together.

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