Romance Rumor du Jour: Scarlett Johansson and Bradley Cooper's 'Flirty' Night Out

Wonderwall, Tuesday, September 20, 2011, 2:33pm (PDT)

By Kat Giantis

• When attractive, single celebrities party, romance rumors inevitably begin. Take Scarlett Johansson and Bradley Cooper, who were spotted hanging with Justin Timberlake last week in New York.

  Life & Style says the pretty pair, who played illicit flames in "He's Just Not That Into You," also ventured out together the following night, making an early-morning visit to hot spot Provocateur.

  "Scarlett and Bradley arrived with a small group of friends, including model Cheyenne Tozzi, around 2 a.m.," a spy says of the Sept. 16 outing. "While Bradley was flirty with Cheyenne initially, after some drinks he turned his attention to Scarlett. The duo were hand in hand and more than flirty by the end of the night!"

  Adds another onlooker, "They were here with a group of friends and ordered champagne. The group was having a good time together."

  This is the second time whispers of a possible hookup have hit Scarlett, 26, who's currently dealing with a nekkid photo scandal, and Bradley, 36, who's rumored to be miffed that his recent "business dinner" with Jennifer Lopez was spun into a date.

  In June, In Touch claimed the ex-Mrs. Ryan Reynolds, then newly split from father-figure flame Sean Penn, was "wooing" Cooper, who since his March split from Renee Zellweger has been linked to everyone from the aforementioned J.Lo to Olivia Wilde to Jennifer Aniston. (He was also seen chitchatting earlier this month with Charlize Theron, who supposedly enjoyed an brief encounter with Reynolds before parting ways in August.)

  But a rep for ScarJo assures L&S that she and the Coop are "just friends and have been for years," which, by the by, is the same thing that was said about Penn when the entanglement rumblings first surfaced.

  Then again, Johansson and Cooper really do appear to be friendly: In April, they plastered on big smiles while sitting together at a reception following the White House Correspondents' Dinner, where the starlet reportedly made out with Penn in proximity to the president.

  Whether pals or pals-plus with Cooper, Johansson's social calendar has been jam-packed lately.

  Last week, she was also photographed hanging with Kieran Culkin in Paris, although they skipped a tour of the Louvre in favor of a more quintessentially Parisian experience, namely, hitting a burlesque club.

• RELATED ON WONDERWALL:

  Scarlett splits from Penn

  Justin and Mila also deal with leaked photos