I have a hard time believing that Reese Witherspoon’s date with a CAA agent was 1. an actual date and/or 2. not staged for publicity. The paparazzi just “happened” to catch Reese looking flirty with said attractive single agent, and People Magazine ran a whole piece on it that’s now the featured story on their site. One of the main objectives of agencies like CAA is to get positive press for their clients. You can easily imagine a scenario in which someone at Reese’s agency pitched the idea “Hey, Jim is single and attractive, let’s have Reese go on a date with him!” That’s probably what happened and there’s a cute photo to go along with the story of Reese out with the guy.

The Oscar winner, 33, shared dinner for two at Santa Monica’s cozy Italian eatery Locanda Portofino last Thursday with Jim Toth, an agent at Hollywood’s powerful Creative Artists Agency.

After greeting each other with a hug and settling into a corner table, the pair “were very flirtatious throughout dinner,” says a fellow diner. “They were having a lot of fun, totally getting along and laughing and talking the whole dinner. Reese seemed very happy. She was smiling all dinner. The mood was upbeat and really good.”

Mom to Ava, 10, and Deacon, 6, Witherspoon quietly split from actor Jake Gyllenhaal, 29, last December.

After the nearly two-hour meal – for which Toth picked up the tab – the couple walked outside and parted ways around 11 p.m. “Reese reached around his neck and pulled him close for a hug,” says the onlooker. “They kissed bye on the cheek – but it was a very friendly goodbye.”

Witherspoon is a CAA client, and a source close to the actress maintains the night out was just business. But a friend of Toth’s says the evening was “a date,” though “nothing serious.” The handsome agent is known as a ladies’ man: “He’s enjoying the single life,” says his pal.

Which likely suits Witherspoon just fine. “Reese is in a good place,” a friend told PEOPLE at the time of her split. “She’s doing things for her these days. She’s married to her kids right now, and they’re honestly her first love.”

[From People]

Why do these type of feel good probably planted stories in People leave a bad taste in my mouth? I’m happy for Reese if this is true and all, but my BS meter is going sky high. Still, Britney Spears is dating her agent from William Morris and Hilary Swank fell in love with her then-married CAA agent in 2006. It happens.

I like Reese and hope that she’s happy. She doesn’t need a man for that, but a new romance wouldn’t hurt. A faux romance, though, that’s just sad. Do you think that this story was timed to counter those rumors of a fling with manwh*re Gerard Butler? I doubt that she’s feeling the romance from either side, although I know I would get a piece of Butler if he was in my vicinity. (But only if Kaiser was otherwise taken or incapacitated.)