Page 16 of Hollywood

“Good lord,” Kelly muttered. “Will Ruby even be in one piece when we get her back?”

She was mostly talking to herself, and her words seemed to acknowledge Ruby was going home with Hollywood, so I ignored her. I shifted into a two-step with Ruby. “Wanna dance with me, darlin’?”

She giggled some more as I twirled us around.

Knight cleared his throat. Aiden shifted forward, as if reading some cue from him.

“It’s going to be a long night, Kelly. How about I show you where the coffee machine is?” he suggested. “Or if you’d rather, I can show you to the cafeteria.”

“Just coffee,” Kelly said.

She gave me one last glare—but at least it was no longer directed at Hollywood—and whirled away. I settled Ruby into a calmer sway. Hollywood looked about two seconds from breaking.

“You okay, man? She’s a piece of work.”

“She’s just worried.” His face crumpled inward. “She’s probably right to be. What the hell am I doing? I don’t even have any kid stuff for Ruby.”

“Did she come in with a diaper bag?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” he said. “Aiden didn’t mention anything.”

I patted her soggy bottom. “Well, she’s due for a diaper change. The hospital will probably have something on hand.”

He blew out a breath. “You’re so good with her.”

I glanced down at Ruby, who’d laid her head against my arm and was half-dozing again. “She’s tired. You ought to get her home. Does Kelly have some stuff you couldborrow?”

“I can’t ask her,” Hollywood said, sounding stressed. “She already thinks I’m totally incompetent. How am I going to look capable of taking care of Ruby if I don’t even have any basic supplies?”

“You’ll look like a guy who didn’t know he’d have a kid coming home with him,” Knight offered. “She can’t fault you for that.”

I nodded. “Besides, you can’t take Ruby home without a car seat. If Kelly has one, it’d save a lot of headache.”

Kelly returned with Aiden, holding a steaming cup of coffee. She narrowed her eyes on us. “Why are you still here?”

Hollywood bit his lip. I stepped forward. “Do you have a car seat Hendrix can borrow to get Ruby home?”

“Oh, shoot. I didn’t even think about that,” she said. “Yeah, I’ve got one in my back seat. You’ll have to return it tomorrow, though. I need it.”

“I will,” Hollywood said. “I’ll buy one right away. I just didn’t want to make Ruby wait tonight.”

She nodded, looking tired. “Bit late for that kind of shopping.” She fished around in her purse. “Here are my keys. You’ll have to deal with getting it uninstalled. I’m not leaving this lobby until I hear my sister is okay.”

Hollywood took the keys from her. “Thank you. I really will take good care of her.”

She shrugged. “I’m too tired to fight you on it. Besides, Ruby looks ready for bed.” She sighed. “Please tell me you have somewhere for her to sleep, at least.”

Hollywood looked stricken. I jumped in. “My sister has some stuff we can borrow. We’ll get her sorted out.”

“Okay.” She hesitated. “You’ll bring her back to see Carrie tomorrow?”

“First thing,” Hollywood promised.

“And you’re not going to try to steal her or keep her from Carrie once she’s recovered?”

“I’d never do that,” Hollywood said, sounding hurt. “I’m not the jerk you think I am. I just want to be her father.”

She stared at him for a minute, as if trying to see inside his head. “Okay. I believe you. Lord knows, Carrie could use the help. I hope this works out.”