Bree, a pretty blonde well-mannered enough to accompany a man to Thanksgiving dinner with his family, described herself as like a saleswoman.

Only she's selling her body.

A prostitute at Sheri's Ranch in the south end, Bree is married and lives in Las Vegas. She was one of several working girls who strongly disagreed with statements made about the legal brothels in Nevada by a panel recently.

Former County Commissioner Candice Trummell coordinated the panel during its presentation in Las Vegas about a month ago.

"Any man pays for it one way or another. Whether you're paying for it with a wedding ring, whether you're paying for it with dinner and a show in order to have sex, you pay for it either way," Bree said.

The scene in the Valley Inn and Sports Bar at Sheri's Ranch, where the girls gave interviews this week, was far different from the impression speakers like San Francisco clinical psychologist Dr. Melissa Farley offered at the press conference focused on the release of a book on sex trafficking.

That led to an exchange of harsh words in the editorial pages between New York Times columnist Bob Herbert and Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, who wants to legalize brothels in part of his city.

Farley claimed the brothels don't protect women from the violence, verbal abuse, physical injury or the diseases of illegal prostitution. The topic was hotly disputed at Sheri's Ranch.

"I have worked here three and a half years, Bree said. "There has not been one single girl who has been injured by anybody. There has not been a single girl who has got any diseases. This place is a gossip mill. We would know if there was. If anybody got a disease, we would know about it."

Bianca, a 26-year-old prostitute who has been working in legal brothels for eight years, said of the claims made by members of Trummell's panel, "I was absolutely flabbergasted. I just couldn't believe how ridiculous it was."

She said allegations by the panel of seven women that prostitutes at the legal brothels are kept there against their will without a chance to leave is totally untrue.

"With me, I've always been a sexual person. I enjoy doing it," Bianca said. "I mean, the money's wonderful but, hey, I enjoy what I do for a living too. I love the people, it's safe, it's clean."

While Farley alleged women who work in the legal brothels often switch off and work illegally as prostitutes, Bianca said she wouldn't do that as it would jeopardize her brothel card if she was arrested for illegal prostitution.

"You get in trouble one time and you can't get your sheriff's card, and I would never be allowed to come back to work," Bianca said.

Bree said the prostitutes are required to reapply for their sheriff's card every three months, giving fingerprints and undergoing a background check.

"The whole reason you work here is it's safe, you can have fun, it's clean, we're tested. All the girls are clean, and to me it's not worth losing your sheriff's card over it working outside," Bianca said.

Bianca said she has a beautiful house and a beautiful car from her earnings off prostitution.

"I have a lot of things I would never have in a regular job. I mean, if you ask any girl who works here, we all get along, we have fun, we all have homes and cars, nice jewelry, beautiful bags.," Bianca said.

"My mother worked her butt off 10 hours a day and makes probably less than half what I make in the six months I work," she said.

Suzi, 22, a petite Oriental woman from Texas with a ready smile, is studying to get her real estate license back home. She started working at Sheri's Ranch last summer and has been a prostitute in Nevada brothels since January 2005.

"In the past I did a little bit of escorting, but compared to the brothels I wouldn't recommend it to anyone because here it's legal," Suzi said. "You never know what's going to happen, unlike here."

Speaking of the accusations in the press conference, she said simply, "That is so untrue."

Bree added some people who don't like the legal prostitutes may actually be jealous.

"They would love to have the open mind to do this -- they don't. Either they don't have an open mind or they don't feel comfortable enough with their bodies," Bree said. "I work here because it's great money. The money that I make in a week here some people can't make in a year.

"I think all of us at one point in time had worked independently. It got to the point where, from my point of view, it was not worth it. One, it's against the law. It's hard to do anything with your taxes because of it, not to mention it's not safe. Whereas here I'm tested every week, there's security, we have panic buttons in our rooms, there's cameras to watch everything so we're safe, you know, and if I see a guy I don't want to mess with, I don't have to."

Bianca said she never worked as a prostitute illegally.

"I was doing modeling. Well, then it transitioned to more of the porn scene. So I started doing porn and it really wasn't for me, what I wanted to be," she said.

While Farley said 80 percent of the 45 prostitutes she interviewed working in legal brothels wanted to get out of the business, Bree said perhaps only two out of 10 people who make good money doing something else actually might enjoy their jobs. She recalled one girl who came to Sheri's to work, didn't like it and went back home.

Bianca said it takes a certain type of mentality.

"You have to really enjoy it, you have to like sex, you have to like people, you have to be sociable. I mean, that's just part of the job. We're not different than any salesperson," she said.

Bianca wishes she could take Farley on a tour of Sheri's Ranch, as many Pahrump residents have done, to see the nice amenities at the resort, .

In fact, Sheri's Ranch lobbyist Bob Swadell remarked that in 2004 some ladies of the local Red Hat Society, who had been to the annual locals party, convinced former then Nye County Commissioner Henry Neth to back off on a suggestion to ban the brothels.

"Prostitution is everywhere. It's in every single city in every single state in the U.S.," Bree said. "Nevada is just smart enough to take that, legalize it and make money off of us."