Rose: A Standalone Paranormal Reverse Harem Romance (Jewels Cafe Book 12)

by Jewels Arthur

  “A girlfriend? Finn Whitaker can’t have a girlfriend,” she screeches, as she leans across the bar and places her hand on his. “Come on, Finn, dance with me, and you’ll forget all about your girlfriend. We can help each other forget,” she purrs.

  “She isn’t just my girlfriend, I love her,” he tells her as he pulls his hand away.

  “Love her? Love who? Is she here tonight?” she asks, turning around to look out onto the dance floor as if I’d be walking around with a ‘Finn’s girlfriend’ shirt on.

  “Yes, she is. I believe you already know her. It’s Rose,” he says, and I see him looking over at me.

  Minerva stares at him in disbelief, her jaw comically ajar. “Rose? The bartender?” she scoffs. “The fat girl?”

  “Excuse me, Minerva? I think you should leave,” Finn growls, his hand in a fist atop the bar.

  “Hi, Minerva,” I chirp in a falsely cheerful tone, as I walk over to Finn and stand next to him.

  “Rose,” she greets through her teeth. “You look—different.”

  “Thank you. You know, I always thought you were a bitch, and I wasn’t too far off. Just one letter, I suppose,” I mock.

  “Funny. Well, that’s fine, where are your brothers? Sebastian around?” she inquires, gazing around the room again.

  “I think you’ll find they are all taken. It seems that Finn, Dean, and Sebastian have fallen for the fat girl.” I smile at her before raising my hand to wave at her. “Buh-bye now.”

  Minerva rolls her eyes as she turns around and walks straight out of the bar. “Thank you for falling for the fat girl,” I say to Finn, as he wraps his arms around my waist.

  “I fell in love with a beautiful woman who is sassy, smart, and very, very sexy,” he growls, nuzzling his face into my neck. “She has amazing breasts and a perfect ass that I plan to turn red from my hand. I would never call her fat.”

  “Mmmmmm.” I close my eyes and adjust my head to give him more access.

  My eyelids flutter open just as Dean approaches us and places his hand on my back. “It’s almost midnight, babe. Who are you going to kiss at midnight?”

  Sebastian suddenly appears and leans on the bar beside me. “Well, she’s obviously going to kiss me at midnight,” he says, as he winks at me.

  Finn, still settled in my neck, growls his disapproval. “No, she will kiss me at midnight.”

  “I’m the one who brought it up. She should kiss me,” Dean argues, dazzling me with his smile.

  “I don’t want to choose. Don’t make me choose,” I implore, looking at them with indecision.

  “Okay, I call last,” Finn growls into my neck again.

  “What? Why last?” Sebastian asks.

  “Don’t argue with him. Now it’s just down to us two,” Dean replies with a smile at me.

  “Because when I kiss her last, I can take my time. I also get to be the one who carries her upstairs to finish up the kiss,” Finn explains with a cocky smile, finally vacating my neck. I feel how wet I am at his words and it has nothing to do with sweat this time.

  “I change my mind. I want last,” Sebastian butts in.

  “Too late, I already called it,” Finn counters.

  “Okay, then I’m first,” Sebastian declares.

  I look at Dean who has stopped fighting for first to see him staring at the TV screen just as I hear the whole bar chanting. “Five, four, three, two, one! Happy New Year!”

  He grabs my arms and pulls me against him, crashing his lips into mine with unrestrained passion. I moan into the kiss and hear Sebastian yelling, “Not fair!” just as he pulls me from Dean’s arms. I’m thrown right into another kiss that’s better than the first, although I would never say that to Dean. Sebastian kisses me deeply, biting my lip slightly and pushing his tongue into my mouth.

  Fuuuuuuuuck.

  The thought has barely crossed my brain when I’m pulled into the last set of arms—Finn’s. He makes good on his promise immediately as he turns his kiss into something more. He grabs my ass and hauls me into his arms, and I wrap my legs around him.

