“Look at me,” says Kitten. I do. We all do. “I'm going to be used for my body. I might as well get something from it.”

3. Scrooge McFuck

Scrooge McFuck (not his real name) does not want a chub or an older girl (say, over 30), and he does not want “a black,” and yes, maybe you'll think he's a jerk, but he wants what he wants, and what is so wrong with that? Scrooge could probably have any woman he wants—he's wealthy and single and a TV producer in Las Vegas—and so it's hard to understand why he doesn't just go out there and find someone in a more traditional way.

Until he explains it. See, Scrooge has a Weird Sex Thing he likes, and he finds it hard to bring it up. “I'm not going into detail here”—and he never does, and we will all die not knowing, all of us except a few lucky ladies—“but there are certain things that I enjoy about sex, certain things, and it's difficult to tell the typical date about those things, so I never get past the first date.”

When someone is part of an arrangement, though, they are more understanding about your Weird Sex Thing, Scrooge explains, because they are evaluating a deal; they are not assessing your morality. You can even put it out on the table before the first date. And if she says no, she's not for you. Her loss!

(And here I must confess that I've become obsessed to the point of being unhinged over trying to figure out what sex act Scrooge could possibly want that is so horrible. Is it something plain and regular, like anal? Maybe he wants to wear some lingerie? Does he want to punch her in the stomach while he sucks on a pacifier? Does he need her in a clown suit as he takes a dump on her clown nose? I'll be doing the dishes and it will come to me, these unbidden thoughts that are nonetheless relentless. Often in the past few months, my first thought upon waking up is a new possibility for Scrooge. “Maybe he wants to wear a saddle and be hit with a riding crop while he recites Whitman,” I will tell my husband. “Can I have coffee before we discuss this?” he will answer.)

There was some trial and error in trying to find the right girl, but eventually Scrooge found a 22-year-old whom he was able to take to Pink concerts and to plays and to movies before taking her up to his hotel or apartment to conduct the Weird Sex Thing he needs so badly that he cannot even wait till a third date before asking for it. He gives her roughly $500 each time they see each other, sometimes more, sometimes less, depending on congestion pricing.

Now, are you ready for something sweet? He could see himself marrying her! And this, he says, is what makes sugar dating different from prostitution. “I don't have an extensive track record with escorts, prostitutes, or hookers,” says Scrooge. “But I've done it a couple of times in foreign countries. And it's just the biggest turnoff you've ever seen. It's like all business. They don't smile.” With sugar babies, no one's on the clock. There's hugging and kissing, laughing and talking.

With sugar babies, he says, it's almost like a real person who actually loves you.

4. Tigress St. Fawn

Tigress St. Fawn (not her real name) was always attracted to older guys, even when she was an undergrad. The guys at college in Boston just didn't do it for her. If she's honest, it was her dad's friends she was always attracted to. (Don't get her wrong, though: “I have a really healthy relationship with my dad; he's one of my best friends.”) Before graduating, she heard about sugar dating, and the minute she did, she immediately booked herself five dates in one week, as a sort of immersive experience, in hopes of getting the full breadth of all it had to offer. Here's how the week went.