Hand models: $1,200 worth of cocktail party jokes a day

During a breakup, my post-college boyfriend dated a woman I'll call "Licia." Dark was the day I discovered a folder of her things left at his house: the portfolio for her stint as a hand (and rear end, evidently) model.

Every time her name came up after that, I dissolved into laughter about her unserious dabblings. "Well of course she's not a good cook!" I'd yuk. "She must protect her assets!"

Licia was no Ashly Covington. Ashly's hands won't get out of bed for less than $300 a day, but her average take is about $1,200.

She's made as much as thousands of dollars an hour "conveying emotion" as she picks up a cheeseburger ("they wanted it to be the most delectable cheeseburger," she tells CNN) or holds a birth control device.