  “Randal, take over bartending!” Finn yells over his shoulder, breaking the kiss for just a moment. When he returns his gaze to mine, it’s with the sexiest smile I’ve ever seen. I glance behind him to see Dean and Sebastian following us, both of their eyes dark with lust.

  “Come, brothers, let’s start this New Year the right way. Inside of our beautiful mate.”

  I bite my lip as I look at my three very sexy vampire mates, whose eyes are dark with all the dirty things they want to do to me.

  Well, I’m definitely in for a happy new year.

  A very happy new year indeed.

  If you liked Rose, you’ll enjoy these other Jewels Cafe books:

  Amber by Mia Harlan

  Sapphire by Eva Delaney

  Peridot by M Sinclair Author

  Opal by Candace Wondrak

  Topaz by J.E. Cluney

  Ruby by Ann Denton

  Amethyst by CY Jones

  Pearl by Tabitha Barret

  Emerald by Jade Waltz

  Onyx by Melissa Adams

  Moonstone by Lucy Felthouse

  Rose by Jewels Arthur

  Flip the page to read a preview of Amber!

  Amber by Mia Harlan

  I'm in love with my best friend. But one sip of a spelled pumpkin spice latte, and two shifters are calling me their mate.

  Read Amber by Mia Harlan

  Chapter 1

  Amber

  I glance out the window to make sure the coast is clear. Yes, there are wards in place throughout Silver Springs to protect humans from seeing magic. Problem is, I don’t want any supes seeing what I’m about to do either. Last thing I need is for one of them to tell my best friend, Julian, that I like to parade around as a guy in my spare time. Which I don’t. I swear!

  The cobblestone sidewalk in front of Jewels Cafe is predictably empty. When we first opened, Julian and I had a bunch of happy customers and one really grumpy werewolf. Since then, foot traffic outside has been almost nonexistent. It’s been terrible for business, but right now, it comes in pretty handy.

  I take a few deep breaths to clear my head, summon my chameleon magic, and shift into a dude. Or, more specifically, the giant bouncer dude from Vee, the club just down the street.

  My body instantly feels heavy. My stomach roils. And my dress magically re-forms around my giant pecs. It barely reaches my large, manly thighs, and I consider trying to lengthen it—or transform it into the bouncer’s black jeans and t-shirt—but it’s not like I’m trying to win some sort of fashion award.

  I peek outside the cafe again and make sure no one’s watching. Then, I lean over the tall counter and reach around the fancy new coffee machine to make myself another cappuccino.

  Okay, yeah, I know. I should have just walked around the counter like a normal person. I could have even transformed into a bird shifter and flown over it. But instead, I had to shift into a dude?

  Truth is, this is faster, and I haven’t really mastered flying. Last time I tried, I crashed into a building. I was mostly fine, but I won’t take the risk in our brand-new cafe. Not when we can’t afford to replace anything right now.

  I look around and my thin bouncer lips break into a smile. I love this place. I love our state-of-the-art coffee maker that makes a mean cappuccino. I love the gorgeous floor-to-ceiling windows that surround our cafe and open out to the cobblestone paths outside. And I especially love our Jewels Cafe mugs, each with a different colored jewel in the center: sapphire blue, ruby red, emerald green, and others, including my favorite, the yellowish-orange amber. My namesake.

  The coffee machine sputters to a stop, and I grab my mug and lumber across the cafe. The bouncer’s junk, which apparently materialized sans underwear—thank you, wonky magic—slaps against my inner thighs. I cringe, which is enough of a distraction to make my chameleon magic falter.

  Within seconds, I feel myself shifting back to my twenty-
one-year-old female self. Which would be a huge relief if my amber Jewels Cafe mug wasn’t about to slip from my rapidly shrinking fingers.

  Beads of perspiration form on my upper lip. My armpits grow damp. I fight to hold on to my magic with everything I am, but it’s a losing battle.

