Face it – Tom’s a few days late and a dollop short

Katie Holmes took the indirect approach when David Letterman asked if she and Tom Cruise have talked about getting married. “I’m smiling, aren’t I?” answered Holmes, who was Letterman’s guest Thursday night on CBS’ “Late Show.”

“The wonderful thing is that when we met, it was just like, ‘Hi,’ ” she said giddily. “It was instant.”

Holmes wasn’t nearly so effusive when it came to responding to other queries – like the ones about her man being so much older and shorter than she is.

“That’s never crossed my mind,” she said tersely when asked about the age difference. Cruise is 42, and Holmes is 26.

The height question was met with puzzled expressions before the taller Holmes finally told Letterman that she didn’t know what he was talking about.

Cruise became the butt of jokes last month after an appearance on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” where he repeatedly jumped on the talk-show host’s couch, saying his love for Holmes was “beyond cool.”

Jenny’s got a rock

Speaking of celebrity couples – ones who are decidedly less demonstrative in public, that is – Marc Anthony reportedly gave Jennifer Lopez a $1 million engagement ring to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the couple’s super-secret wedding.

So is she really proud of Paris?

Paris Hilton and her mother, Kathy, will be grand marshals for Sunday’s annual gay pride parade in West Hollywood, one of the city’s biggest celebrations.

Paris, the star of television’s “The Simple Life” reality show, provoked controversy recently by appearing scantily clad in a Carl’s Jr. burger commercial.

Kathy will soon join her in the reality wars with NBC’s “I Want to Be a Hilton,” premiering June 21, in which she guides 14 young contestants through a variety of weekly challenges in the New York social scene.

The pair will make a joint appearance on Jay Leno‘s “Tonight Show” next Wednesday.

More dirty diapers for Staind singer

Staind frontman Aaron Lewis is a father again.

His wife, Vanessa, gave birth to the couple’s second daughter, Nyla Rae, on Thursday. Their first child, Zoe Jane, is 3 years old.

Staind’s new album, “Chapter V,” is set for release Aug. 9.

Cheeseburger? Bill’s all over that

The Secret Service has recovered singer Jimmy Buffett‘s cell phone from a busboy who found it last month outside a Florida jazz club.

Jason Martin denies accusations he and his friends made crank calls to Bill Clinton, who reportedly was in the phone’s address book along with the likes of Jimmy Carter, Al Gore, Bill Gates, Harrison Ford, George Clooney, Clint Black and rapper Cam’ron.

Meanwhile, a Clinton spokesman says Buffett doesn’t have the ex-president’s number, and Clooney’s rep says the actor doesn’t even know the “Cheeseburger in Paradise” singer.

Quoteworthy

Brad Pitt, explaining his new short-cropped, blond-dyed hair: “I woke up and got one of my idiotic moods.”

The birthday bunch

Actor Gene Wilder is 72. Actor Chad Everett is 68. Comedian Johnny Brown (“Laugh-In”) is 68. Singer Joey Dee is 65. Actress Adrienne Barbeau (“Maude”) is 60. Drummer Frank Beard (ZZ Top) is 56. Actor Joshua Jackson (“Dawson’s Creek”) is 27.