How Jamie Foxx and Katie Holmes' Relationship is Evolving: Are They Getting 'More Serious'?

Since Katie Holmes, 40, and Jamie Foxx, 51, were first spotted dancing together in 2013 in the Hamptons, the duo have gone to great lengths to keep their relationship under the radar. But lately the couple appear to be dropping some of their intense secrecy surrounding their four-and-half-year romance.

“Their relationship seems so much more serious this year,” a source tells PEOPLE in the magazine’s new issue. “Katie and Jamie keep having public dates, and although they try to not be photographed together, they are clearly not as concerned about keeping their relationship private.”

For more on Katie Holmes and Jamie Foxx, pick up this week’s issue of PEOPLE.

Case in point, for Holmes’ 40th birthday on Dec. 18, the couple went out for ice cream and frozen hot chocolate with Holmes’ mother Kathleen at Serendipity 3, a popular tourist spot in New York. “Katie was all smiles,” a source says. “She and Jamie were flirty.”

And in November, the two also spent time together in New Orleans, where she was filming The Secret and he was working on an untitled sci-fi thriller for Netflix. Foxx visited Holmes on her set and they also enjoyed a romantic dinner date at the trendy Restaurant R’evolution in the city’s French Quarter.

“Katie always acts super-excited and giddy when Jamie is around,” says a source. “They are very cute together.”