Cuddles and I assume you mean the stronger version of companionship seem to be physically comforting.
Paying someone solely to behave like we have a trusting bond, that they care that I exist, is paying someone to lie to me. That's more invasive mentally than an hour of physical contact
I might pay someone to play tabletop board and card games with me one night a week. That's pretty much what I would do with actual friends anyway.
And if I were paid to do the same, I'd think that's a pretty good gig--unless the friendship contract stipulated a certain frequency of letting the boss win, of course.
I don't need much of a trusting bond. Just eat my snacks, drink my drinks, laugh at the 10% of my jokes that actually deserve it, and take your weekly card-table curbstomping without much more than a token amount of complaints.
If I were single, I might also hire a wingman or blocker to back me up at the local meet market venues.
IDK, I suspect half the time, my real friends and I are pretending to like each other, to maintain polite relationships for the other half of the time that we actually do enjoy each other.
What I mean is, nobody actually wants, needs, or should have 100% pure honesty all the time. Does it matter if the 3.5 days out of 7 that someone puts up with my cantankerous nature is to have access to my money or the other 3.5 days that I'm shaved and showered and generally pleasant?
Paying someone solely to behave like we have a trusting bond, that they care that I exist, is paying someone to lie to me. That's more invasive mentally than an hour of physical contact