Is Romance at Hand? Jennifer Aniston Spied Touching Digits With Gerard Butler

Wonderwall, Monday, August 24, 2009, 11:56am (PDT)

By Kat Giantis

Last week, Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler were reportedly seen looking "lovey-dovey" and sharing a "little kiss" on the set of the currently shooting flick "The Bounty." Now they may have progressed to public digit-on-digit contact.

RELATED: See highlights from Jen's Elle cover shoot

People magazine reports the actress, far from looking "rejected and upset" over her supposed brush-off by a Renée Zellweger-preferring Bradley Cooper, was spotted holding hands with the burly Scottish star at a New York hotel over the weekend.

"Jen and Gerry went out on Saturday night," tattles a source, who observed that they "had cocktails and … were hand in hand."

Shortly before feeling up each other's mitts at the hotel, the trunk-tussling pair were reportedly seen breaking bread together at a restaurant on the Lower East Side.

RELATED: Become a fan of Wonderwall on Facebook

Aniston, 40, and Butler, 39, have apparently been "flirty and affectionate" during filming, with an eyewitness allegedly catching them in some interrupted finger-entwining last Wednesday.

"We watched them at one point start to hold hands, but she pulled back because she realized people were watching," the snitch tells Radar, before concluding, "They look like they're in the beginning phase of a relationship that's really nice."

But the stars, who touched off romance rumors last month when they were photographed walking arm-in-arm, have repeatedly pooh-poohed the whispers, although this latest round conveniently comes just weeks before both begin promoting their new movies ("Love Happens" for her and "Gamer" for him).

RELATED: Follow Wonderwall on Twitter

"If I was [dating Aniston], I would say I was," Butler recently told GMTV. "It's just that if you're not married in Hollywood and you're working with somebody else who's single, you're having a thing with her."

As for Aniston, her rep has denied the on-set PDA report and insists she and Butler kept their hands to themselves on Saturday evening.

"Jennifer was out with many others from the film and they were not holding hands," her spokesman tells People. "Gerry was one of many from the film there."

Read more Hot Gossip