MEMORY
Casualties.
That’s how I refer to the guys who’ve had the bad fortune to fall for me. They only see long legs that they wish were wrapped around them, a cat-like smile, and the reckless abandon to take on any wild dare. It’s all a game to me. Show me a bridge, and I’ll leap over the side. Give me a car, and I’ll race it. Give me a heart, and I’ll break it. I always win. I even showed Death who was boss a long time ago.
Or so I thought.
Now, time is running out, and I’m losing fast…and big. I met someone. Jace Beaumont. He’s smart, and good, and I dream about spending days exploring the summit of his perfect lips. But, I’m a grenade. I know I should leave him be. I can’t.
JACE
Study, class, work, repeat. That’s all I have time for. At twenty-five years old, I have a bit more mileage on me than the average college freshman. But, that’s what happens when you spend your youth drinking, partying, and bagging girls like it’s a full-time job. Now, I have goals. There’s just one kink in my plans. Her name is Memory. She’s every guy’s dream girl. She’s intoxicating. She’s trouble. I want to stay away. I can’t.
“So, you want to know who I really am?” I asked Jace as I rose to my feet on Morgan’s Bridge. The sun was gone now, but still light enough to see. Almost dark, but not quite. “Why? Have you heard rumors? Wait! Don’t answer that,” I continued. “You’re pals with Brax Jenkins. Since he’s the king of bad reputation, I’m sure he can single out badasses just as easily.” I winked at him. “Takes one to know one, right?”
Jace laughed softly. “Yeah, he said you’re known for some pretty crazy stunts on campus. A player. Adrenaline junkie.”
“Hmmm,” I answered. “I guess I’d be lying if I didn’t lay claim to all of those accusations. What can I say? I love to live life to the fullest.” I cupped my hands at my mouth. “I’m young! I’m twenty-two!” My voice echoed over the water and through the trees. I squatted down and shot him a lingering look. “I just simply don’t allow all of that to define me. You see,” I went on, wrapping my arms around my legs and hugging them close. With my chin resting against my knees, I looked at him. “There are many more facets to my psyche than I ever, ever let on. You know? Keeps me in a sort of shady shroud of mystery.”
“A shady shroud, huh?” he repeated, and chuckled. “What are you majoring in?”
“Fine arts,” I answered, and sat close to him. “BFA.”
“And what will you do with that?” he asked.
“I’m a self-proclaimed ornamental metalwork designer,” I told him. “And that’s pre-degree, yes sir. Got a business license and everything.” I flashed him a grin. “Calypso Designs. I make a pretty decent coin with the whirlygigs and windcatchers I create in the workshop by the barn. Any sort of crazy welded metal art statue I can dream up. Calypso Designs, Inc. Google me, why don’t ya?”
Jace just kept his eyes on me, and in the faded light they hardly looked green at all. More like shadows in the mouth of a cave. “Any siblings?”
“Nope. Only child.”
He nodded again. “You’re close to your dad?”
I smiled. “Very. He raised me alone after Mom died. Taught me about brazing rods, oxyacetylene, how to set up the fuel tanks. Taught me how to strike a torch, how not to look directly at an arc flash. Taught me…everything I know.” I felt my heart pinch, because I loved my dad more than anything. “He’s a damn good man, Jace Beaumont.”
His teeth were a ghostly white in the dusk. “I believe you, Memory Thibodeaux.”
“Okay.” I changed gears from the serious stuff. “Here’s the final chapter of tonight’s grand Thank You For Changing My Belt Date. Then we’ll have dessert. Ready?”
Jace laughed. “Yeah, why not. Shoot.”
I could barely see his features now. “Remember how I said this bridge was haunted?”
“Yep.”
“Well,” I continued. “The legend goes that back in 1923, Madigan Morgan and Company—not to be confused with the Morgans of the Morgan’s Louisiana and Texas Railroad—was commissioned to build this trestle for the Southern Pacific Railroad. Anyway, Madigan Morgan was rumored to have had a love affair with a beautiful, beguiling witchdoctor who lived in the woods, just there”—I pointed toward the forest on the other side of the river—“named Gilly from New Orleans. Right behind his wife Adelaide’s back. Well, the construction of the trestle was finally finished, but not before Adelaide Morgan found out about the affair.” I leaned closer. “It’s rumored she gathered her three brothers and went after Gilly the witch one moonlit night.” I glanced up. “Much like tonight, yeah.” I wiggled my brows.
Jace watched me closely and in silence, and although it had grown fairly dark I could still make out the amused expression pulling smile lines around his eyes and mouth. He smelled good. A faint, woodsy, clean smell. Like pine needles, with a ting of ocean spray, if I had to put a name to it. I continued.