  This wouldn’t be the first time I’d broken something mid-transformation, just never anything this important. And I can’t bear the thought of destroying any part of our little cafe. As though breaking this mug might somehow be the beginning of the end for this place.

  For a split second, my chameleon magic holds. I even manage to position my mug above the table right before I lose control.

  My hand shrinks back to its normal size, and the mug slips. It crashes down with a bang, and cappuccino foam splashes everywhere. Luckily, my laptop’s just out of reach, and the mug’s still in one piece.

  Once I’ve cleaned up the mess—by shifting back into the bouncer, of course… had to grab the towel from behind the counter somehow—I settle in front of my laptop. I borrowed a marketing eBook from the library, hoping to find something in it to save Jewels Cafe. So far, though, nothing has worked.

  I just don’t get it. Julian and I keep this place pristine, unlike our messy upstairs apartment. We go the extra mile with our customers. And everyone agrees our drinks are delicious. So what are we doing wrong?

  I’m halfway through a chapter on social media marketing when my laptop screen reflects his shadowy figure behind me. Julian.

  I didn’t even hear him come downstairs. Which, I guess, is what he was going for, considering how he’s tiptoeing up to me, each movement slow and careful. Wouldn’t be the first time he’s tried to prank me, but this time, I’m ready.

  I pretend to keep reading and watch Julian set something down against the wall. It looks like a canvas of some sort, maybe a painting for the cafe?

  When Julian turns back to me, all sneaky, I grin and let my chameleon magic flow through me. Oh, sweet revenge.

  Shifting by choice takes work, and half-shifting requires a lot more focus than a full shift. Luckily, I don’t need to carry a coffee mug across the cafe this time. All I need to do is sit still, which leaves me with all the energy I need.

  I keep my long, blonde hair in place so everything looks the same from the back, but slowly shrink my nose, eyes, and mouth to those of one of the few customers we’ve had this week: a cute fairy who always orders iced coffee, hold the sugar.

  My skin starts to glow with her perfect tan, my lips grow more pouty, and my nose takes on the perfect button shape I can only dream of. Her heavy mascara weighs down my lashes, and when my dress stretches across her much larger breasts, I realize I’ve also inherited her cleavage. Perfect!

  “Guess who?” Julian whispers, his breath caressing my ear.

  Even though I’m ready for him, a shiver races down my spine, and my heart skips a beat.

  Find out what happens next in Amber by Mia Harlan. Available now on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited.

  About the Author

  Jewels Arthur is a penname for a small-town Central Illinois author.

  She married her high school boyfriend in 2011 and together they

  had a beautiful daughter. She loves cats, books, binge watching tv,

  all things romantic, and video games. Lots and lots of video games.

  Jewels has been obsessed with reading since she learned how.

  The obsession really started with the Harry Potter series and has continued

  into her adulthood. She and her husband are huge book nerds and hope

  to pass it on to their daughter.

  Jewels has always enjoyed writing and remembers specifically

  writing a long piece of fanfiction of the movie Signs when she was a pre-teen.

  As an adult she decided to start creating the stories she is always dying for.

  Steamy and filled with love.

  With the help of some amazing authors, Jewels started her writing journey

  and is loving every minute of it.

  Thank you so much for taking the time

  to jump into my fictional world.

  I hope to always keep you swooning

  and to always bring the steam.

  Follow Jewels Arthur on social media

  Facebook page

  www.facebook.com/authorjewelsarthur

  Facebook group

  www.facebook.com/groups/jewelsarthursmuttyswooners

  Twitter

  www.twitter.com/JewelsArthur

  Instagram

  www.instagram.com/jewels.arthur/

  Pinterest

  www.pinterest.com/jewelsarthur/

  Goodreads

  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19339151.Jewels_Arthur

  Bookbub

  https://www.bookbub.com/profile/jewels-arthur

  Email

  jewelsarthur@gmail.com