She wraps her arms around me. “Don’t you dare worry about tonight. This is going to be a hit.”
“Okay. I can do this.” I take a deep breath. “Peter is already running point for security, and Roger is waiting for us.”
Claire nods. “Do you need a shot of tequila or something before we leave? I don’t ever think I’ve seen you this nervous.”
I wipe my sweaty hands on a towel. “Do you think designing a dating app is really about me being a nerd who’s desperate to meet a guy?”
Claire snorts. “No. Any guy looking at you knows you’re the entire package—brains, beauty, and brawn. Nothing about you is desperate.”
I sigh. “I don’t feel like any of those things tonight. But I’ll tell my trainer you think I’m strong. I’m definitely not—even slightly.”
We head out, and barely two minutes later we walk into the Palace of Fine Arts. The room is breathtaking. The walls are covered in red velvet curtains, and Greer has Flirt’s logo—a gold cherub—on everything. High-top tables where people can stand dot the edges of the space, and there are twinkle lights everywhere.
“You’re here,” Greer says with a wide grin.
“This looks amazing,” I tell her.
“Thank you.” She turns, and I see several members of my staff running around. “I had great help from your team.”
“Any changes to the agenda?”
“They may try, but it’s pretty locked up.”
“How many people are we expecting?” I ask.
“I think close to three thousand, and we have food for four.”
My eyes bulge.
“Don’t worry. The app can manage it,” Cameron says from behind me as he kisses me on the cheek. “Plus, it’s a good-size control group, and I think you have a few friends showing up who are married.”
“Totally,” Claire nods. “My brother and Tinsley are coming, and of course, Mason is coming with Caroline. Everyone wants to be supportive.”
I take another deep breath. I can do this. I hate public speaking in front of strangers. People like my board and my friends are fine, but with people I don’t know, I’d rather sit quietly in the background. I’m not the one in my family who craved centerstage.
I feel another hand on my back, and I turn to see Nate and his fiancée, Lilly. They both give me a hug.
“We’re so excited to be here,” Nate says.
“I invited two people—one of the guys I work with,” Lilly says with a grin. “He’s super nice and a little shy, and I also invited a guy we met recently. He’s the sports agent for Jeremy Hamilton.”
I’m a data nerd, so I love sports stats, and I’ve been following Jeremy closely—since long before he landed with the Prospectors. I smile. “Jeremy Hamilton’s amazing. I’d love to just talk to his agent at some point.”
Lilly nods. “I’ll introduce you. His name is Axel, and he’s new to San Francisco from Orange County.”
“I’ll try not to hold that against him,” I snicker.
“I know,” Lilly’s eyes twinkle. “Anyway, I thought Flirt might be a great way for him to meet people.”
I nod and wave as they move into the crowd to mingle. So many of my friends are here to support me. I feel truly honored.
Monica from the Flirt team appears wearing a headset with a clipboard in hand. “You ready?” she asks.
“If I have to be,” I say.
She winks at me. “You got this.” I follow her up to the stage and hear her say, “I’ve got her.”
A wireless microphone is attached to my dress, and I walk to centerstage and look out over the people in the room. It’s a vast sea of faces. My stomach drops. Monica gives me the thumbs up to start.
“Welcome, everyone!”
The crowd claps, and I hear a few of my friends whoop and holler from the back.
“Thank you all for coming to help me with the launch of a new dating app.”
The crowd roars.
“So many people I know have been successful in every part of their life except love. Then my boyfriend decided to dump me over text. When I went looking through the dating apps, nothing seemed to fit. So, I developed Flirt—it doesn’t have two-hundred questions, but there’s a little more to it than swiping left or right. I’m counting on those of you who are single to be my test group. When you sign up, I want you to report what works and what doesn’t. This will help my team with the algorithm and make a better app.”
A murmur of excitement ripples through the audience.
“Now, tonight the room is full of people willing to participate in this experiment,” I tell them. “The bracelets you received when you arrived have all been activated. They’ll be sending data to our system as Christina Monroe from our team leads you through a few activities. This will help us fine-tune the app. Please don’t be shy. If you meet someone and exchange digits, that’s fantastic. On your way out, you’ll get the download information to join our test group. Keep the feedback coming, and then we’ll notify you when we go live and Flirt opens up to the public. For now, have fun tonight and meet a few new people!”
Christina takes the microphone from me and divides the single men and women into two groups. While she walks them through five different ways to meet people, I walk to the back to where my development team is watching the response and my married friends are mingling.
“This is fantastic,” Toni Lo gushes. “I can’t believe how excited people are about this. I thought you had a good crowd at the Tiger Den.”
Toni is always there to
