Getting Hustled?

From what I can tell, my ATF is a pretty good hustler. She has a number of guys that take her shopping, give her expensive gifts, do favors for her, and pay her to go out with them (apparently without sex). It takes her about 0.5 seconds to talk people into lap dances, and she gets so many drinks bought for her she can’t drink them all. I asked her once why people do that and she told me she actively tries to make men fall in love with her because then they’ll do whatever she wants. That, and she knows how to talk dirty.

I go to the club about once a week, and when I’m there I buy her drinks too - usually 4-8 over the course of several hours (they’re cheap and she makes a couple bucks off of each one). I also buy every other dancer there drinks, if they choose to sit with me for a while. Otherwise, I very, very rarely get dances or VIP from her (only three times in over a year), and I never tip her for anything. I’ve made it clear under no uncertain terms that I won’t be buying her things or giving her money for nothing (although I did buy her a somewhat expensive belated birthday present). She just hangs out and drinks with me in between doing dances for other customers, sitting with her other regulars, doing VIP rooms, etc.

I’m reasonably comfortable thinking of her as a friend - we talk about very personal things and I see her outside the club (for free) every few weeks. She texts me to come in every time she works, and she won’t leave before me. If her shift ends before I’m gone, she’ll get dressed and hang out with me until I leave (which is sometimes several hours). She insists on cuddling and holding hands while she sits with me, and she lets me touch her anywhere. By the time I got my first (and only) lap dance with her, I had already gotten to “third base” more times than I could remember. Also, apparently one of the waitresses and some of the other customers think we’re dating.

That was fine until a couple of months ago when she got drunk and out of the blue told me she loves me. I said “haha yeah I like you too”. Then she said “No, I mean it - I love you. Maybe you think that’s bullshit but it’s not”.

I’ve had strippers tell me they love me before, but it has always been obvious they meant it in a joking or friendly way. This one threw me for a loop. I don’t know what to think. On the one hand, I feel like she might be trying to hustle me. On the other hand, I can’t imagine why she’d put up with the kind of interaction we have for so long for such little return.

I care about her quite a bit, but her job is to get men to give her money, so I acknowledge I’m in RIL territory. Am I being played?