Dawson’s pet project was number one in the app store at the moment. “Uh-huh.”
“It’s in beta. We’re letting two hundred people from Seattle try it out.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I’d like you to be one of those people.”
“Uh, no.” Ben swiped the folders into his hand and stuffed them into the pocket on the back of the seat before him.
“You’d be undercover. We’ll make sure the women don’t know who you are.”
“Dawson, a dating app?” He closed the laptop and stored it away too. Traffic crawled along. The tinted windows allowed him to look out but no one to look in. “That’s so beneath you.”
“It’s how I met Lizzie.”
Ben dropped his chin to his chest.Insert foot …“I didn’t mean it like that.”
Dawson grunted. “She pitched the app on the show.”
“Oh.” How had he missed that story?
“It’s doing well, better than we anticipated. But we need to stay ahead of the competition. No one’s doing this.”
“Because no one likes blind dates.”
“That’s why we’ve added incentives for our preliminary participants. The app will recommend a restaurant for your blind date, and the meal will be comped.”
“You really think people are going to go out with a stranger for a free meal?”
“I guarantee it.”
“Why me?” He rubbed the heels of his hands in his eyes.
“Because I need someone who will give me honest answers. Off-the-record stuff.”
“Ah.” Ben nodded. Magic Lamp Parks conducted countless surveys. He was well versed in the fact that there were limits on what you could and could not ask on comment cards.
“Besides, you’re new in town—unbiased.” Dawson wasn’t letting up. “Think of it as a way to meet new people.”
“I’d rather think of it as an opportunity I said no to.”
“Come on.”
Ben blew out a breath. “Get me and Savannah tickets to the show, and I’ll do it—once.” His twelve-year-old daughter would love to be a part of theTech Tankaudience. They’d watched the first season together and several episodes since then as time and homework permitted.
“You got it. I’ll shoot you an email with instructions.” Dawson paused, and the sound of typing came across the line. “You know, the app is good. You might find someone you really like.”
Ben snorted. “Yeah. Listen, you already have me for one date; you don’t have to keep selling it.”
“I’m just saying we’ve had seventeen engagements since we launched.”
“Good for you guys.”
“All right, I’ll quit bugging you. Just make sure you sign up by tomorrow night.”
“I’ll take care of it.” They said goodbye and he hung up the phone, tossing it onto the seat beside him. Of all the dumb things to get involved in … a dating app. Ablind datedating app. He’d thought makingForbes’s billionaire list had turned his life upside down. Once his name was in print, the death threats started. Worse yet, people threatened to kidnap his daughter. He’d built a new home and left the state he’d grown up in just to keep them safe.
Once he thought about it, being a guinea pig for a blind date app wasn’t the weirdest thing that had happened to him lately.
