'The Bachelorette' 's JJ Lane is Engaged to Kayla Hughes: She's 'Made Me Better Since the Day We Met'

JJ Lane is officially off the market!

The Bachelorette alum, who competed for the final rose from Kaitlyn Bristowe on season 11, proposed to his girlfriend Kayla Hughes in Hawaii this week.

Lane, 36, tells PEOPLE he knew Hughes was the one almost right away.

“I knew after the first month of dating that she was the one, but I also knew we couldn’t rush in and needed to enjoy the dating stage of our relationship,” he explains. “We dated long distance for six months and then lived together for a year prior to the engagement, and that turned out to be extremely healthy for us.”

Sharing a romantic beachside photo to Instagram on Monday, Lane, 36, got down on one knee and asked the former NFL cheerleader to marry him as the sun was setting over the water.

“She said YES!!! I can’t wait to marry my best friend, my love, and the woman that has made me better since the day we met!” the Denver-based investment banker captioned the sweet shot.

Lane says he’s been thinking about how to propose since the couple’s first anniversary in September and chose the Hawaii location because it’s special to his family.

“My family has been going to Kauai since 1993. It is almost a second home to our family and I knew if I ever was lucky enough to propose again, I would do it there on the point at sunset. We got so lucky the weather held up and was a magical evening!”

Lane adds that the couple is in the early stages of wedding planning — they hope to have a destination wedding later in 2019 — and that having Hughes in his life has made him a better person.

“As people that followed the Bachelor knew, I had gone through a pretty tough divorce that ultimately impacted my career and mental well-being,” he reveals. “Since Kayla came into my life, it’s been a 180 in terms of finding my mojo again, both personally and professionally. She has been a rock for me and is the woman that makes me wake up desiring to be my absolute best in every aspect of life.”

Hughes, 25, also shared the exciting news to her Instagram, with an intimate photograph of the pair kissing.

“Does this ring make me look…. ENGAGED??!!! I said yes to the man of my dreams and can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with my best friend.💍💕” she wrote alongside the shot.

The pair then celebrated with a dinner at Beach House Restaurant Kauai, which both Lane and Hughes shared photos of to their Instagram Stories. “Celebrating the best night ever,” Hughes wrote over a photo of her food.

“Time to celebrate!” added Lane in a post with a bottle of Pinot Noir.

Hughes also shared a short clip to her Stories featuring the spot where her beau proposed. In the video, she panned the camera across the stunning shoreline and captioned it, “My new favorite spot in Hawaii”

Lane and Hughes first confirmed their relationship in September 2017, sharing a photo together on their respective Instagrams.

Hughes will soon also be a stepmom to Lane’s 6-year-old daughter Gemma, whom he shares with his ex-wife.

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Lane previously dated Juelia Kinney — a contestant on Chris Soules‘ season 19 of The Bachelor.

Though the duo met on season 2 of ABC’s Bachelor in Paradise, they didn’t find romance with one another until after the cameras stopped rolling and they returned home from Mexico. They eventually ended things in 2017.

Lane also made headlines during his time on The Bachelorette — but not just for his romance with Bristowe. Instead, he and Clint Arlis famously developed a close friendship.