Well the courtship of Nick Lachey and Vanessa Minnillo is heating up. Or at least they’re showing up for photo ops as often as possible.

They’ve been spotted now several times on dates. Each time they’re dressed very casual, as if they’re “just friends”, but it’s hard to imagine they’re just pal-ing around.

Nick Lachey has great luck when it comes to landing hot women. The Buckeye was married to Jessica Simpson, but since the divorce has rebounded quite nicely. He’s no hanging out with Vanessa Minnillo:

The duo – who have been making the rounds all over the Big Apple – recently spent an afternoon at New York City sports bar Third and Long, where they competed in a friendly game of foosball and checked out the France vs. Portugal World Cup game.

The romance doesn’t sound too heated up at this stage, but you can imagine that more goes on behind closed doors. Let me imagine, as Nick gets to see Vanessa naked for the first time…ahhh. Anyways, back to the news: at least they were friendly to the fans at the bar they hung out at. No word on marriage plans just yet.

Crooner Nick Lachey is over Jessica Simpson and ready to get on with his life.

“It’s a huge part of my life,” Lachey acknowledged. “But for me, personally and professionally, it’s time to move on.”

It’s not hard to believe. In some ways you could argue that he and Jessica pimped their marriage out for fame.

Another argument is that most marriages in the US only last 3 threes before divorce so they were smart to take the money and fame.

Who’s right? Time will tell. Or not.