“Well Madigan Morgan was supposedly to have scheduled a rendezvous with Gilly right here where we sit, that very night, in the center of the trestle,” I said softly. “Gilly was a raven-haired French-Acadian Cajun, you see, and had the sensual power to make a man do just about anything. And he’d fallen hard and fast for her. Anyway,” I said with a grin, and I looked out over the moon that had slowly risen, and watched the water lap at the bank’s edges. “When Madigan arrived for the rendezvous, it was just in time to see his wife and brothers-in-law binding Gilly’s hands with rope. He started to run up the hill to stop them, but could hear Gilly’s voice. She wasn’t pleading for her life. Wasn’t begging for them to let her go.” I reached slowly between the boards beneath me until my hand felt the heavy-duty nylon rope I’d placed there myself back in October when Crisco and I had bungee jumped off the bridge. Eased my hand through the slipknot and grasped it tight, all the while, keeping my gaze on Jace’s. “She was cursing them, Jace Beaumont,” I said huskily. “Just before they shoved her off the bridge!”
Over the edge I went, just as though I’d been pushed by Gilly herself, and as soon as I cleared the boards I grasped the rope with my other hand and hung there, mid-air, just beneath the trestle.
And at the same time, Jace leapt to his feet.
“Memory!” he yelled. “Fuck! Memory!”
Hanging beneath the very place he stood, I burst out laughing. “Do you kiss your mama with that mouth, boy?”
In a flash, Jace was on his stomach and peering over the edge of the trestle at me, swinging on my rope.
“Boy, you look pissed!” I exclaimed, laughing. “I didn’t know you could move so fast—Jace!”
The moment I swung within his reach he grabbed me, and let me say that although he was muscular, he was way stronger than I’d suspected. He pulled me up and over the trestle, and I barely helped. He did it that fast. And he all but plunked me down onto the track.
Jace pushed off and stood, clasping his fingers behind his neck. “Jesus God, Memory!” He turned to me then, and I could see fury in the shadows of his eyes. “Don’t you ever fucking do that again.” He moved toward me where I was still sitting on the track, and hauled me up. His fingers encircled my arms, and he gave me a slight shake, and we were almost nose-to-nose. A muscle flinched at his stubbled jaw, and his dark brows were furrowed. His eyes flashed. “Do you have a death wish? Or are you just crazy?”
The irony of his words almost made me laugh. At the same time, though, I was touched. I was used to being egged on. Used to being dared.
I was not used to Jace’s reaction.
The main character of STUPID LOVE has a bit of an odd name, Memory. Where did you get that name from and what significance does it hold?
Years ago my husband and I had one of our first cars insured at a small town company and the girl working the desk was named Memory ☺ I always thought she had such an interesting name! Although I’ve written many books, this is the first time the name really fit a heroine. As the story goes, it does hold a double meaning. She’s fought a life-threatening disease and won, and she plans on making each memory in her life count! ☺
Memory is described as a bit of a wild child. How did the process for writing her character differ from creating your previous heroines in the series, Olivia and Harper?
Olivia and Harper both had horrible things happen to them in their past, and the events were caused by another person. Memory’s significant past came at the hand of fate, not another person’s ruthless act. Overcoming it made her strong, though, just as Olivia and Harper’s did. But it also made Memory complacent. Writing her wild-child mannerisms was entirely a blast! She just lives each moment as though it was her last, and doesn’t take her loved ones for granted.
Memory zip lines, swing from bridges, and a few other things that would make most people have heart palpations. What is the most adventuresome thing you’ve ever done? How did you weave that experience into STUPID LOVE?
Hmmm…I’d love to think I was once a daredevil! I did grow up on the river, and I water skied, etc. I’ve climbed crumbling castles. But I don’t think I’m quite as daring as Memory! It’s fun imagining it though!
What is your favorite line from STUPID LOVE?
Wow—there are a lot! But “I am so in crazy with you” stands out. ☺
What makes Jace Beaumont the perfect match for Memory?
As my grandma used to say, “he is the sugar in her tomato sauce” Lol! Jace grounds Memory, I think. He shows her how to love deeply. ☺
What’s your next project on the horizon?
I’m not quite sure yet! I’m playing around with a few ideas including another New Adult, or a YA perhaps. ☺
Lightning Round! Answer the following prompts with the first thing that comes to mind:
a. Vacation is best at the beach or in the mountains? Beach
b. Is everything better with bacon? Of course!
c. What’s your favorite social media venue to interact with readers? Facebook
d. What’s the last book you read? Dark Places by Gillian Flynn. Excellent!
e. Kimmel, Fallon, or past your bedtime? OMG FALLON!
f. Besides the main couples in the Stupid in Love series—Olivia and Brax, Harper and Kane, and Memory and Jace—who was your most favorite character to write? I loved Jilly in Stupid Girl, and I adored his old pal Jasper in Stupid Love!
g. Favorite musician of all time? No way! Too difficult! But one of my top 5 is Freddy Mercury ☺ Steve Tyler ☺
h. Favorite place to write? On my porch swing ☺
National bestselling author Cindy Miles writes edgy romance, ranging from contemporary love stories to sexy paranormals. A native of southern coastal Georgia, she loves reading (naturally), baking swoon-worthy desserts, traveling abroad, yoga, and classic rock. The cover for her debut New Adult romance, STUPID GIRL, was featured on USA Today's Happily Ever After blog. In the novel, a volatile mix of bad boys, sassy smart girls, dark secrets, and red-hot romance add up to one wild ride through college. The second book in her Stupid in Love series,STUPID BOY, features a wickedly handsome law-breaker who falls for a beautiful, straight-A college student with an ugly past of her own.
